New York State added a Hampton Bays fire station to its Superfund registry on Wednesday, the third Suffolk site listed for hazardous waste cleanup since 2016 because of links to firefighting foam. The 2-acre site at 69 W. Montauk Hwy. “presents a significant threat to public health and/or the environment,” according to a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation notice.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NewsDay.com

VIDEO: They put their lives on the line, but fire isn't the only danger. KETV NewsWatch 7 Investigates discovered dozens of Omaha firefighters were treated for cancer in a 20-month period. “Just by chance, I went to the first cancer class for firefighters right after all the studies started coming out,” said Frank Corcoran, vice president of the Omaha Professional Firefighters Association.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KEVT-TV 7

The widow of a Houston fire captain is suing Motorola over allegations that faulty radios were to blame for the massive brain injury her husband suffered during the deadly 2013 Southwest Inn blaze. William “Iron Bill” Dowling was among more than a dozen firefighters injured in Houston Fire Department’s deadliest tragedy when the hotel roof collapsed 12 minutes into the five-alarm call.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Researchers designed a communication intervention strategy to increase post-fire decontamination behaviors in a group of firefighters. Here’s what happened. The decon challenge: Routine firefighting can expose firefighters to substantial cancer risk. A study in 2015 estimated that firefighters have a 14 percent increased lifetime cancer risk compared to the general public.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration

Two lawmakers in New York City have issued a siren call of sorts, arguing that the shrill sound of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances has got to go. If passed, the legislation would require all emergency vehicles to change their sirens within two years to an alternating high and low sound similar to that heard in many European countries.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NPR.org

VIDEO: They’re often near the front lines while clearing a path and working side by side California’s firefighters. “It’s a big opportunity,” said an inmate firefighter. But after serving a prison sentence, inmate’s careers are over. “When they leave that service they’re told that they will never ever be allowed to be a firefighter,” said Assemblymember Eloise Reyes.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS13

VIDEO: Comedian Jon Stewart is bringing a serious message to Congress, this time: Extend the compensation program for survivors of and responders to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The former "Daily Show" host, union officials and survivor groups are scheduled to visit Washington on Monday to call on Congress to provide additional funding for and make permanent the Victim Compensation Fund, according to the office of Rep.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

VIDEO: African American firefighters played a key role in developing a staple of the firehouse: the sliding pole. In honor of Black History Month, CBS 2’s Derrick Young spoke with a retired fire chief turned author. Dekalb Walcott served on the Chicago Fire Department for more than 30 years, retiring as a battalion chief in 2009.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Chicago

VIDEO: A Shreveport councilman is calling for an investigation into the city’s Fire Department. Councilman Willie Bradford says he’s received several credible complaints of alleged racial and gender discrimination within the department as well as alleged retaliation. If a resolution is passed Tuesday, the council would appoint a special committee to examine the allegations and report back to them.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSLA-TV Shreveport News 12

Firefighters help people and save lives every day, but they turn to Roger Baker when they need a few minutes of rest from doing their physically-demanding jobs. Baker operates Rehab Five out of his home near Andover Street with assistance from volunteers who rush with him to an estimated 130 fires annually.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ItemLive.com

San Diego is planning a firefighter hiring spree to shrink ballooning overtime costs that are creating budget problems at City Hall. The city’s goal is to increase the number of firefighters from about 900 to more than 1,100 over the next five years. That may be a challenge, with retirements on the rise and more firefighters leaving for other agencies with higher pay, a union leader said.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune - Metered Site

State utility regulators have opened a formal investigation into last summer’s fatal Sun Prairie natural gas explosion that killed a firefighter and leveled several buildings in the city’s downtown. The Public Service Commission voted unanimously Thursday to investigate a complaint filed by USIC Locating Services, the company that was contracted to mark the locations of underground pipes.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal

Alabama law enforcement officers have been the target of gun violence recently. Several officers have been shot or killed in Auburn, Birmingham, Mobile and Selma. Now, there’s work to add protection to law enforcement officers and first responders. Under existing law, the murder of a first responder is not a capital offense.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBRC-TV Fox 6 Birmingham

This is how bad things have gotten in Julian since San Diego County took control of the region’s last volunteer fire department eight months ago. When first responders went out on a call, someone would paint over the marking that reserved the new county fire chief’s parking spot at the fire station, which used to be manned by the local volunteers who resided in the popular tourist destination.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times - Metered Site

VIDEO: Tipton County was hit with flooding as a result of constant, driving rain. The Brighton Fire Department is drying out after the tables were turned as several inches of water flooded their station forcing an evacuation. "This one was one of the worst because not only did the fire station get affected and if that gets affected, we can't help people," said Tipton County Fire Chief, Jon Piercey.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: LocalMemphis.com

The Community Response Team has received its second one-year grant as the mental-health project develops a system to identify and help “super utilizers” of emergency services without repeated 911 calls. The CRT triumvirate — police officer, fire paramedic and mental-health counselor — respond to mental-health calls in an emergency medical service truck.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tulsa World

Great Falls City Firefighter Jason Baker lost his battle with Stage IV lung cancer Wednesday morning. His friend and fellow firefighter, David Van Son, remembers Baker, an 18-year-veteran of the city’s fire fighting team, as not only a terrific firefighter, but an all-around great man. The 45-year-old Baker, a non-smoker and otherwise the picture of fitness, was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Montana Public Radio

Orlando Fire Department Chief Roderick Williams resigned Thursday after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined he and two deputy chiefs discriminated against a female employee. “I regret that during my tenure there have been allegations that have hurt the department and the City of Orlando,” Williams said in a letter submitted Thursday afternoon.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel

VIDEO: Dorchester County Council is considering taking steps to have the North Charleston Fire Department take over the area that is currently served by the Ashley River Fire Department, and shut the department down. The Ashley River Special Tax District was formed in 1979 to create the fire department because there was no fire protection near the area.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCBD-TV

VIDEO: Fire officials in Dauphin County are questioning how safe their paging systems are. Deputy Fire Chief of Hummelstown Fire Department, Leland Blough, says the pagers they use, requires them to look down and read fire calls, sometimes while driving, making them unsafe. The pagers were a 35 million dollar investment, purchased in 2010 by Dauphin County.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPMT-TV Fox 43