Officer Jason Eckes

Birmingham Police Department



Visitation:
Sunday, April 24, 2005 - 5pm-8pm
John-Ridouts, Valley Chapel
1802 Oxmoor Road
Homewood, AL 35209

Funeral:
Monday, April 25, 2005 - 4pm
Our Lady of Sorrows
1728 Oxmoor Road
Homewood, AL 35209

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An off-duty Birmingham police officer riding his bicycle was struck and killed by a driver fleeing a police chase just minutes earlier, authorities said.

Officer Jason Eckes, 32, of Homewood, was struck about 10:13 p.m. and taken to a hospital, Deputy Police Chief Bob Copus said. He was hit after police lost sight of the truck they chased southward from Birmingham along I-65.

Police Chief Annetta Nunn said the driver had no way of knowing the man he hit was a police officer.

"He was just a guy out riding his bike," said Nunn, adding that she's confident the damage on the truck will proved that it's the same one from the chase.

"We should be able to tie it together, she said.

During the chase a woman, who either jumped or was thrown from the truck, landed at the Sixth Avenue South exit ramp along the interstate, officers said. She was treated at a hospital and later questioned by Homewood police.

Eckes worked the evening shift at the West Precinct, which lost three police officers — Carlos Owen, Harley Chisholm III and Robert Charles Bennett — in June when they were shot to death while serving a warrant at a reputed drug den.

"It's surreal, like a dream you hope you will wake up from," precinct commander Capt. Hollis Crutchfield told the Birmingham News.

This story for EMS Action was put together from articles in the Birmingham News

4th Avenue South MVA

Birmingham Fire and Rescue

This MVA was at 4th Avenue and 24th Street South. One car was on it's side. Rescue 6 transported one to the hospital.


Engine 6 and Rescue 6 arriving...

Jefferson County EMA

Mobile Command and Communications Center

The Jefferson County EMA has a new Mobile Command and Communications Center. I was down by City Hall when it was delivered. I stopped to take a few pictures when Allen Kniphfer, the Operations Officer for Jefferson County EMA, asked me if I would like to look inside.

The pictures don't do it justice. It's an awesome piece of high-tech modern equipment.

I-59 MVA with Rollover

Birmingham Fire & Rescue

I was on I-59 this morning passing the Tallapoosa exit when all of the sudden I saw a cloud of dust and an SUV shoot across the Interstate in front of me and slam into the center divide. As if that wasn't enough, then I see a car flip into the air and start rolling. By the time it was over, she had rolled three times.

I can safely say that I've been on hundreds of wrecks in my career but to see a car fly through the air and start rolling was something that I had to convince myself I was actually seeing.

The lady I was helping was, for the most part, fine. Of course, she was hurting but didn't have any obvious fractures, major bleeds or decreased level of consciousness. She kept thanking God for sparing her... and rightfully so! I must say, I was doing the same.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue and the Birmingham Police Department arrived on the scene in what seemed to be less than a minute. I'm sure it was a little bit longer than that but I really was impressed with their response time... especially since they had to get through a fast growing wall of dead-stopped traffic because the Interstate, at the time of the incident, was impassable.

On scene were 3 rescue units (I think 8, 1 and 22), EMS 4, Engine 8, and a Battalion Chief. The truck company was canceled.


This was as I was pulling over, seconds after it happened. You can still see the dust settling in front of the SUV...










Rescue 8 treating the lady who was in the car that rolled...




Birmingham Police and A.S.A.P. keeping traffic off of the medics...

2 Alarm Apartment Fire

Birmingham Fire & Rescue

The two alarm fire broke out around 1:30AM in the Ruby Hills Apartments located at 1834 17th Ave N. Thirteen units were effected. This was the second fire there in two weeks. One firefighter was injured.
















Imagine that...




























NBC13 after a live shot. No, I wasn't one of those people who stands behind the reporter with a confused look on their face. They were breaking down the shot...




The Salvation Army assisted the burned out residents...