A decorated veteran firefighter is contemplating his next move after City Council members Monday upheld a disciplinary action he received regarding a message he posted on social media during the September flood.
After two hours of testimony, council members voted 6-0 with one member absent to uphold the action against firefighter Shane Farmer. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
On Monday morning, 32 men and a woman were sworn in as Akron’s newest firefighters.
Each firefighter had chosen someone special in their life to join them on stage at the Akron-Summit Main Library auditorium to pin their badge on their jacket, including significant others, spouses and parents. Three firefighters were pinned by their fathers, who are fellow Akron police and firefighters. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com
The cost for training and certifying firefighters can be expensive for fire departments across the state, especially for those that deploy volunteers to the field.
That's why a piece of legislation was presented in the Texas House Committee on Licensing & Administration by Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, to put in place a rule that would prevent the state from regulating the more than 1,400 all-volunteer fire departments. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Record News
San Diego’s efforts to boost emergency response times in the sprawling and increasingly congested city would take a big step forward under a new compromise proposal. The proposal, created by the city’s independent budget analyst and endorsed by leaders of the Fire-Rescue Department, would boost response times in “gap areas” more quickly and cheaply than building all of the additional fire stations recommended last month by a consultant. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune
Suspended Canandaigua Fire Chief Mark Marentette was fired as of Friday because of insubordination and mismanagement of public funds, according to City Manager Ted Andrzejewski. The manager suspended Marentette for 30 days in January over what the city characterized as charges of misconduct, incompetence and insubordination. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Messenger
A second Lincoln Fire and Rescue captain has filed a federal lawsuit against the department saying he faced retaliation for reporting harassment of two female firefighters between 2012 and 2015.
Captains Brian Giles and Troy Hurd said they were passed up for promotions. They contend firefighters who were less qualified, had less experience and scored lower than them on promotion tests got the jobs. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lincoln Journal Star
A massive five-alarm fire caused an estimated $39 million in damage Monday at an apartment building under construction in College Park, Prince George's County fire officials said. The fire has been the largest suppression effort and the highest fire loss estimate in the history of the Prince George's County Fire Department, officials said. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAL-TV Baltimore
A Casper firefighter died Saturday night after an extended battle with pancreatic cancer.
Captain Matt Trott, 46, joined the fire department in 1995. During his 21 years at the department, he worked as an engineer, a child passenger safety technician and a captain. He retired March 6 due to his cancer, called pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Casper Star-Tribune
Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph E. Finn was recognized as the Fire Chief of the Year, an honor “richly deserved” for the veteran firefighter who has placed a premium on educating his firefighters on the risks of cancer while on duty, an agency spokesman said.
“It’s richly deserved. He’s been on the job for 33 years. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald
A catastrophic fire killed four children and one adult who were trapped in a Queens house Sunday as devastated neighbors watched helplessly.
Orange flames licked out from the windows of the two-story house on 208th St. near 112th Ave. in Queens Village when the first 911 call came in at 2:36 p.m.
Firefighters battled valiantly, officials and witnesses said, but despite their best efforts, every victim they brought out was dead, including 2-year-old Chayce Green, 9-year-old Rayshawn Matthews and 14-year-old Jada Foxworth. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
An Arkansas volunteer firefighter came to the rescue after a little girl fell out of the back of a bus. His dash camera, running the entire time. In the video, you can see the little girl, and the quick actions he took to save her.
The dash camera video from Ryan Ciampoli, a licensed emt and volunteer firefighter for Crawford County. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKRG.com
PHOTO - Garland firefighters narrowly avoided injury early Saturday when a drunken driving suspect barreled into their ambulance — but they ran to the man's rescue just the same. Authorities say the brand-new ambulance was parked along Interstate 30 about 2 a.m. after responding to an earlier crash near the Bobtown Road exit, police said. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
FDNY investigators are focusing on whether a city firefighter from Bethpage who fell five stories to his death in Queens was jolted from a raised fire truck bucket, an official said Friday afternoon.
William Tolley, 42, was getting in the bucket or had just gotten in it when the accident occurred, said the official, who was briefed on the preliminary findings of the investigation. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday
As mass shootings become more common, more fire departments are using body armor so crews can more quickly reach people in dangerous situations.
East Pierce Fire & Rescue is the latest local agency to order ballistic vests to better protect its firefighters and paramedics.
Tacoma Fire has used the vests since the 1990s, and West Pierce Fire & Rescue ordered them in 2013. - PUB DATE: 4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The News-Tribune
It was a routine call like so many others across William Tolley’s 14 years with the FDNY, a two-alarm apartment fire — until something went horribly, inexplicably wrong.
Tolley, 42, the married father of an 8-year-old girl, died after a bizarre five-story plunge while working on the roof of a Queens building hit by a small blaze three floors below, officials said. - PUB DATE: 4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
A plan to eliminate Deal's three paid firefighter positions, which cost as much as $500,000 a year, comes about a month after the borough settled a claim that it did not pay the men overtime, the firefighters' attorney confirmed.
Labor attorney Jim Mets, who represents the firefighters, said he is considering a retaliation lawsuit against the borough. - PUB DATE: 4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Asbury Park Press
Two town firefighters are leaving their department to work in other towns because they say a local taxpayer group has made them concerned their jobs are in jeopardy.
Firefighters Adam Mills and Corey Greaney accepted jobs in other communities, citing calls from the taxpayer group We Are 03862 Strong to cut spending on police and fire services as a prominent reason. - PUB DATE: 4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
An arbitrator has awarded raises of more than 2 percent for each of the next two years to Hawaii firefighters in a binding decision that may be the bellwether of ongoing contract negotiations with all of the state and county public worker unions this year.
Hawaii Fire Fighters Association President Robert “Bobby” Lee said the decision earlier this week also continues with salary step movement salary increases every three years for fire fighters based on their employment anniversaries. - PUB DATE: 4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star Advertiser
City officials are being forced to turn to some unlikely heroes to make sure the city’s fire and EMS services receive much needed new vehicles. Because of the city’s financial crisis, officials are making a deal with private citizens who can front the cost for new emergency vehicles. In an interesting twist, the city is also willing to put up city hall as collateral for the deal, as an assurance to the lenders that they will get paid back. - PUB DATE: 4/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Progress-Index
"Chief charged with embezzlement."
"Paramedic takes her life."
"Firefighters face discipline."
It doesn't take a headline like those or a medical degree to realize the job of protecting lives and property takes a toll on firefighters. Cumulative stress, traumatic events and the pressure to live up to mythical standards set by us and the public results in firefighters making horrific personal choices. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
