The Los Angeles County Fire Department released two sad
biographieslled when a boiling wall of flames suddenly appeared near a remote road where they were driving. Their vehicle went over the side, plummeting 800 feet down a cliff. Arnie Quinones, horribly, is expecting a baby with his wife, Sonia, in a matter of weeks. Ted Hall was a highly experienced veteran who'd wanted to a firemen since he was a kid.Firefighters everywhere were in mourning for these two partners, and eloquent blogs written by firefighters shared in the grief, while the International Association of Wildland Fire listed the firefighters who have fallen in recent years.
Here is what the official county bios about these two men say:
Fire Fighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones, 34, was killed in the line of duty on Sunday, August 30, 2009, during the Station Fire, when his emergency response vehicle went over the side and fell 800 feet into a steep canyon during fire suppression activities protecting the Camp 16 in the City of Palmdale.
Quinones joined the Los Angeles County Fire Department on August 6, 1998, as a member of the Department's call firefighter program. He was assigned to Fire Station 84 in Battalion 11, where he remained until November 2000, when he was accepted into the Department's Fire Academy as a member of the 104th Recruit Class. Upon graduation in February 2001, he became a Fire Fighter and was assigned to serve the public from Fire Station 24 in the City of Palmdale. In August 2001, he transferred to Fire Station 153 in the City of Covina. In March 2002, he returned to Fire Station 24 and served there until November 2003, when he transferred to Fire Station 82 in the City of La Canada Flintridge.
read more
