Paramedics

NEWPORT COAST ? Lou Basenese turns 57 today, so the gift neighbors gave him on July 6 was a little early. Their gift wasn't wrapped ? it was his life. Basenese and his wife, Laura, were vacationing here from Orlando when Lou suffered a heart attack near their condo. Laura's screams for help led neighbors to call 911 and help her perform CPR until paramedics came. Updated CPR procedures done by the medics and a brand-new machine at Hoag Hospital also allowed Lou Basenese to survive what could have been a fatal attack.

Three drivers escaped uninjured Tuesday after two cars caught fire in separate incidents and third was involved in a collision, according to authorities. Costa Mesa firefighters responded to a call that a silver Ford Focus was on fire at 12:35 p.m. at Fairview Road and Mustang Way in front of Costa Mesa High School. Capt. Brent Turner said the driver, Maria Najera, of Costa Mesa, had just been at her mechanic's shop before the engine caught fire. She said her vehicle was feeling a little sluggish and her mechanic told her to use higher-octane fuel.

The city of Costa Mesa is looking for a new fire chief. Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold is not a candidate for the permanent position. "I think it's time for the community to have a full-time fire chief, so I'm excited about it," Arnold said. "I'm happy to serve the time I served, but it is time to get a full-time chief. " The application period began Wednesday and closes July 12, according to the job listing. The salary range is $153,216 to $205,320, depending on qualifications.

A car crashed into a tree, split in half and then burst into flames on one of Newport Beach's widest and busiest streets Monday evening, claiming the lives of five teenagers and leaving questions about what caused one of the worst wrecks in city history, police said. The injuries to two of the victims were so severe that the county coroner was using fingerprints to confirm their identities. The victims' identities were expected to be released Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters and police responded to the scene just north of Jamboree Road and Island Lagoon Drive at 5:20 p.m., according to Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman Kathy Lowe.

Two trains collided in Chatsworth. The death toll would reach 25. More than five times that were injured. Peering through a home's chain-link fence, first responders saw fire licking twisted metal. Soon they brought order to the chaos with color-coded tarps: red for the most severely injured, yellow for the moderately injured and green for the least injured. The story, however, starts 30 years ago, some 80 miles to the south, in Newport Beach, where the Fire Department and Hoag Hospital staff developed a system of sorting patients based on who needed care most.

Lolita Harper You can take a man out of a firehouse but you will never take the firehouse out of this man. Brian Slater, a retired Newport Beach paramedic, still jumps to action at the sounds of sirens. In fact, he responded to a medical call Thursday night on his own block. Donna Boston, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department, said the station sent a paramedic unit to the 400 block of Colton Street for emergency medical aid. When the crew arrived on scene, Slater, who lives a few doors down, was there, Boston said.

Deepa Bharath A Fire Department paramedic remained in critical condition Tuesday after he was injured body surfing Saturday afternoon, officials said. Brian Slater, 51, was swimming in the ocean off Colton Street at about 3:15 p.m. while his family was on the beach, said Newport Beach Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer. A few beachgoers alerted a lifeguard in a tower a block away that a man was floating face down in waist-deep water, he said. "Our seasonal lifeguards responded first, but they were soon backed up by one of our patrol vehicles," Bauer said.

Laguna Beach is helping assist in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Firefighter Paramedic Eric Lether, a member of the Orange County Disaster Medical Assistance Team, has been in the New Orleans area since Monday working to set up remote care facilities for victims of Hurricane Katrina, said Chief Mike Macey. The Federal Emergency Management Agency put out a call Thursday to California fire agencies requesting 1,000 teams of two firefighters to assist in disaster response efforts in the area affected by the hurricane.

Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever has appealed the decision to charge residents extra fees for emergency medical services. The City Council decided to start charging residents $275 to $460 on top of normal ambulance costs when the Fire Department’s paramedics respond to a medical emergency and the patient is taken to a hospital. The proposal was one of three suggestions by the Fire Department to earn an estimated $1 million per year to help balance next year’s city budget.

If it had been any other night, he’d probably be dead. If he had decided to join another team, he could be dead. If even one thing had been different about Tuesday, he might not be here for his wife and kids. But like friend Craig Covey said, “The moons, planets and the stars, everything was in alignment.” It’s one of those stories you just can’t make up. Tuesday night, Covey, an Orange County Fire Authority captain, was playing basketball with his team in a recreation league at the West Newport Gym off 15th Street near Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.