A dispatcher says at about 8:30 a.m. Monday the man fell into an open manhole on Calder at 9th where he was working on the Calder Drainage Project. The man reached down to pick up an object and was backing up when he fell into the open manhole.

Firefighters used special equipment to get into a larger opening and rescue the worker after 20-30 minutes. They placed him on a backboard and pulled him to the street.

He was taken by ambulance to Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth. The man was conscious and talking with rescuers.
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From The Beaumont Enterprise
A man working on the Calder Avenue road project fell 15 feet down a hole Monday morning, possibly breaking his leg. The 30-year-old Houston man fell near the intersection of Calder Avenue and Ninth Street at about 8:30 a.m., according to Capt. Earl White with the Beaumont Fire Department.

The hole is 15 feet deep, according to Todd Hendricks with BRH Garver, the company doing the Calder Avenue construction.

White said the worker uncovered the hole, then turned around and accidentally stepped in it. The hole was not big enough to pull him out of, so the man had to be moved underground to a larger hole so rescue crews could lift him up, White said.

Hendricks said the man injured his ankle, but reports also say he might have broken a leg. The man was taken to a nearby hospital. He has not been identified.

Construction work has resumed.

At about 8:40 p.m. on June 20, Ward said he was knocked unconscious after he hit his chin on a pier deck as he stepped onto the ledge of his boat, losing his footing.

“It had just flat knocked me out,” said Ward, a Vidor resident.

The two men met at a friend’s house earlier that evening. Ward was having problems with a broken fuel pump on his 32-foot yacht and Smith offered to look at the boat down at the Pine Street club, said Ward.

Susan, Ward’s wife, was waiting in the car for her husband when she heard something hit the water.

“It never occurred to me that the splash was my husband,” she said.

Police, Fire and EMS responded to the collision at 11 a.m. Wednesday on Calder at Willow in downtown Beaumont.

One patient was taken to Beaumont Baptist Hospital and a second patient was taken to Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth. They were taken Prority 3, which indicates non-life threatening injuries.

Police say according to preliminary information, a woman in a car ran a red light and struck the truck, causing it to overturn.

According to Fire Captain Larry Hamby, firefighters were called to a home on the 5700 block of East Main Street at around 8:50 a.m. Wednesday after a man discovered his father was stuck in the attic. Hamby said the man had been working on the air-conditioning unit around noon Tuesday when one of his legs fell through the ceiling.

Due to medical privacy laws, Hamby could not release the name of the victim. However, an 86-year-old man named Victor Ray Reese Sr. is listed as the owner of the home, according to the appraisal district.

Hamby described Reese as being in “great shape” for his age, as he is a former Marine, and seemed to only suffering from disorientation. Hamby said Reese was adamant about not wanting to go to the hospital, but his son talked him into being checked out.

Hamby said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to cut a hole in the ceiling and pull Reese out.

The two groups are also in competition to see who can donate more blood through the Blood Center of East Texas’ mobile unit parked in front of the Fire Administration Building at 111 S. Third St.

Firefighter Jeff Barker was the first to have his head shaved, offering up his own $20 donation. “I wanted to show unity and help out a good cause,” Barker said, checking out his new look.

Lufkin Police Lt. Charlie Graham was the first officer to lose his locks Tuesday morning. Dustin Ledford, Lufkin Fire captain and expert head shaver, stepped aside to let Graham’s wife Pam in on the fun.

“It looks good — not that big of a change, really,” Pam said with a grin as she inspected her handiwork.

“Seeing as how I already keep my head shaved, I’m just glad I can help out,” Ledford added as he touched up Graham’s new do.

At $20 a head, day one of the two-day event brought in more than $300, including a donation from Lufkin Mayor Jack Gorden. One Lufkin firefighter coming off duty found a higher price had been set on his locks.

“There’s a bounty on your head,” Lufkin Fire Capt. Brad Ehrlich told Firefighter Kevin Pebsworth.

As Pebsworth sat in the cutting chair, Ehrlich took last-minute collections via cell phone. The firefighter’s new look brought in $50 for Team Titus.

Lufkin Police Det. J.B. Smith said he hopes to see LPD win the friendly competition.
“It would be great to get other law enforcement agencies involved,” Smith said with a mischievous laugh. “Of course, their donations would have to be for LPD.”

Titus’ dad, Donnie Grigg, said his family feels blessed to have such loving support from the community. “We appreciate these guys not caring what they look like on the outside to help a sick child become well,” Grigg said as he watched the men lose their hair. Grigg lost his hair earlier this year at the first benefit for his son.

Next month, Titus will undergo what will hopefully be his last chemotherapy at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Grigg said.

“I hope once we’re done with all his treatments I can bring Titus up here to meet these guys so he can say ‘Thank you’ too,” Grigg said. “I also want to say thanks to all those who donated blood. In between treatments, Titus is needing a lot of blood.”

