Use an ambulance, don't pay the bill and face criminal charges. That is what's happening in one Westmoreland County community. EMS companies all over the area are facing huge debts. Rescue 14 in Adamsburg in Westmoreland County is no different. But the district attorney has signed off on its new groundbreaking method of bill collecting.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPXI-TV NBC 11 Pittsburgh

The Newburgh City Council on Thursday night approved its 2020 financial plan that includes steep layoffs to public safety and a tax increase for non-homestead payers after an emotionally-charged meeting at the Activity Center. The $46.8 million budget plan calls for the elimination of 35 public-safety positions, six of which are funded-vacancies; meaning 15 uniformed police positions and 14 uniformed firefighters will be cut.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Record Online

Local firefighters and first responders participated in special training on Wednesday aimed at learning how to identify someone with dementia. Carmel and Noblesville fire departments are working to become the first departments in the state to require the training. With an increasing regularity, firefighters are responding to patients suffering some form of dementia.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISH-TV News 8

A hot oiler truck and a frack tank offloading product were the cause of an explosion Thursday on Fairgrounds Road in southeast Midland. Chief Charles Blumenauer of the Midland Fire Department said a fire engine responding to the scene also caught fire after the initial incident. A hose disconnected from the hot oiler and spilled fluid, causing a rolling fire under MFD Engine 3, he said.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Midland Reporter-Telegram

A prestigious firefighter training event is coming to Tulsa for the first time. The Oklahoma Smoke Diver Program will be held at the Tulsa Fire Training Center next March and is expected to have a $200,000 economic impact on the community.The program is only available in a handful of states. Oklahoma firefighters began work on bringing it to the state about five years ago.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 23 News

Three men were killed when flames tore through an abandoned home overnight in Queens. Police sources told CBS2 the cause is believed to be suspicious. Firefighters were called shortly after midnight to Farmers Boulevard near 111th Avenue in the St. Albans section. When crews arrived, they found the men – believed to be squatters – already dead inside the house.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York CBS Local

It’s a slice of small-town America that’s disappearing across the country. Just like the mom-and-pop hardware store, the volunteer fire department is being replaced with big-city professional departments. In the Florida Keys, only two all-volunteer departments have managed to hang on, along with volunteers serving on paid departments.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

Two former city firefighters, both African Americans, have filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming they were the victims of racial discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment, especially under the leadership of retired Fire Chief Joseph Dooley. The 15-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Union County, charges that Joseph Braxton and Mark Bullock were subjected to "racial comments and jokes" daily.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My Central Jersey

Kansas City’s interim fire chief, Donna Maize, will become the first woman to lead the department, the city announced in a press release Wednesday. Maize, who was serving in City Manager Troy Schulte’s office, took the helm as interim chief in September when Gary Reese stepped down. Schulte on Wednesday appointed her to the permanent position, which she had indicated previously that she didn’t plan on pursuing.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Kansas City Star

Lloyd Musick was driving south on Route 309 in Lynn Township on Tuesday night when he came upon an overturned truck that had just been in a crash. He stopped his vehicle and joined two others to help out the victims in the wreck, authorities said. Musick didn’t know the people involved in the 5:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Morning Call

The sign on the door at Firehouse 7 says it all: “THIS PROPERTY CLOSED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.” Asbestos was detected on open surfaces inside the North Plymouth station, prompting the site to be locked down until further notice. Both the town manager and the Board of Health both issued declarations ordering Firehouse 7 closed.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Plymouth Wicked Local

No one knows how many firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer in the country, let alone the state or Dutchess County. In the past five years, officials from the state to firemen associations, have recognized the prevalence of the cancer risk that career and volunteer firefighters face. And different organizations are taking steps to quantify the problem.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Poughkeepsie Journal

The public safety sector—including fire service, law enforcement, EMS and corrections—has made significant gains in raising awareness around suicide among first responders. But did you know that sometimes the very messages used to promote awareness can cause harm and undermine suicide prevention efforts? Fortunately, there is a safe way to talk about suicide.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1.com

The Lewiston Fire Department’s new Engine 3, a Pierce Ascendant with aerial ladder, is an impressive beast no matter how you look at it. But the rig cost the city nearly $1 million dollars and there are people who want to know how this truck is better than the old one, which lasted the city 22 years.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Journal

All members of the Medical Control Board voted to start testing a pilot program that would allow Charlotte firefighters to leave the scene of a call if the patient is OK and MEDIC is already on its way. "You call 911 and you're going to get a red truck coming pretty fast in a short time frame,” said CFD Chief Reginald Johnson.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSOC-TV

No one was injured Monday night as Paterson firefighters battled a structure fire on Rosa Parks Boulevard that spread to an adjacent building. The fire was broadcast live on national television as part of a three-hour version of A&E's "Live Rescue." Paterson Fire Chief Brian McDermott told TV viewers, "We had a pretty advanced fire on arrival.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northjersey.com

It was the beginning of a hero’s sendoff. Worcester fire officials promised Tina Menard and her three children a hero’s sendoff for Lt. Jason Menard. It’s a promise no fire department wants to fulfill, and one Worcester firefighters have had to deliver eight other times in the last 20 years. Firefighters, police officers and paramedics from across Massachusetts lined up outside Mercadante Funeral Home in Worcester on Sunday afternoon, paying their respects to Menard, who was killed in a four-alarm fire early Wednesday morning at 7 Stockholm St.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Masslive.com

The firehouse on Foulkrod and Darrah streets in Philadelphia's Frankford section has been without its engine for a decade, leaving some neighbors feeling vulnerable. "Because of all the families that are around here, all the people around here, they need the engine to save lives," said Sylvia Pickens, who lives across the street from the firehouse.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

A recent report on the Durham Fire Department’s response to the April 10 gas explosion downtown could bolster the department’s request for 75 more firefighters. The Fire Department has about 385 people who fight fires. Having more would improve response times and on-scene efficiency, reducing injuries and property loss, according to a presentation the department gave the city in March, about a month before the explosion.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The News & Observer

Corporations can be held legally responsible for the state’s costs in investigating and fighting fires that are carelessly started or spread by corporate employees, a state appeals court ruled Monday. There has been no dispute that corporations can be required to pay compensation for deaths, injuries and property damage from fires caused by their employees, the source of at least $18 billion of the debt that drove Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle - Metered Site