Statesville City Council approved this week a $15 per hour minimum wage for all city employees. However, some Statesville firefighters have been voicing their displeasure this week because they are not included in the wage increase.
Statesville City Manager Ron Smith told FOX 46 Thursday that firefighters work different hours, 24 on and 48 off, so their pay structure is different. - PUB DATE: 8/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJZY-TV Fox 46 Charlotte
If Fire Chief Jeff Rowe were headed to Bangor, or somewhere out of state for a conference, he would likely know the most efficient way to get there. He might not know where the charging stations were though, should he need one, for the new Tesla 3 command vehicle.
He could soon find out, by using the car’s GPS, which not only plots the course, but also marks the charging stations — and how long he would have to be there for the charge to complete. - PUB DATE: 8/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald - Metered Site
Ammonium nitrate (AN) became infamous when convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh used it in the Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.
Ammonium nitrate is back in our collective consciousness with the horrific Beirut, Lebanon, blast, and its reminders of the explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant that claimed at least 15 lives, caused 200 injuries and destroyed more than 50 homes. - PUB DATE: 8/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Rescue 1
As health experts gather more data and continue to learn about COVID-19, certain protocols and regulations are changing.
According to the CDC and local health experts, it’s now okay to go back to work just 10 days after testing positive for the virus.
That’s not the only change — Requiring a negative test result to return to work is no longer encouraged. - PUB DATE: 8/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRON -TV 4 San Francisco
PHOTOS: It was just after 9 AM and already the temperatures were in the 90s.
A work crew was pin-welding insulation onto a gigantic 5-million-gallon fuel storage tank in the tank farm next to the Canal Electric Plant.
But the crew had not properly grounded the tank before they began work. That mistake would cause one of the largest fires the Sandwich Fire Department has ever battled. - PUB DATE: 8/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sandwich Enterprise - Metered Site
Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Wednesday aimed at protecting police and other first responders from bias-motivated crimes in Georgia, capping a series of controversial moves by state Republican leaders that nearly derailed passage of a separate bill outlawing hate crimes.
The bill Kemp signed into law sets out punishments for those who commit crimes against police officers, firefighters and medics because of their “actual or perceived employment as a first responder. - PUB DATE: 8/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Jackson Progress
Four firefighters were overcome by fumes after stumbling onto a drug mill operating in the basement of a Paterson home.
The firefighters were responding to a small fire in the basement of the Illinois Avenue home when they were overcome just before 1:30 a.m. Thursday.
They evacuated the structure and collapsed on the driveway. - PUB DATE: 8/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York
PHOTOS: On Tuesday, Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut was rocked by a massive explosion at the city’s port. Thousands were injured and at least 100 people are known to have died so far. While citizens and government officials there are still evaluating the extent of the damage, others are pointing out similarities between this disaster and one that happened in a small Texas town in the 1940s. - PUB DATE: 8/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News
Public safety should retain control of its 50 MHz of 4.9 GHz spectrum—airwaves that the FCC is considering for at least some commercial use—through an allocation to the FirstNet Authority, according to the newly formed Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA).
“We’re concerned that public safety is going to lose spectrum that we might need,” Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association and former vice chairman of the FirstNet Authority, said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. - PUB DATE: 8/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IWCE's Urgent Communications
Using anonymous cell phone data, University of South Florida researchers are pinpointing how and where people in the Bay area move to try to predict how the coronavirus will spread and impact our hospitals.
The data is collected by a third-party vendor from devices on which users have enabled location services. - PUB DATE: 8/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTSP-TV CBS 10 Tampa
This summer’s pandemic-altered traffic configuration in downtown Hyannis has led the village Fire Department to adapt, too.
And for now, at least, two wheels could be better than eight to ensure rapid emergency response in the downtown area.
Last week, the department initiated bicycle patrols on Main, North and South streets and on Ocean Street near the harbor. - PUB DATE: 8/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cape Cod Times
The first fallen Columbus Firefighter is finally receiving a headstone at his gravesite after 150 years.
Mark B. Newman was a Columbus firefighter in the 1800s, he also worked as a police officer. Newman was recognized as the first Columbus firefighter to die in the line of duty more than a century ago. - PUB DATE: 8/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSYX-TV ABC 6 Columbus
VIDEO: The Midland Fire Department responded to a tank battery fire southeast the city at S. County Road 1173 and E. County Road 113. The fire department says that the department is making significant progress in controlling the fire and no injuries have been reported.
The Midland Fire Department and other volunteer crews on the scene are focusing on ensuring that the fire doesn't spread to any other tanks, they plan to let the fire burn off overnight. - PUB DATE: 8/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KWES-TV NBC 9 Odessa
The Elba Fire Department is now home to a $65,000 airboat.
In December 2015, flood waters breached the dam and sent water rushing through the Pea River. Now, five years later, the river struggles to stay at 2.5 feet. This has led to people getting stuck and sometimes stranded while trying to enjoy a day on the water. - PUB DATE: 8/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDHN-TV ABC 18 Dothan
PHOTOS: A massive fire burned in downtown St. Paul early Tuesday morning, apparently destroying a hotel under construction across from the Xcel Energy Center.
The flames were more than 40 feet high at one point and visible on freeway traffic cameras nearby.
Fire officials said shortly after 5 a.m. that a substantial part of the blaze had been knocked down. - PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Minnesota Public Radio News
According to the UC Davis Fire Department, nearly 25% of its firefighters are wearing gear that doesn’t fit them.
UC Davis Fire Chief Nathan Trauernicht told FOX40 Monday that he is calling on uniform manufacturers to do better.
“They need to have maximum range of motion, and at critical times, they have to be able to make critical movements, and if that doesn’t happen, it puts all of us in danger,” Trauernicht explained. - PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTXL-TV FOX 40 Sacramento
The bad news: COVID-19 appears to be filling hospitals throughout the South and the Southwest with patients with a deadly, highly contagious disease. The good news: The federal government is now publishing a COVID-19 hospital bed occupancy map that looks terrible.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been trying to track COVID-19 with a weekly collection of maps, tables and charts based largely on the data sources and methods used to track influenza. - PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Think Advisor
City Council has tabled a proposal to hire, for the first time, part-time firefighters to beef up the Fire Department staff, instead opting to seek a tax increase that would pay for additional full-time firefighters.
The Strongsville Fire Fighters Association, the union representing firefighters here, opposed hiring the part-timers, saying it would undermine the professionalism of their department. - PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland.com
Firefighters with the Orlando Fire Department who have recovered from COVID-19 are donating plasma.
The Orlando Fire Department and OneBlood have teamed up for a plasma drive where firefighters and their family members who've recovered from COVID-19 can donate plasma. "As the cases surge throughout our service area, the need for convalescent plasma has reached new heights," said Susan Forbes, with OneBlood. - PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOFL-TV FOX 35 Orlando
VIDEO: A cavalry of firefighters and response crews had to go into defensive mode as they battled a massive fire at a southwest Houston business that went to three alarms and destroyed an HFD ladder truck.
Explosions continued to erupt hours after the fire broke out some time before 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 7800 block of Westpark Drive near Hillcroft. - PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 14 Houston