Day two of the event continues today from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lufkin Fire Administration Building. For more information, contact Lufkin Fire at 633-0366.
__________By Jessica Cooley in The Lufkin Daily News
Several Lufkin firefighters will shave their heads Tuesday and Wednesday, raising money for Titus Grigg, a 6-year-old boy battling a brain tumor. Titus, son of Donnie and Amy Grigg of Lufkin, has been diagnosed with medulloblastoma and is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

Here is Titus’ story in his own words:
“My journey started December 21, 2009, when I had my first headache that made me throw up. My parents thought that it was a stomach bug or a migraine. My next headache happened on December 26 while we were in Arkansas for Christmas. Again, I had a headache when I woke up, I threw up and then eventually felt better. On January 8, I had another one like this and my parents thought that it was time for me to be seen by the doctor. We went to my pediatrician who said he wanted me to get a test called an MRI. The next Monday, January 18th, we got the MRI. The radiologist told my parents that I had a tumor. That afternoon we were on our way to Texas Children’s Hospital. The next morning I had brain surgery to remove the tumor. I have had a great recovery from surgery and now I have radiation and chemotherapy ahead.”

To help raise money for the effort known “Team Titus,” firefighters will shave their heads for $20 donations from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m Wednesday at the Fire Administration Building at 111 S. Third St. “Team Titus” members will be on hand selling T-shirts, as well. The Blood Center of East Texas Bloodmobile will also be on hand taking blood donations. A blood donation can be made in lieu of the $20. Lufkin Police officers will be making blood donations, as well.

Lufkin Fire Capt. Brad Ehrlich said he hopes the fundraiser is a success.

On June 20, 2010, Beaumont Fire Rescue Engine 7 and Beaumont EMS Med 1 were called to a possible drowning at the Beaumont Yacht Club on Pine Street. Larry Ward had fallen into the water. A friend with Ward, John Smith, jumped into the water, found Ward and was able to hold his head above water until Fire and EMS personnel arrived.

When the fire engine arrived, 2 firefighters went into the water to assist Smith and together they were able to remove Ward from the water. Ward was treated by the firefighters and paramedics. He was then taken to the hospital where he was treated and released.

Fire Department officials say Ward survived his experience due to the actions of his friend as well as those of the firefighters and paramedics.

In February 2008, firefighter Tracy O’Quinn sued the city of Beaumont, claiming the city refused to continue to compensate him for a heart attack he suffered on the job on Nov. 6, 1995. O’Quinn was forced to file the suit after a Worker’s Compensation Appeals Panel ruled in November 2007 that his “compensable injury does not include coronary artery disease, high-density lipoprotein (high cholesterol) and gastritis,” court records show.

After a year and a half of litigation, a Jefferson County jury reversed the appeals panel’s ruling and found that O’Quinn’s “compensable injury” does indeed include coronary artery disease and gastritis. However, the jury did side with the appeals panel in ruling that the injury does not include HDL.

Judge Gary Sanderson, who presided over the trial, officially entered the jury verdict on July 30, 2009, court papers say. In response, the city filed motions to reject the jury verdict and grant a new trial – all of which was rejected by Judge Sanderson – forcing the city to file an appeal. The case was submitted on briefs July 19.

On appeal, the city claims that “there is insufficient evidence” to support the jury’s findings, arguing that justices should reverse and remand the trial court’s decision not to grant its motion for a new trial, according to the city’s appeals brief.

Conversely, O’Quinn contends that “sufficient” evidence was presented, which included testimony from his cardiologist.

“Testimonial and documentary evidence, though disputed, constituted legally sufficient evidence to support the jury’s findings in O’Quinn’s favor,” states O’Quinn appeals brief. “Therefore, the judgment should be affirmed.”

It could take months before justices craft an opinion.

O’Quinn is represented by attorney John Werner of the Beaumont law firm Reaud, Morgan and Quinn. The city is represented by Beaumont attorneys Don Lighty and Michael Rose of the Stevens Baldo Freeman & Lighty law firm.

It is early in the investigation, but deputies say it looks like it was a self inflicted gunshot wound that killed Strother.Strother had been last seen Thursday at his cousin’s house in Silsbee.

He was a Silsbee volunteer fireman and always took his gear with him whenever he went out but left his gear at his cousin’s house. He was not reachable by his cell phone or fireman’s pager. Relatives and co-workers say that was highly unusual for him.

Nobody was in the home at the time of the fire, and it was not immediately sure whether anyone was living in it, according to LFD Capt. Victor Bass. Fire officials asked emergency dispatchers to send the fire marshal and/or a fire investigator to the scene.

Witnesses said that the fire started in the back of the house, and in minutes half the home was engulfed in flames. The cause of the fire was unknown, but Newton City Police officer and volunteer fireman, Herb Kelley, said that the couple had electrical problems last week.