It’s commonplace around firehouses to see firefighters transition to new career paths after two decades of service. But usually, first-responder crews watch people walk out their doors when they hit about 50. Very few walk through the door fresh to firefighting. At age 53, however, D.C. fire department paramedic Carmen Hackett is doing that: She graduated Friday as the most senior member and the only paramedic in Firefighter Recruit Class 388.
- PUB DATE: 8/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Washington Post - Metered Site

Growing up in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Vidalia Vigil learned all about “roughing it” and hard work at an early age. The 24-year-old recalled going out for her own wood, learning how to use power tools in her early teens and camping regularly throughout her upbringing around Pecos. This background came in handy when, right out of high school, she became an on-call wildland firefighter in the Pecos/Las Vegas district with the Santa Fe National Forest.
- PUB DATE: 8/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albuquerque Journal

Southwest Nampa has been in need of a fire station for eight years, according to the fire chief, and the mayor says it could be 2024 or later before funding is available. The city of over 100,000 people has five fire stations and, given the call volume, needs three more, Fire Chief Kirk Carpenter said.
- PUB DATE: 8/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Idaho Press

The Kern County Fire Department is losing firefighters to other agencies because of low pay, according to the Kern County Firefighters Association. A tweet sent out earlier this week announced that two firefighters had resigned to go to other fire departments, and that a total of 41 firefighters were lost for a similar reason since 2014.
- PUB DATE: 8/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KERO-TV ABC 23 Bakersfield

VIDEO: Minnesota’s Aviation Rescue Team (MART) deployed more times last weekend then they often see in a month, after three calls for help sent teams on rescues to the North Shore and Boundary Waters. The team is made up of 16 St. Paul firefighters and pilots from the Minnesota State Patrol, and is based at a hangar at Holman Field in St.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSTP-TV ABC 5 St. Paul

Cancer in the fire service is a critical issue. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that firefighters have a 9 percent increase in cancer diagnosis and a 14 percent increase in cancer-related death as compared to the general population. While those numbers may not appear too startling, one must also consider that, while firefighters’ overall cancer diagnoses do not far outpace the general public, their diagnosis of particular types of cancers does.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

Congressman Pete Stauber, R-Duluth, and Congressman Jared Golden, D-Maine, introduced legislation Tuesday, July 30, to ensure the infrastructure of fire stations across the nation allow firefighters to efficiently and safely perform their jobs. The Fire Station Infrastructure Safety Act would direct the U.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Brainerd Dispatch

For the past school year, the Chester County Intermediate Unit’s Technical College High School (TCHS) students have been hard at work on a new advertising campaign to convince their classmates to join their local, Chester County fire station as junior volunteer firefighters. This fall, the fruits of their labor will finally be on display.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Local News

One of the biggest challenges facing firefighters across Alaska in the 2019 fire season was smoke. The thick smoke that blanketed much of Alaska made firefighting efforts difficult. Much of firefighting is conducted from the air. Tankers and helicopters drop water and retardant on fires. Fire crews use aircraft to map the blazes, and supplies are dropped in from the air.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Webcenter11 Fairbanks

VIDEO: A Minquas fireman critically injured last March was one of several firefighters who were not wearing proper equipment while battling a Mill Creek house fire, according to a report obtained by The News Journal. An investigation into a series of errors in battling the blaze also found that two firefighters were unfamiliar with equipment used to fight the fire, and firefighters disregarded orders to exit the burning house.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The News Journal - Metered Site

VIDEO: Authorities say a massive explosion has killed at least one person in Lincoln County early Thursday morning. The Lincoln County Coroner's Office has identified the victim as Lisa Denise Derringer, 58, of Stanford. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office says the explosion happened in the are of Bowens Loop Road in the Moreland community near Junction City and Hustonville.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKYT-TV CBS/CW 27 Lexington

Lorain firefighters hope a fire drill will convince city leaders to add to staff on duty every day in the city. The Lorain Professional Firefighters Local 267 is planning a demonstration with Lorain’s elected officials to make their case for a 16-person crew. The Lorain Fire Department currently has 15 firefighters on daily duty, said union President Jon Stephanchick.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Morning Journal - Metered Site

Firefighters and emergency medical responders in New York State have gotten the green light to remove animals from unattended cars if the animals are in danger. Governor Cuomo signed legislation that expanded the number of responders legally allowed to remove the animals. The legislation was designed to get animals in danger out quickly, especially in areas where police or animal control availability is limited.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBW-TV ABC 7 Buffalo

California will hire 393 more firefighters in anticipation of an upcoming wildfire season that has the potential to be even worse than last year’s, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday. The long rainy season promoted heavy growth of grass and other underbrush in which fires can start and spread once the vegetation dries out.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sierra Star

VIDEO: A crash on Interstate 280 involving a dump truck left several people injured, including three state troopers and five firefighters. New Jersey State Police say that the troopers were on the eastbound side of the highway in West Orange around 10 a.m. Tuesday investigating a previous, unrelated car crash when the dump truck collided with the troopers and their vehicles.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News 12 New Jersey

A narrative of the January 5 fire that resulted in the death of one Clinton firefighter and critical injury of another suggests that the men didn’t need to be on top of the silo at all. Seconds before the explosion in the grain silo, an Archer Daniels Midland official told the Clinton Fire Department that he believed that water could have been applied through a side hatch as CFD had originally planned, according to an incident narrative report by the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Clinton Herald

The chief of the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority says more than a dozen career firefighter positions could be cut and two of the department's four full-time fire stations could close if a maintenance and operations levy proposal fails in the up-coming primary election. Property owner Jim Elsner supports the levy.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

The one small saving grace over these last two years of horrendous wildfires in California was that they came at a time when the state had ample resources to respond without having to divert money from schools or healthcare. That won’t always be the case. As a result of climate change, we can expect catastrophic fires to occur with grim regularity.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times - Metered Site

VIDEO: A group of Kansas firefighters is doing more than just putting out fires. “You always worry about those situations where you need medical attention,” says Chief Jeffrey Hooper, Hutchinson Police Department. “It is difficult then to get medics in the hot zone.” Beating the heat is something firefighters are used to.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSNW-TV NBC 3 Wichita

Cal Fire San Diego is mourning the loss of one of their own: 28-year-old firefighter Yaroslav Katkov, who passed away on duty Monday morning. Katkov suffered a medical emergency during a training hike Sunday morning with his engine crew, CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNSD-TV NBC 7 San Diego