Enabling interoperability between the FirstNet public-safety LTE core being built by AT&T and the LTE cores of Verizon or other carriers is feasible technically, but doing so would be a departure from the FirstNet request for proposals (RFP) and could introduce security issues for public safety, according to an AT&T executive. - PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications
A five-alarm fire at a College Park, Maryland, apartment building burned much longer than it should have, putting firefighters and the public at unnecessary risk, according to College Park Fire Chief Bill Corrigan.
The Fuse 47 building on Berwyn House Road was still under construction at the time of the fire. - PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington
VIDEO - A Petersburg firefighter was almost crushed on the job on Monday morning after part of a home collapsed while he battled flames.
"There was so much fire you couldn't see where the door was,” said Cody Edlin, one of two firefighters injured.
In no time, the front porch of the home on South Dunlop Street collapsed, falling on the firefighters. - PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond
A criminal charge was filed Tuesday against a driver in connection to the death of the Comstock Township fire chief, who was killed in the line of duty in June.
Brandon Clevenger, 24, of Springfield faces a charge of reckless driving causing death, court records show. The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the charge is connected to the death of Chief Ed Switalski. - PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOOD-TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids
The Macungie Volunteer Fire Department will not lose state funding after it issued a nearly $25,000 repayment to the association that handles its state-allocated fire insurance funding. The Macungie Firemen’s Relief Association wrongly spent $24,939 on insurance payments for vehicle insurance from 2014 to 2016, according to a July email from a state auditor reviewed by The Morning Call. - PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call
VIDEO - Stunning video captured the moment an Indianapolis firefighter rescued a kitten from a house fire.
IFD tweeted that its crews were called to the blaze in the 3300 block of Houston St. at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Fire officials say the home was unoccupied except for the cat and no injuries were reported. - PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis
VIDEO- Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22nd, emergency crews responded to reports of a fire truck that had crashed into the river bank.
Upon arrival, it was discovered that a man stole an East Moline fire truck, crashed it into the bank of the Mississippi River, and then jumped into the river "and tried to elude officers," said East Moline Police Captain Tom Reagan. - PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WQAD-TV 8 (Davenport/Rock Island/Moline)
PHOTO - Three Downey firefighters suffered injuries when their fire truck caught fire at the scene of a wildfire south of this Bannock County town.
The fire was reported along South Marsh Valley Road around 11 a.m. Monday and initially threatened multiple houses that were about 100 yards from the flames. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Idaho State Journal
Houston voters will face $1.5 billion in city bonds and nine community college or school board races this November, but will not be asked whether to give firefighters a raise.
Monday was the last day on which a candidate can file for the November ballot, and on which local governments can call an election. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
A dedicated wireless communications network for first responders answering the call on a large-scale incident is something most citizens might assume is already in place across the country.
The unfortunate truth is that they would be wrong, but efforts are ongoing to present all 50 states with plans and options surrounding The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), which was designed to help public safety agencies coordinate their efforts amid emergencies and major events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods or terror attacks, to name just a few scenarios. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com
An upper-management union for the Orange County Fire Authority planned to tell the agency’s board of directors that “current tensions” in the department were created by Chief Jeff Bowman, who resigned last week, according to a letter written by the union and sent to the board on Sunday, Aug. 20.
The letter also said the union – the Chief Officers Association, which represents battalion and division chiefs – met with Bowman a day before he stepped down and recommended he resign before it submitted a position paper, out of respect for him and “to save the organization further embarrassment. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register
A plea deal means a term of slightly less than six years for the driver of a Michigan firetruck that crashed last summer on Interstate 35W in Blaine, killing two fellow firefighters.
Michael A. Johnson, 29, of the Upper Peninsula city of Baraga, pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation in connection with the crash on Aug. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Minneapolis Star Tribune
The Salem Fire Department followed suit with its fellow first responders Monday, requesting the Board of Selectmen consider increasing the previously set staffing plans and potentially renegotiate the Tuscan Village development agreement.
Both the police and fire departments have experienced decades of stagnant staffing, which department leaders say have caused longer emergency response times in Salem and more cases in which the fire department has to ask for assistance from neighboring towns. - PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Eagle-Tribune
A Menlo Park Fire Captain sustained moderate burns in a house fire after the roof he was standing on gave out as the attic burned beneath him, late Friday.
The Fire Captain, a seasoned veteran with the Fire District, had just guided a Probationary Firefighter as he cut a square ventilation hole in the roof of the residence, located on Nassau Drive near the Menlo Park-Atherton border. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVU-TV Oakland, San Francisco, Bay Area
The number of years was 63 that father and son, Louis “Butch” Chagnon and Michael Chagnon served on the Somerset Fire Department.
It included a decade they served together answering the call on fires and medical emergencies, it was announced during a brief recognition by the Board of Selectmen for the retiring son. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Herald News
It's been nearly five years since Bay City's fire and police departments merged into a public safety agency.
Now, a City Commissioner is proposing to increase the number of full-time firefighters, a move that would drastically change the course of the combined department.
Commissioner Ed Clements, 8th Ward, has authored a resolution calling for the Bay City Department of Public Safety to staff no fewer than 22 full-time firefighters, instead of having a staff made up entirely of public safety officers who can fight fires and perform law enforcement tasks. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLive.com
Police have cited York Township's assistant fire chief, alleging he improperly used the emergency lights on his duty vehicle to pull over a driver.
If found guilty, Assistant Fire Chief Scotty Bowman, 32, who lives in the township, could face a substantial fine, plus about $150 in court costs and fees. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: York Dispatch
A former Atlantic City firefighter pleaded guilty Friday to health care fraud in connection with a large-scale prescription-drug fraud ring.
It was the fifth guilty plea in the past two days and the first to involve a public employee. Federal authorities have been investigating health-benefits fraud in three Absecon Island municipalities, including Atlantic City, over the past few months. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City
Researchers found that a household product can effectively clean fentanyl spills.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Bowling Green State University President Mary Ellen Mazey announced that OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover has been proven effective in cleaning up fentanyl spills. Sodium percarbonate is an ingredient in the product, which has been shown to break down fentanyl. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Two off-duty Oakland firefighters were shot, one fatally, in San Jose's Japantown on Thursday night, and one person has been detained in connection with the crime, police say.
The shooting was reported at 9:37 p.m. near 8th and Taylor streets, across the street from Gordon Biersch Brewery, according to police. - PUB DATE: 8/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Bay Area
