Statewide burn ban lifted, parish drought in severe stage

After stretching nearly a month longer than anticipated, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning and Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain have lifted the statewide burn ban.

Butch Browning

The ban went into effect on June 1 and it was hoped that it could have been lifted by the end of the month if the rains came. They didn’t, though, and the ban remained until enough rain fell statewide for the lifting.

Local burn bans remain in Bossier and Caddo parishes in extreme northwest Louisiana.

Strain said despite the lifting of the burn ban, the state remains in a drought state, ranging from severe to extreme. Washington, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes are in a severe drought state.

Despite heavy rains over Washington Parish during the latter half of the month, neither Bogalusa Fire Chief Richard Moody or Washington Parish Homeland Security Director Tommy Thiebaud were willing to lift the ban in advance of the state.

“It is my understanding we have the authority to do that, based on local conditions,” Moody told wpnewsblog earlier in the month, “but despite the rain it is still really dry and I’m simply not comfortable lifting it.”

Thiebaud said every shower and rain helps, but that until the state fire marshal lifted the ban, it would remain in effect in the parish.

“We can get to calls pretty quick,” Moody said, “but the firefighters in the parish sometimes have to drive a pretty good distance to get to the fire … so just because it seems safe in one place doesn’t mean it is in another.”

There have been nine days with measurable precipitation in Northeast Bogalusa and three days when a trace was recorded. The monthly total in Northeast Bogalusa through noon today (July 28) is 7.05 inches.

A chance of precipitation is forecast through mid-week next week, but the best chance for rain is later today when it is 80 percent.

Despite above-average rainfall, burn ban remains

Saturday’s late morning rain pushed at least northeast Bogalusa past the July monthly average. According to U. S. Climate Data, the July average for Bogalusa is 5.67 inches.

The rain started as a light shower about 10:45 a.m., but wound up as a full-fledged deluge before the morning was over.

By the time Saturday’s rainfall ended, 1.8 inches was in the rain gauge and 6.7 inches in the catch basin for the year. Then, on Sunday, about .25 inch fell, pushing the monthly total to 6.95 inches.

Thus far in northeast Bogalusa, there have been eight days in July with measurable precipitation and two days when a trace was recorded.

Despite the rainfall, which has been reported parish-wide, a burn ban remains in effect.

Because of the depth of the drought in the area, neither Washington Parish Homeland Security Director Tommy Thiebaud nor Bogalusa Fire Department Chief Richard Moody is willing to lift the burn ban.

“It’s just been too dry,” Moody said. “It may seem wet, but a fire can get out of control in a split second.”

Thiebaud said every shower and rain helps, but that until the state fire marshal lifts the ban, it will remain in effect in the parish.

“We can get to calls pretty quick,” Moody said, “but the firefighters in the parish sometimes have to drive a pretty good distance to get to the fire … so just because it seems safe in one place doesn’t mean it is in another.”

The National Weather Service forecast for the remainder of the week calls for a wetter than normal pattern with numerous occurrences of showers and thunderstorms expected, especially during daytime hours.

Locally heavy rainfall will remain a threat, although severe weather is not expected.

OPINION: Recapping the week thus far

Processing the week thus far …

•••

Joe Culpepper, Bogalusa’s chief of police, was processing paperwork for 17 warrants that were to be served Tuesday morning when things started turning upside down Sunday night.

“I was here (in his office), working on that paperwork, when the call came in,” he said.

“The call.”

“The call” he was referring to was the one that came it at 8:44 p.m. and advised an off-duty police officer was firing his gun and officers were responding.

Culpepper, who normally has a welcoming smile on his face, wasn’t smiling as he recounted the events of the evening, including the decision on who would lead the initial investigation and response.

Then, with the processing of warrant paperwork still needing to be done, Culpepper called out Det. Kendall Bullen, who was in the process of heading to bed when his phone rang.

“I think it was 2:30 or so when he finished,” Culpepper said, a fact Bullen confirmed about 4:20 Tuesday morning at the National Guard Readiness Center as another in what has been promised to be a series of drug busts was getting ready to go down.

And so, when wpnewsblog began chasing the Chief at 6:50 Monday morning, he was trying to get some shut-eye after pulling a two-tiered all-nighter. There’s no reason he wouldn’t have his cell phone off and there was no reason he wouldn’t be coming to work around noon after the night he — and his department — had been through. And wpnewsblog fired an unnecessary shot across the bow because of the late arrival and the quest to get the information.

