Breaking from tradition can be difficult in many situations, even if it is for the sake of improvement. But a new tool that has been extensively researched and recently employed by the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority is reducing the danger local firefighters face and improving their results with battling flames.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Longmont Times-Call

A Dallas fire truck was involved in a crash Thursday morning while responding to a call for help, officials say. Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said the fire truck was responding to a call about a structure fire at about 11 a.m. when the driver slowed down due to a red light. As the fire truck driver began to move through the intersection of Jim Miller Road and R.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Dallas - Fort Worth

The city’s management of its vacant properties and communication between departments is under scrutiny after a fire battalion chief complained that little to nothing was done to secure an empty library building after a fire there in April and a second, larger blaze weeks later where a firefighter broke his ankle.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

The second time an Oakland fire crew rushed to a city-owned historic building to put out a blaze, Battalion Chief James Bowron nearly lost it. He and his fire crew had been at the site two weeks earlier, on April 8, to put out a fire on the first floor of the vacant building that squatters apparently had started.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

VIDEO - An alert Cleveland EMS crew discovered three garbage trucks on fire just after 2:30 a.m. Thursday. The fire was burning at Republic Services on Jones Road just north of the intersection of Broadway and Harvard Avenues when the EMS crew saw flame and smoke from Broadway Avenue. The three trucks were spewing thick black smoke and a few explosions were seen and heard in the area.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEWS-TV IBS 5 Cleveland

During a brief 10 minute meeting on May 16, the Mesquite City Council cast a split vote to terminate Fire Chief Kash Christopher “without cause.” Three councilmen, David Ballweg, George Rapson and Brian Wursten, voted in favor of the action. Councilman Rich Green voted no and Councilman Geno Withelder voted to abstain from the proposal.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mesquite Local News

Mandy Gould has spent nearly 13 years as a volunteer firefighter in Caledon, Ont. – a sprawling municipality northwest of Toronto – following her father into a vocation that she aspired to since high school. For the past 11 years, Ms. Gould has also been a full-time firefighter in nearby Brampton, a suburban city of more than half a million.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Globe and Mail

For most, a mid-life crisis consists of buying a sports car, or burying yourself in some expensive new hobby. For Jeffrey Williams, his involved a change of career into the fire service. And moving into the fire service presents some unique challenges for him, seeing as he was born with only one hand.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona City Independent

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., introduced legislation today that could help local fire departments promote part-time personnel with federal grant funding rather than being forced to hire new employees and train them. Peters introduced the legislation along with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a way to help save money and hire and promote first responders who have already been trained.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

All 11 members of Newburgh’s volunteer fire department quit their jobs after the town selectmen refused to reinstate the former chief, officials said. The selectmen met Monday to vote whether to reinstate former Chief Glen Williamson, who officially resigned in August. He worked for the department for more than 20 years, the last 10 as chief earning $4,000 a year, he said.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News

In this, the second episode of After Action Video, we explore the Berkeley Fire’s mayday event on September 30th 2016. The event occurred at a commercial fire while crews were engaged in transitioning from offensive to defensive in their approach. This episode looks at the firefighters' mindset both before and during the event as well as highlighting the “chain” of events that contributed to the need for a mayday.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cahill Multimedia

A Seattle firefighter who says he was knocked out by the force of the Greenwood natural-gas explosion last year is suing Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and its contractor over the blast. In the lawsuit filed Friday, Jeff Markoff said he was about 90 feet from the epicenter of the alleyway explosion that leveled two buildings and damaged dozens more.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

Jones County Volunteer Fire Department (JCVFD) battled a Mother's Day duplex fire Sunday, where the fire completely destroyed the building. During Sunday's call JCVFD requested back-up from Laurel city firefighters, but they did not get the response it needed. The fire happened on Redbud Drive off Highway 11 around 11 a.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My Fox 23 Hattiesburg

Three years after Kansas City settled claims that it had failed to pay certain overtime wages, Fire Department medical staff are back in court saying the city is circumventing the court’s ruling. A lawsuit filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on behalf of certain emergency medical technicians and paramedics says the city has lowered some pay scales — so that the plaintiffs continue to work overtime hours but haven’t seen higher wages.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

A federal judge has found that the town of Sandwich was within the law when it terminated former firefighter Andrew Davison, but has left open the question of whether his immediate superiors intended to restrict his free speech when reprimanding him for other misconduct. Davison alleges the town fired him in April 2014 in retaliation for a sign he posted on his Quaker Meetinghouse Road property objecting to a proposal for a public safety complex.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The Houston Fire Department has resorted to shuttling firefighters to emergencies in SUVs because reliable fire trucks are increasingly becoming a rarity. The fire department internal memo, describing the policy, was first released in 2013, but highlights a growing problem that poses a threat to public safety: not enough reliable equipment to outfit the city's fire department.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

An effort by the union representing Fairfax County firefighters to reassure the community that bullying and workplace harassment aren’t commonplace struck a painful nerve for Steve Mittendorff — the husband of a former county firefighter who was the victim of online bullying and who died by suicide last year.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

An East Liverpool patrolman was recently rushed to the hospital after becoming exposed to fentanyl and carfentanil. Chris Greene was obtaining evidence during a traffic stop when fentanyl attached to his shirt. Police say driver Justin Buckle and passenger Cortez Collins had tried to get rid of evidence in the car.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ToledoNewsNow

For years, Tucson-area fire departments have been working with a local health-care program to create a comprehensive medical plan that addresses stress and mental health in first responders. April was a difficult month for the Tucson Fire Department, with a murder-suicide perpetrated by one of its own taking place days before the sentencing of a former captain for three murders.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson Arizona Daily Star

The former city manager wanted to fire Charlotte Fire Department Chief Jon Hannan last year, but the City Council blocked the move, according to a deposition from this week’s whistleblower trial that ended with a $1.5 million verdict against the city. Ron Carlee wanted to fire Hannan because of the chief’s “lying” to him over leaking part of a personnel file to retaliate against a firefighter union leader, according to his deposition.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer