When he found out earlier this year that the state Fire Training Academy would not be available to the department’s five recruits, Camas-Washougal Fire Battalion Chief Kevin Villines scrambled.
Villines learned that the academy in North Bend would be closed indefinitely for remodeling. He called nearly every department in the state to make arrangements at their facilities but found each one to be either cost-prohibitive or fully occupied. - PUB DATE: 4/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers has introduced a bill to ban firefighting foam that contains certain toxic, man-made chemicals: those classified as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS.
El Paso County Democrats Rep. Tony Exum and Sen. Pete Lee joined forces with their Republican counterparts, Rep. - PUB DATE: 4/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Colorado Springs Independent
VIDEO: The Attleboro Firefighter's Union and Mayor Paul Heroux are at odds over when to make several big purchases for the city's fire department.
During an Attleboro City Council meeting last week, Heroux asked the council for $22,500 to buy a new gear extractor (washing machine and dryer) for the city's fire department. - PUB DATE: 4/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Fox Providence 12
On a frigid early December morning, Travis Akins stood at the front of a conference room in the county’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courthouse and took a deep breath, preparing to tell a group of parents something they might not be ready to hear.
“We’re not going to baby your sons,” said Akins, a Chesterfield native and founder of Growth Through Opportunity, a 16-week program that provides young adults who have a variety of physical and/or intellectual disabilities with hands-on learning experiences, skill- and confidence-building and socialization through training alongside local first responders. - PUB DATE: 4/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chesterfield Observer
The city of Grand Blanc will start its own fire department later this year.
Beginning July 25, the city will provide services to its residents, a departure from a decades-long partnership with Grand Blanc Township.
“Our primary concern when making this decision is the City’s safety and protection with care and respect,” reads a statement issued Wednesday, April 10 after the council’s vote to approve the move. - PUB DATE: 4/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLive.com
VIDEO / PHOTOS: Search-and-rescue teams are sifting through the rubble after an explosion Wednesday morning in downtown Durham left one person dead and 17 people injured, officials said.
Durham firefighters responded to a 911 call about an odor of gas in the 100 block of N. Duke St. at about 9:38 a. - PUB DATE: 4/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The News & Observer
VIDEO: “He tried everything in his power to kill me. He stabbed me, he cut me, he bit me and, thankfully, he was unsuccessful,” the victim, a paramedic, told a judge Tuesday.
His testimony was powerful; the emotions real.
Jeremiah Ray pleaded guilty Tuesday to stabbing the paramedic. The incident happened Feb. - PUB DATE: 4/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KATU-TV ABC 2 Portland
Chief Samuel Pena told the city’s Public Safety Committee & Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that he’s planning to lay off a total of 237 firefighters to implement Proposition B, which requires pay parity with police.
But Pena also said the goal could be accomplished without any job losses by phasing in the firefighter raises. - PUB DATE: 4/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston
Arkansas legislators passed Crump’s Law on Monday, granting municipal firefighters across the state an extra six months of paid sick leave when they are being treated for cancer contracted on the job.
Members of El Dorado Professional Firefighters Local 1704, a labor organization representing 90 percent of the paid firefighters in El Dorado, lobbied at the state Capitol in February for the bill’s passage. - PUB DATE: 4/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: El Dorado News-Times
Santa Rosa is on track to settle a 2-year-old lawsuit over firefighters’ overtime pay after the City Council approved a deal Tuesday to boost pay for 118 unionized firefighters.
The council unanimously approved without discussion Tuesday a deal to increase salaries, expand pension contributions and provide one-time lump-sum payments of at least $5,000 to firefighters while reducing the city’s maximum health insurance contributions to those employees. - PUB DATE: 4/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat
A decorated city firefighter and Marine who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was dedicated to being the best man he could be, his heartbroken father said Tuesday.
Firefighter Christopher Slutman, a father of three and a U.S. Marine reservist assigned to Ladder 27 in the Bronx, was killed Monday during a roadside bombing near the Bagram Air Base, north of the Afghan capital. - PUB DATE: 4/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
VIDEO: The Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters Local 93 have sounded an alarm of its own, in the form of a 100-page fire station conditions report it said points to serious safety concerns.
Local 93 President Fran Lally showed News 5 fire equipment data he said indicates nearly 50% of all fire vehicles are rated in either poor or fair condition. - PUB DATE: 4/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News 5 Cleveland
The Prairie Township Fire Protection District is still seeking a solution to improve service and response times.
While voters in both districts last year shot down consolidation with the Lake Lotawana Fire Protection District due to a difference in property tax rates, Prairie Township Fire Chief Bill Large said consolidation is still Plan A, with Plan B being Prairie Township tackling putting a fire station on Wyatt Road in southern Blue Springs on its own. - PUB DATE: 4/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Examiner
VIDEO: Firefighters have a tough job, and Valley drivers don't make it any easier.
Capt. Nick Gonzalez of the Peoria Fire-Medical Department said firefighters are continually having to avoid motorists who don't pull over when they see or hear an emergency vehicle.
When you see flashing lights or hear a siren, you're supposed to slow down and pull (safely) to the right -- as far as you can -- and wait until the fire truck, ambulance or police car passes. - PUB DATE: 4/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KASW-CW6 & KTVK-3TV (azfamily.com)
Over howls of protest from Rhode Island’s municipal leaders, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a two-bill package mandating that cities and towns pay overtime to firefighters who average more than 42 hours in a workweek, as opposed to the 53-hour-a-week federal O.T. threshold.
The largely party-line vote was 62-9 in a state that regularly tops the national charts in its cost of firefighting services, and it followed days of protests by mayors and town managers across the state, including Warwick Mayor Joseph J. - PUB DATE: 4/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal - Metered Site
Three retired FDNY firefighters suffering from 9/11 illnesses died within 48 hours this week as the number of those succumbing to lethal toxins at Ground Zero continues to swell, officials and 9/11 survivor advocates said Saturday.
Retired FDNY Lt. Timothy O’Neill died on April 2 and Firefighter Kevin Lennon died on April 4 from 9/11-related cancers — nearly 18 years after responding to the terror attacks. - PUB DATE: 4/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
VIDEO: The Firefighter Health and Safety Bill passed another hurdle Monday afternoon.
Senate Bill 160 passed the third reading in the House with a vote of 89 to nine.
Great Falls International Association of Fire Fighters Local Eight President Dave Van Son said they are very excited.
“This is the furthest it has ever made,” Van Son said. - PUB DATE: 4/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRTV.com
Few interest groups have been more generous to Rhode Island lawmakers than the firefighters’ lobby, which is pushing controversial overtime legislation up for a House vote on Tuesday, in a state that regularly tops the national charts on the cost of fire protection.
Since 2007, the R.I. State Association of Firefighters has logged more than $290,413 on political spending, with most of that money going to help state lawmakers win reelection and ward off challengers. - PUB DATE: 4/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal - Metered Site
VIDEO: A firefighter in Pennsylvania recently honored his father in a big way and his family, friends and hometown were there to support him every step of the way.
On Sunday, Ryan Robeson participated in the sixth annual Scranton Half-Marathon, running 13 miles in full firefighting gear.
The gear -- the jacket, pants, boots, helmet -- weighed nearly 50 pounds. - PUB DATE: 4/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
Lawsuits, locked doors and a police presence disrupted what was hoped to be a smooth transition in Julian as the county’s last volunteer fire department officially became a professional force.
On Monday morning, the county legally took control of the 87-square-mile Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Protection District even as legal challenges mount and ill will simmers in the tourist-friendly mountain community in northeast San Diego County. - PUB DATE: 4/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union Tribune - Metered Site