And we all know the public details of the story up to this point … that off-duty PFC Anton Atkins allegedly committed armed robbery, discharging a weapon in the process, and was arrested.

•••

But …

… Atkins’ alleged victim, 31-year-old Willie Holloway of Angie, has anything but a squeaky clean reputation. He was one of 17 sought in Tuesday’s drug raid and was one of two officers were warned about as being potentially dangerous.

Holloway, who we understand went to the local newspaper to “tell his story,” said he was “just riding around” when Atkins and a second person, Marvin Austin, Jr.,  pulled his vehicle in front of Holloway’s.

Austin, incidentally, was the name of the second person wpnewsblog was given and referred to in the initial reporting of the incident at 9:52 Monday morning. Austin wound up being arrested on Sunday, but not in connection with Holloway’s claims, instead on an FTA.

So, how many of us go out “just riding around” with $700 in our pockets? On a Sunday night? At the end of two streets that run into the back entrance of Northshore Technical College’s Sullivan Campus?

Yeah, right. You get the same picture we did.

•••

As Tuesday’s drug bust was getting started, a familiar face walked in the back door of the armory — Charles Mizell.

It wasn’t a public ribbon cutting where the cameras would be on him and the big, fake scissors in-hand, but it was just after 5:20 a.m. and he was there as mayor, supporting his officers.

And every time someone brought in a bad guy, Mizell had an encouraging word for them. When it was a Bogalusa officer, he took the extra step of telling them he appreciated what they were doing and it was a job well done.

It may not seem like much to the cynics among us, but I overheard more than one member of the force make a comment about his presence, followed by a “That’s cool” or another phrase that indicated it made them feel a bit better about the support they get.

•••

And finally — for this recap — we’ve made contact with several members of the family of the late Bogalusa Fire Capt. Anthony J. Fiorenza, who is the only firefighter to have died in the line of duty in Bogalusa fire department history.

The 43^rd anniversary of the fire was last Friday and, after wpnewsblog asked Chief Richard Moody about it, the department hastily organized a memorial observance at the station on West 8^th, where Fiorenza had been made captain just four days prior to his death.

We’d like to say there was a good turnout, but there wasn’t. In fact, other than yours truly and the firefighters themselves, the only other observers were Barbara Crawford and her YWCA Photography Day Camp class — Eden Breazeale, Olivia Kennedy, Makayla Ramser, Jayla Buchanan, Katelyn Gray and Dana Breazeale.

After the two stories appeared on wpnewsblog — the only two published about the memorial observance — we heard from Fiorenza’s sole surviving sister and his daughter.

From his sister, Mary Dugan-Brignac, on Sunday: “Mr. Walker, thank you very much for this article.  I am Anthony's only living sibling, and I live here in Bogalusa, about 8 blocks from the Pleasant Hill Fire Station.  Of course, I attended the Memorial in July 2004, along with my now deceased sister Lena Jacobs.  My picture appeared in the Daily News with the story about the memorial.  My brother has a daughter and grandson who live near Slidell and a son and granddaughters who live in Baker, LA.”

On Wednesday, I heard from Toni Fiorenza McKinney, his daughter. She and her husband and her 21-year-old son — Fiorenza’s grandson — live in Pearl River.

As he requested, I have forwarded the contact information to Chief Moody so he can get the family involved next year when the now-annual memorial observance will be held.

•••

To all of you who read and follow wpnewsblog, a sincere thank you.

Since our first post, on the spring nursing graduation at Northshore Technical College on May 17, our site has been visited more than 28,000 times. Yes, there have been some big news stories that drove those numbers, but I also believe there was some steady, constant reporting that helped a bunch, too.

Unless you log on via phone, there’s a counter on the right hand side of our page that shows you how many visitors we’ve had and I also want you to know we now have more than 200 followers on Facebook (WPNewsBlog). We’re on Twitter, too, but I’m still learning the nuances of tweeting, so for right now, I feel like a twit in that arena.

But again … thank you for your support and for passing along those news tips!

(John H. Walker is editor/publisher of wpnewsblog. He is a 40-year veteran of the communications industry, having worked in newspaper, radio and television prior to opening his own consulting firm and venturing into social media on his own. He may be reached at 789-0918 or at wpnews@ymail.com)

Firefighters gather to honor Fiorenza, remember dangers

On the 43rd anniversary of the only line-of-duty death in the history of the Bogalusa Fire Department, Chief Richard Moody seized the moment.

