All,

As you may have read, two Canadian soldiers were struck by a vehicle on purpose yesterday. It's reported as a terrorist attack....and one soldier died. His name is WO Patrice Vincent.

What you may not know is that he was a Canadian Forces Firefighter.

Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, 53, had been a member of the Canadian military for 28 years when he was killed in the Line of Duty yesterday after being hit by a car driven by that homegrown terrorist.

Vincents career as a Firefighter (and Chief Fire Officer) brought him to military bases across Canada, serving in Halifax, Valcartier, Que., Montreal, Trenton, North Bay, Edmonton, Comox, B.C. and Esquimalt, B.C.

Vincent had been a member of Joint Personnel Support Unit at the Integrated Personnel Support Centre in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., an office run by the departments of defense and veterans affairs that help injured veterans and current soldiers, as well as their families, access support services from the federal government.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The attack occurred in the parking lot outside the IPS center yesterday morning.

Terrorist Martin Couture-Rouleau sat and waited-and then he struck two members of the military with his car in a St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., parking lot in what was "the violent expression of an extremist ideology."

One of those victims, Firefighter/Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, as noted above, has since died.

Couture-Rouleau was shot and killed by police following a high-speed chase as he fled the scene.

According to Quebec provincial police,Couture-Rouleau waited in the parking lot for at least two hours before he drove his car into the soldiers - one of whom was in uniform.

The parking lot in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, located about 40 kilometres southeast of Montreal, served a number of provincial, federal and military administrative offices, as well as several commercial properties.

Couture-Rouleaus gold-beige-coloured 2000 Nissan Altima, was spotted in the parking lot as early as 9:15 a.m. Monday. The men were hit by the car at around 11:30 a.m.

Our condolences to all those affected by this loss. RIP.

FIRES DO CONTINUE-SUCH AS THIS MORNING......

It's not hard to find

the unknowing

talking about the need for less staffing, less companies, less training, less response, etc-in many circles these days.

As stated here so many times before, bare bone cuts are like cutting your home insurance-you immediately do save some money and as long as you have no fire or claim, life is good.

In those "cut" communities, the same thing happens, "all is good" to the clueless-until there is a fire. And the fire comes-as it always does-and always will.....

...but now the

SOIFSFD

(shadow of it's former self fire department)-and it's firefighters, have to attempt to make it work. Expecting a fire department-any fire department-to operate as if they have adequate staffing and resources-when they have far less, is foolishness with a predictable outcome.

There are still fires and be it 5 or 500 in your area, the preparedness and response has to be able to match the incident initially-or the result will be similar to you calling your insurance company and wanting to file a claim-and them reminding you that you are no longer covered.

Don't let anyone feed you the "less fires=less of a need for a well equipped and staffed FD" nonsense-there are fires.

Hats off to the FF's in Lawrence (MA) who are no strangers to budget cuts-and working fires. They tried to save two young kids this morning, trapped in heavy fire conditions.

WATCH THIS VIDEO FIRST:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmJ7PLpoRyU

Other videos and coverage of the Lawrence fire and the heroic attempts by the LFD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg7mGOlItRQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pKEyutr55k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg7mGOlItRQ

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/10/21/family-reports-2-children-missing-after-lawrence-house-fire/

http://www.ksby.com/news/firefighter-hospitalized-after-trying-to-rescue-young-boys-trapped-in-burning-apartment/

Take Care. Be Careful. Pass It On.

BillyG

The Secret List 10/21/2014-2056 Hours