The two areas of greatest impact on the fire service are going to come in personnel management and professional development. We are about to face the biggest transition in personnel in the past 25 years. As we all know, firefighters retire in bunches; the difference now is in the type of employees our officers will be tasked with managing.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A Miami defense lawyer’s pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case. Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire, had been fiddling in his pocket as he was about to address jurors when smoke began billowing out his right pocket, witnesses told the Miami Herald.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

Dramatic footage released by a Florida fire department shows the moment a backdraft injured two firefighters. The fire happened Monday morning in a West Palm Beach neighborhood. According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the fire started in the garage of the home. When firefighters arrived they were told the family’s cats may still be inside.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC4i.com

Mayor Scott Eisenhauer proposed laying off 16 firefighters at a Tuesday night budget meeting as a result of a contract arbitration decision. Eisenhauer, who described the cuts as a "harsh" plan, proposed reducing fire department personnel from 42 to 26 after learning earlier in the day that the city lost an arbitration decision on the firefighters' contract regarding minimum manning and salaries.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Champaign News-Gazette

A new analysis says San Diego needs to build at least 10 additional fire stations and embrace new emergency response methods to adequately serve the sprawling and increasingly congested city. The new emergency response methods, primarily two-man “fast response” squads and additional engine companies during peak hours, can help meet response time goals in many areas, but won’t eliminate the need for the new stations.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

A Miami defense lawyer’s pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case. Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire, had been fiddling in his pocket as he was about to address jurors when smoke began billowing out his right pocket, witnesses told the Miami Herald.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

More than 10 percent of Iowa firefighters were granted national certifications over a four-year period despite failing exams at a state academy, authorities said Wednesday, as hundreds more were notified of the testing errors. The Iowa Department of Public Safety informed 739 firefighters in 94 departments this week that they should not have been granted certifications by its Fire Services Training Bureau, the agency said.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

Houston Fire Department Capt. Bill Dowling died Tuesday, according to the department. Both of Dowling's legs were amputated after he was injured in the Southwest Inn fire in 2013. Dowling was injured on May 31, 2013 -- which is considered the deadliest day in Houston Fire Department history. Believing people were trapped in a fire that engulfed the Southwest Inn along the Southwest Freeway, Dowling led a rescue attempt during which four fellow firefighters died and 13 others were injured.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

As overtime costs rose dramatically at D.C. Fire and EMS, the city’s top fire official approved more than $20,000 in bonuses for some of the leaders in his department, according to financial figures obtained by NBC Washington. “I gave bonuses to four assistant chiefs and one civilian,” Fire Chief Gregory Dean told NBC Washington.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

Bryan Sheppard’s long wait for freedom ended late Monday afternoon in a deep embrace with the daughter who never gave up on him. Sheppard, the youngest of five people convicted in the 1988 arson fire that killed six Kansas City firefighters, walked free Monday for the first time in nearly 22 years. “It’s overwhelming, really,” Sheppard said moments after his release.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

For London’s new fire brigade commissioner Dany Cotton, being a firefighter does not mean being a “six foot hairy-arsed man.” Although Cotton, now 47, is the brigade’s first female commissioner in its 151-year history, she has served the department since she was 18. She oversees 102 fire stations, 4,800 uniformed firefighters and 800 other personnel.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

The former treasurer of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department was such a smoke-eater buff that he spent $9,000 to buy himself a 1931 American LaFrance antique fire engine. Problem is — the money wasn’t his. Michael Klein pleaded guilty in White Plains federal court Tuesday for stealing more than $5.7 million from his fire department to buy himself that collectible and a host of other lavish gifts, including a 55-foot yacht he named “K’Bam.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

A massive wildfire northeast of Amarillo has burned 23,000 acres and for most of Monday was 0 percent contained. The Texas A&M Forest Service says they are making good progress and have stopped the forward movement of the fire. Around 150 homes are threatened by the fire and mandatory evacuations are in effect.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAN-TV NBC 36 Austin

The lawsuit filed by two Chester County firefighters alleging false arrest and assault against the sheriff and top deputies was settled Monday, a week before a potential trial. Terms of the settlement have not been released. Chester County and its elected officials have insurance coverage for lawsuits that allege damage from personal harm, said Joanie Winters, Chester County attorney.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rock Hill Herald

In a rare public rebuke of a fire department by a local elected official, Union City Mayor Brian Stack said he was unhappy with North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue's inability to extinguish a burning church steeple that then collapsed on Saturday, in the same wind-driven blaze that killed a 2-year-old boy in a nearby apartment.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

Let’s start this out right: there are times where we absolutely must risk our lives in attempting to save those in trouble. And while there are numerous factors related to that including size up, resources, training—firefighters have and must be ready to go to extreme measures to save lives. Always have.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firefighter Close Calls

For the first time ever, the FDNY used a drone to help them fight a building fire, an FDNY spokesperson said. The drone became the firefighters’ eyes in the sky Monday, as they worked to extinguish a 4-alarm blaze near Crotona Park North and Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. The Incident Commander was able to get a birds-eye view of the burning 6-story residential building and help direct firefighters on the scene.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Three firefighters used a dangerous rescue technique — being lowered from the roof by rope — to save a man trapped in a burning Brooklyn building Sunday morning. “Those guys, they got me out of the building,” said Ubeaka McKinney, 39, of the daring save on the third floor of 241 Rockaway Ave. in Brownsville at 7:30 a.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Despite ever-tightening budgets, hefty paydays are actually becoming the norm for a lot of Bay Area firefighters. But one East Bay fire department says paying out a lot of overtime is actually saving taxpayers money. In 2015, firefighters in San Ramon were making as much as $400,000 a year in total compensation.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS San Francisco

A veteran who fired gunshots at firefighters doing a welfare check on him at his residence said he thought someone was trying to break in. "The information I received he shot at the top of the door. Fortunately. Had he shot lower, into the door, he would have some firefighters easily," said Reginald Hocker, vice president of the union that represents Cincinnati's firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ToledoNewsNow