Massive wildfires sweeping through California have killed at least 23 people and damaged thousands of homes, businesses and other buildings, authorities said. Firefighters were still battling 22 wildfires in multiple counties as of Thursday morning. Intensified by strong winds, the flames have charred more than 170,000 acres of land, damaged or destroyed at least 3,500 structures and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. - PUB DATE: 10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
President Trump nominated Kirstjen Nielsen, a deputy to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, to be Homeland Security secretary on Wednesday, filling the vacancy left by Kelly when he took his current post in late July.
"Ms. Nielsen has extensive professional experience in the areas of homeland security policy and strategy, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and emergency management," the White House said in a statement announcing the nomination. - PUB DATE: 10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today
Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez ruled Wednesday that the state overseers will be able to cut the city’s Fire Department by 15 members as a cost-saving measure.
The cuts are not allowed to be made before Feb. 1, according to the court ruling.
"Upon careful consideration of the facts and legal arguments, the court is of the view that the plan and timeline for immediate reductions is problematic but it’s not impermissible by the Recovery Act," according to the 13-page ruling. - PUB DATE: 10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City
The Fire District Board accepted Chief Buddy Emerson’s retirement request Wednesday amid allegations from the firefighters union that he endangered employees' lives during Hurricane Irma and acted recklessly as chief.
Emerson had submitted his retirement effective at the end of February, but the board, at a special meeting, unanimously accepted it effective immediately. - PUB DATE: 10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TCPalm
Shooting off fireworks in Ohio, a time-honored tradition of lawbreaking across the state, would become fully legal just in time for July 4, 2020, under a bill that passed the House on Wednesday.
For decades, Ohioans have been allowed to purchase fireworks but not legally set them off inside the state. - PUB DATE: 10/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch
Simmering tensions and acrimony between Houston firefighters and Mayor Sylvester Turner have boiled over after the mayor erupted at firefighters who spurned him at two recent public events.
The most recent incident, which took place at a Houston Rockets game Thursday, prompted the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341 to send Turner a letter warning him not to threaten the association's membership. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
The Minnesota State Patrol has identified a paramedic killed when the ambulance she was riding in crashed into a stalled semi on Interstate 694 in Brooklyn Center Monday.
Sara DuPaul, a Minnesota State Trooper, said the semi stalled at about 6:45 p.m. in the apex near the split with Interstate 94. She said about 15 minutes later the semi was being towed when an ambulance came from I-694 and attempted to merge, striking the back of the semi. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KARE 11
As wildfires swept through and decimated neighborhoods in Northern California, some of the first responders lost their own homes as they were helping to evacuate residents.
One of them was Mill Valley Fire Chief Tom Welch.
Welch, a Santa Rosa resident, lost his home, then went back and helped with the fire response in Napa and Sonoma counties after he and his family evacuated, Linn Walsh, assistant to the Mill Valley city manager, said Tuesday. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com
The head of the union representing rank-and-file St. Paul firefighters has filed a workplace conduct complaint against Fire Chief Tim Butler, saying he used a derogatory term in an email to a firefighter last week.
Butler said on Monday that he used a term that was “unprofessional and uncalled for” when he was frustrated. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press - Twin Cities.com
The names of 112 New York City firefighters who died of illnesses after spending time working in the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks were added Tuesday to a memorial in the state’s capital city for firefighters killed in the line of duty.
The Fire Department of New York firefighters make up most of the 118 new names etched onto to the New York State Fallen Firefighters Memorial located at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Freeman
A firefighter who was terminated for alleged racist misconduct is receiving support from his former colleagues.
FOX2 reported that probationary firefighter Robert Pattison was fired for bringing a watermelon to his new station that is predominantly black on his first day after some African-American firefighters were offended. - PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Massive wildfires sweeping through parts of California have killed at least 15 people and damaged more than 1,500 residences and other buildings, according to authorities.
Firefighters were battling 17 fires across multiple counties in the state as of late Monday, authorities said. Intensified by strong winds, the fires charred about 115,000 acres of land, destroyed at least 1,500 buildings and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena gave City Council a bleak assessment Tuesday of his department's readiness to respond to significant rainstorms and even to daily fire and medical calls, saying a ramshackle fleet and inadequate training are putting the safety of both citizens and firefighters at risk.
The Houston Fire Department must double its annual spending on engines, ladders and ambulances, the chief said, and must ramp up its purchases of water rescue apparatus and the training to enable personnel to operate them. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
More than a dozen wildfires raged across Northern California on Tuesday morning, with the biggest ones scorching the state's famous wine country, killing at least 11 people and burning more than 1,500 homes and businesses, authorities said.
The fires were burning in California's wine country destinations -- Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties -- as well as Yuba County, north of Sacramento, with flames ripping through the lush, picturesque landscape. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN
Huntsville Fire and Rescue is treating Station 17 in the Hampton Cove area for brown recluse spiders, confirmed Captain Frank McKenzie on Monday.
McKenzie said two firefighters have been bitten.
To combat the spiders and keep crews safe, he explained the department moved firefighters, necessary equipment, and firefighters' personal items to Station 19 on Old Big Cove Road on October 5th. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHNT-TV News 19 Huntsville
We're at that time of year when cities and towns across the country take some time to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duties.
Memorials to the fallen are just one of the ways we remember those who gave everything to protect life and property, and one firefighter from a small community about an hour north of New York City has waited long enough to receive his due. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com
Earlier this month, 41-year-old Robert Pattison went to introduce himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55 at Joy and Southfield in Detroit. Second Battallion Chief Shawn McCarty calls it a tradition for firefighters.
"It's not mandatory, it's voluntary," he says. "You come in bearing gifts. The usual gift is doughnuts, but you are allowed to bring whatever you want to bring in. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 2 Detroit
Channel 2 Investigates has learned Houston fire Chief Sam Pena will make a case to city leaders Tuesday to purchase about $12 million in new emergency equipment to update the HFD's ailing fleet.
Specifically, Chief Sam Pena will ask for 10 more evacuation boats, four more rescue boats and six to seven more high water vehicles. - PUB DATE: 10/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston
“We only need to look back over the past few weeks to witness the tremendous contributions of firefighters called to respond to hurricanes, tragic events in Las Vegas as well as the wildfires burning across the western United States,” said Dr. Don Wright, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as he addressed those gathered at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service on Sunday morning. - PUB DATE: 10/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Frederick News-Post
A volunteer Burke County firefighter was killed after being hit by a car while trying to clear debris from a road in Morganton Sunday night.
According to a spokesperson with the Triple Community Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched to a tree that was blocking the eastbound and westbound lanes of Highway 70 East near the Drexel intersection just before midnight. - PUB DATE: 10/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTV-TV Channel 3
