Fire destroyed a Safeway grocery store in Phoenix Wednesday evening, engulfing the building in flames for more than an hour and producing a tower of smoke that could be seen for miles.
Phoenix fire officials said a roof on the building apparently had collapsed during a storm that brought a heavy downpour in the area prior to the fire. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix
Houston Fire Department leaders on Tuesday proposed a sharp hike in ambulance fees, floating several new charges they hope will prevent repeat callers from using the city’s emergency medical services as a convenience.
Ambulance transport fees would rise 70 percent, to $1,876; the accompanying $14.36-per-mile fee would not change. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
A team of coding students from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have developed an app that can turn your smartphone into a smoke detector. 'Smoke Detective' is programmed to allow a smartphone camera to detect smoke from a fire, then sound an audible and visible alarm upon detection. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh
One firefighter was killed and several other people, including police officers, firefighters and civilians were injured in an explosion in Sun Prairie Tuesday night.
The explosion happened at 7:05 p.m. at the intersection of Main and Bristol streets after police said they were called to the area around 6:20 p. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison
Joe Pfeifer had a date in mind for retiring from the job he has done for 37 years. It would be the second Wednesday after Labor Day. After schools were back. Sept. 12.
He could hardly wait.
Then he decided, no, he wouldn’t delay.
“Do some sailing,” he said. “Decompress.”
So this will be his last week with the Fire Department, retiring as an assistant chief from the agency where he started as a 25-year-old from Queens in 1981. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Times
President Donald Trump on Monday signed legislation to set up a national registry for firefighters to help track links between exposure to fumes and cancer.
The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set up a database in order to study possible links between cancer and the fumes and toxins firefighters are exposed to. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com
A Hillsborough County firefighter was flown to the hospital as a trauma alert after falling out of his fire truck, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Hillsborough Fire Rescue says that around 5:28 p.m. Tuesday, they received a radio alert that one of their own was injured. Eric Seidel with Hillsborough Fire Rescue says the firefighter left HCFR Station 28 at 4551 Sun City Center Boulevard and was in the process of responding to the scene of a fire when he received the injuries. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFTS-TV ABC 28 Tampa Bay
About 20 ranking officers at Harford County volunteer fire stations lost those ranks after failing to submit new required certifications July 1.
Roughly 200 officers completed their certifications on time, said Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association. He declined to release the names of those who did not qualify. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun
A state commission has opened an investigation into the Houston Fire Department’s safety standards after the firefighters’ union accused the department of failing to protect its members from carcinogens to which they are routinely exposed. Texas Commission on Fire Protection investigators will examine whether HFD complies with state laws requiring departments to clean protective clothing, called bunker gear, and maintain a standard operating procedure to do so. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
City officials here and those of a fire district that serves part of the city both say a dispute over their longtime agreement could have dire budget consequences.
In December, the city canceled its 23-year-old pact with the Robertson Fire Protection District, saying the contract’s rising cost was jeopardizing other city services. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Portsmouth Fire Lt. Russ Osgood was next to firefighter Sarah Fox the day she died from cancer at Concord Hospital when he learned another fire brother, Jeff Bokum, had the disease as well.
The toll Osgood faced in that moment at the hospital was emotional, but a financial one came shortly after. Osgood and firefighters worked to raise thousands of dollars for Bokum’s out-of-pocket costs during his six-month battle as they had for Fox in the months before her death, cancer benefits not yet covered for fighters. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Foster's Daily Democrat
Just like in citizens, drinking and driving is not a new problem in public safety. For some volunteer fire companies, having volunteer firefighters show up at the scene of a fire while under the influence of alcohol is also not a new problem. Even organizations with career staff may have to deal with crewmembers showing up to a shift planning to firefight while under the influence (FFUI) or while intoxicated (FFWI). - PUB DATE: 7/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Mesa firefighters rescued a woman whose car had plunged into a canal during a storm that blew through the area Monday afternoon.
The woman's car veered into a canal near Alma School Road south of the Loop 202 freeway in north Mesa, according to the Mesa Fire Department.
When responding units arrived they found the car submerged upright. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix
A Phoenix firefighter was found dead in his quarters Friday while on duty at the Arizona Army National Guard Base, the Phoenix Fire Department announced Sunday.
Juston Doherty was 45, according to public records.
Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade described the technical-rescue technician, a 15-year veteran of the department, as "heroic" and committed. - PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix
The Supreme Court of Wyoming has ruled that in a combination fire department, part-time and volunteer firefighters are entitled to vote on whether or not firefighters can form a union. The decision was handed down Friday, July 6, 2018.
The case involved two IAFF locals, Campbell County Firefighters IAFF Local 5058 and Jackson Hole Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 5067, who sought to collectively bargain with their respective municipalities. - PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireLawBlog.com
It has been about 14 months since Russell Brooks last served as Utica’s fire chief.
With Brooks on administrative leave, the Utica Fire Department has had three interim chiefs in that span. Retired Utica fire Capt. James Barefoot, the latest appointed to the role, officially started July 2.
Through it all, Brooks continues to challenge the city’s decision to place him on paid, nondisciplinary, administrative leave due to concerns with Brooks’ health. - PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch
Video footage that surfaced Thursday raised new questions about the San Francisco Fire Department’s response to the Asiana plane crash on July 6, 2013, particularly its handling of a subsequent incident in which a fire rig ran over a 16-year-old girl.
“I mean, s— happens, you know?” San Francisco Battalion Chief Mark Johnson appears to say in footage from the camera attached to his helmet, according to a report published late Thursday by ABC7 investigative reporter Dan Noyes. - PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com
For years, firefighters at Seattle’s Station 31 have worried that the place where they barbecue steak and try to sleep between calls might be making them sick.
Red flags were first raised in the early 2000s, after a string of firefighters were diagnosed with cancer. But a subsequent study found no link between the station and the illness. - PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times
A Swatara Township fire company is suspended and no longer responding to calls after an investigation into reports that some members were being subjected to racial slurs, harassment and bullying.
Director of Fire Services Mike Ibberson said the Lawnton Fire Company was taken out of service on May 31. - PUB DATE: 7/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Penn Live
The FDNY is considering stationing one less firefighter at its busiest engine companies as part of a cost-savings measure to cover rising medical leave, officials said Thursday.
As early as next week, the Fire Department might stop assigning a fifth firefighter to the 15 engine companies that had the extra help. - PUB DATE: 7/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