Bogalusa firefighters gather behind the memorial
to fallen Capt. Anthony J. Fiorenza during a brief
ceremony marking the 43rd anniversary of his
death. (Photo by John H. Walker)

"We'll have a brief meeting," he explained, "and I'll remind them there is nothing routine about what we do. We always need to be aware of our surroundings."

Not 15 minutes early, units from the headquarters station responded to an alarm generated by a fire alarm.

"It's probably nothing," he and another firefighter discussed. "This is a regular occurrence (from that address), but we roll on every one of them because until you get there and check everything out, you don't know if it's real or not."


Moody said at one time, Resthaven Living Center was notorious for false alarms — "But you have to check every single thing out," he said. "They had walkway in the attic and we'd get up there with our lights and walk the who place, making sure it really was a false alarm."

A photo of Fiorenza hangs in the'
day room at the station named in
his memory. (Photo by John H. Walker)

"They finally check the smoke detectors," another fireman said, "and they were filled up with bugs, causing the contact and sending the alarm. They cleaned them out and no more false alarms,"

Moody said the story that had been passed down over the years was that the fire run on that fateful morning was Anthony J. Fiorenza's first as a captain.

"It had been raining and the old truck they had drowned out," he continued. "The chief came and got him and took him to the fire, in the 400 block of Lexington, just up the street from what is now Dunaway's.

"Back in those days, we used a different nozzle and it shot a harder, more direct stream of water. He was getting kidded by the other guys because it was his first run as a captain and he was late. He grabbed a hose and went in and started spraying things down to make sure it was out.

"He wasn't in there long before it all came down on him."

Moody said firefighters have heard the story and it stands as proof that there are no routine fires, as this one, in a two-story garage apartment used mainly for storage, had been extinguished when something went terribly wrong.

Firefighter Bruce Reid and
Chief Richard Moody look
at an original copy of the
July 8, 1968 edition of the
Daily News with the story of
A. J. Fiorenza's death.
(Photo by John H. Walker)

"I wish I knew how to get in touch with some of his family," Moody said, "just to let them know we remembered him and to let them know we're going to do this every year."

"You know, we gathered and honored Tony when the station was dedicated in his memory, but we've kind of gotten away from that," Moody admitted. "I told the guys I think we need to start back and do something every year, just so we're sure we remember him and remember that we can never be complacent."


(Published first at http://www.wpnewsblog.blogspot.com)

Despite recent rains, city still enforcing burn ban

Despite consistent rainfall through the last few days of June and up to 1 inch over the first five days of July, Bogalusa Fire Chief Richard Moody said Tuesday night that a burn ban remains in effect.

A firefighter knocks down a fire during a
drill. (Photo BFD web page)

"It is a statewide ban and it is my understanding I have the authority to lift it," Moody explained to the Bogalusa City Council as part of his monthly department head report, "but I choose not to do that. I know we've had some rain, but I 'm waiting for a good, general soaking. It's still very dry."

Slightly more than one-half inch was recorded Saturday on Military Road and again Tuesday, starting with rolling thunder as a line of thunderstorms moved from Mississippi and across the region.

Moody said June, which typically signifies the start of a slower season for firefighters, was actually busier than usual.

"We had 92 runs," he recounted, breaking them down as four fires, one vehicle fire, two grass fires, 41 medical assist runs and 14 false alarms.

Moody had earlier told wpnewsblog about a person who had ignored the burn ban, had their fire get out of control and almost lost their home in the process.

"They lost an outbuilding, and almost lost their house. When it's dry, it can get away in a hurry."

Moody said an advantage residents living under the jurisdiction of the Bogalusa Fire Department have is a relatively quick response time.

"We can generally get their pretty fast," he said. "The rural districts, where they sometimes have so far to drive, are unable to do that."

Despite the ban's still being in effect, Bogalusa and Washington Parish did not go so far as some locales, where both the sale and use of fireworks was prohibited.

The cities of Shreveport and Bossier City banned fireworks sales, and extended into Bossier Parish. Additionally, Lafourche Parish also banned the sale and use of fireworks.

Moody reminded that with the burn ban still in effect, there is no legal burning option and that a complaint can result in civil penalties.