During an extreme weather emergency such as Hurricane Dorian, hundreds of first responders, law enforcement and county personnel work around the clock overseeing evacuations, shelters, flooded roads and securing the community from harm. At the Martin County Emergency Operations Center, they also must eat.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TCPalm

After reports from EMS personnel raised questions about the frequency of field officer assault by patients, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services conducted an internal survey. The results showed that the majority of Austin EMS personnel say they’ve been assaulted on the job in the last two years.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin Monitor

Divers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department joined the U.S. Coast Guard Monday in an effort to find as many as 30 people feared dead resulting from a 75-foot commercial diving boat that caught fire and sank near Santa Cruz Island early Monday. Twenty-five bodies have been located, and at least nine other people were missing and likely deceased, authorities said.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 5 San Diego

An assistant fire chief has been severely burned while fighting a fire in Okanogan County that began over the weekend. The Spring Coulee Fire was sparked Sunday afternoon south of the town of Okanogan, county emergency officials said. The fire spread quickly to the north. During the fire fight, Assistant Chief Christian Johnson with Okanogan County Fire District No.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

The Baltimore City Fire Department’s (BCFD) new response reduction policy, which lowers the number of vehicles and battalion chiefs responding to initial fire alarms, went into effect on Sunday, September 1. Barely a day passed before an incident that the city’s rank-and-file firefighters’ union said shows the policy’s critical weaknesses.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Captial Gazette

Mount Sinai Fire District officials unnecessarily raised taxes more than 4 percent over a four-year period after overestimating expenditures by more than $300,000, state auditors said in a report released last week. The district, which runs business operations for the fire department, also failed to seek bids for about $27,000 worth of purchases, the office of state Comptroller Thomas P.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday

Poisonous chemicals killed one woman in an apparent suicide and sickened eight people, prompting the evacuation of three floors of the Hotel Fairmont in San Jose Saturday, fire officials said. About 10 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to the hotel on a report of an attempted suicide on the 19th floor using chemicals.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco CBS Local

Saturday's fire on Straight Street would have engulfed several city blocks if fire commanders on the scene hadn't made the right call, said Fire Chief Brian McDermott. Fire commanders Capt. Jose Castro and Battalion Chief John Botero got to the scene and within minutes switched the mission from offensive to defensive in order to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the neighborhood.
- PUB DATE: 8/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: North Jersey.com (Bergen County Record & Herald News)

Family and friends are remembering Maysville, Iowa, Fire Chief Ty Arp as not just a loving husband and father who loved his firefighters and his community, but also as a man who brought joy wherever he went. Arp, 42, died Tuesday at University Hospitals, Iowa City, after suffering a stroke on Aug. 22.
- PUB DATE: 8/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Quad-City Times

It’s not often that a fire district must prepare for a known event with so many unknown factors. But that’s the situation facing the Lincoln County (Nevada) Fire Protection District and its fire chief/emergency manager, Eric Holt, now anticipating a massive influx of people to the remote area on Sept.
- PUB DATE: 8/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter's proposed 2020 budget would take money from the police department's mental health unit and give it to the fire department. Carter allocated $500,000 for the police department in 2019 to pay for three new mental health officers and community mental health provider contracts, according to the city's finance department.
- PUB DATE: 8/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star Tribune

The Brownsville Fire Department is equipped with some new ambulances that can be used in off road conditions. The three all-terrain response units will be able to go into areas standard ambulances are unable to access. Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon said the off-road ambulances will be used on the hike-and-bike trails, along the border fence, along the river terrain and even Boca Chica Beach.
- PUB DATE: 8/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Brownsville Herald

Two people were booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of 28-year-old firefighter John Brian Mananghaya Aguila, West Covina Police announced Wednesday. Elijah Thomas Rouse, 18, of La Verne and Shaun Cardarelli, 37, of San Gabriel were arrested on Tuesday and are currently being held in lieu of $1 million bail each.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTTV-TV MyFox 11 Los Angeles

Signs taped to the entrances of Guerneville’s fire station warn people that it’s risky to step inside — an unusual message for a building dedicated to public safety. It turns out this Russian River firehouse is among an aging group of unreinforced masonry structures in jeopardy of collapse in a major temblor.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat

Apopka fire Chief Chuck Carnesale, a part of the Fire Department since 1983 when he was 13 and served as a “student explorer,” announced Wednesday he is retiring. His decision to step down effective Friday followed a city request for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to look into problems with National EMS Billing, a company which held a contract to collect bills from patients treated by the city’s emergency medical service.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel - Metered Site

West Covina police detained three people Tuesday in connection with a missing 28-year-old man who has not been heard from since last week. The family members of West Covina firefighter John Brian Mananghaya Aguila contacted West Covina police on Aug. 24 after not hearing from him for multiple days.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News Los Angeles

VIDEO: A destructive wildfire season in Alaska has only grown worse in recent weeks, as the Swan Lake Fire has spread rapidly. Located near Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula, the blaze has been fueled by an incredibly warm and dry summer. Since being ignited by lightning on June 5, the blaze has become the country's largest wildfire at a total size of 158,042 acres, as of Aug.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AccuWeather

The surgeries were over, the life-threatening condition halted, and Tommy Spiotta headed out of Stony Brook Children's Hospital Tuesday — only to find a joyful surprise. The East Patchogue 19-year-old — a fire department explorer and Special Olympics competitor — passed through the front doors of the hospital to applause and cheers from about 50 firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday

VIDEO: A massive fire at a West Philadelphia church is finally under control after several hours. The blaze caused parts of the building to collapse onto the street. The three-alarm blaze erupted on Tuesday afternoon at the Greater Bible Way Temple on the 1400 block of North 52nd Street. Fire crews remained at the scene the entire night monitoring hot spots.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KYW-TV CBS 3

New York City isn’t the only community dealing with an increase of first responder suicides. Nationally, suicides for both police officers and firefighters have surpassed line-of-duty deaths for the respective positions. In Lakewood, firefighters Ryan Fairbanks and Ryan Birth decided to tackle this epidemic by creating the Fire Peer Support initiative.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland.com