The file cabinets in Joe Bob Betzel's barn tell a story. It’s the two-decade story of a legal battle contending the City of Dallas underpaid its cops and firefighters.
“It’s been over 25 years for me, so that’s like a career,” said Betzel, the retired Dallas firefighter who led the fight.
On Tuesday, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a nearly $62 million settlement. - PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth
A billboard complaining about overtime Gwinnett County firefighters are required to work is turning some heads in Lawrenceville.
Former firefighter Michael Flanagan signed the contract for the billboard at Hwy. 316 and Ga. 20, but says there are actually 40 people behind it. The rotating sign asks the county to stop mandatory overtime for firefighters complaining $15 million has been spent over three years. - PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSB Radio
VIDEO - At least 20 people have been injured in a massive, multi-alarm fire at a senior living community in West Chester.
Numerous residents have been displaced. Fire officials have refused to say if there were any fatalities.
The blaze was reported at 10:46 p.m. Thursday at the Barclay Friends Senior Living Community on the 700 block of North Franklin Street. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV 6 ABC.com
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Utica fire Chief Russell Brooks will take the city to court.
Brooks has sought to be recognized by the city for compensatory benefits due to a medical condition he says is a product of his response to ground zero in New York City following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch
In the early hours of the most destructive firestorm in California history, officials in Napa and Sonoma counties knew their local first responders would be overwhelmed and turned to a statewide mutual-aid system designed to swiftly brinThey got help, but they didn’t get what they asked for — not nearly. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle
In August 2015, a firefighter broke protocol and went outside his chain of command to email then Division Chief Jace Kohan.
In a regimented organization like Tampa Fire Rescue, chain of command is part of daily operations. But Kohan told a judge and seven-person jury Wednesday that firefighter Mark Pattison wasn’t reprimanded for his email, or even scolded. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com
A North Carolina county has given a rural volunteer fire department an ultimatum after its refusal to take down a Confederate flag waving over its station.
The Charlotte Observer reports that Montgomery County commissioners have decided to restrict funding for the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department if it will not take the flag down and end a dispute that has simmered for months. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer
The 80 new firefighters Columbus plans to hire next year could be among the first to really understand the risk of cancer they face on the job. For the 50 city firefighters who are expected to retire in 2018 and thousands of others, it could be too late.
For years, firefighters have shed their masks and other gear after flames were knocked down, not knowing they were breathing carcinogens and exposing their skin to chemicals that could lead to cancer. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
PHOTOS - St. Louis firefighters are battling a huge, five-alarm fire in a warehouse that sent a plume of thick black smoke up from the Botanical Heights neighborhood.
A fire truck was smashed when a wall of the building collapsed about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fire started small in the basement of the warehouse near 39th Street and Park Avenue about 10:15. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post Dispatch
The Dallas City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $61.7 million settlement for four of six long-running back pay lawsuits filed by police and firefighters.
The sizable agreement avoids hundreds of millions in claims that would have been owed if a Collin County jury had ruled in favor of the public safety workers. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
Not many people have had Robert De Niro star as them in a blockbuster film, but that is the case for a former Sandwich Fire Chief who passed away, this week.
Donald Rimgale was 77 years old when he passed away peacefully in his Elmhurst home on Monday. WSPY reported in July of 2016 that Rimgale retired as Sandwich Fire Chief. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSPYNews.com
The volunteers who make up the Julian Fire Protection District have demanded their fire chief be dismissed and have served recall papers on the board president.
The move escalates an already volatile situation in the historic mountain town where the community and leaders of the fire district have been at odds with each other for years about whether to join the county's Fire Authority or remain independent despite ongoing financial problems. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune
Work within the fire service involves frequent encounters with occupational hazards. Many fire departments try to minimize accidents and injuries through after action reviews (AARs). A recent study1 explored what makes for a good or bad after action review, what makes a review satisfying to attendees, and its impact on group safety norms. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration
A retired FDNY lieutenant and father of five is the latest first responder to succumb to cancer, contracted during his time working the pile at Ground Zero, authorities said Tuesday.
Lt. Edward (Eddie) McDonagh died Sunday after a three-year battle against stage 4 colon cancer, relatives said. He was 49. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
An Alameda County Superior Court judge has ruled that Oakland officials have a duty to act when they come across unsafe conditions in buildings such as the Ghost Ship warehouse, which burned a year ago, allowing a lawsuit against the city stemming from the fire to proceed.
In his ruling, Judge Brad Seligman permitted some allegations — such as the mandatory duty claims — to stand, while tossing others. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com)
Medway Fire Chief Jon Buckingham has resigned in response to the town’s failure to replace a firetruck that he says is unsafe.
The fire department’s front-line pumper-tanker, a 1988 Pierce, has had repairs to its electrical and steering systems, has body rust and and lost its transmission during pump tests. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News
A Marion County grand jury has handed down indictments against the Marion fire chief and the city administrator, alleging they knew the Marion Fire Department building contained asbestos and allowed staff, volunteers and community members to come inside. According to court documents filed earlier this month, city administrator and building inspector Alan Thomas Ammons and fire chief Ralph Walton Cooper III were each indicted on charges of misconduct in office, conspiracy to violate the Pollution Control Act and violation of the Pollution Control Act. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBF-TV NBC Myrtle Beach
A Mason City councilman acknowledged Monday to leaking a confidential memo on the fire chief's employment status.
Mason City Fire Chief Al Dyer Jr. was placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 2 pending an administrative investigation. Dyer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from the Globe Gazette Monday afternoon. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mason City Globe-Gazette
Omaha Fire Chief Dan Olsen has put the kibosh on plans for a steamy 2018 charity calendar.
Last year’s calendar of shirtless local firefighters was a hot seller.
But Olsen said the calendar isn’t in line with the department’s mission statement that calls for its members to act with integrity, professionalism and compassion. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald
A former Greater Naples Fire Rescue District officer who sued the district and its fire chief last year, alleging she was subjected to years of "repeated sexual harassment" by colleagues, could receive $82,500 from the fire district, according to a draft settlement agreement.
The district's board of commissioners is scheduled to vote on authorizing a payment of $17,500 from its reserves at its Tuesday meeting, according to the meeting's agenda. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Naples Daily News
