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
Dallas Fire-Rescue is facing its own 911 emergency.
It's losing people faster than it can replace them. The 1,800 member department is stretched thin and overworked.
“When I meet with them, and I meet with our members pretty regularly, they're tired,” said Fire Chief David Coatney. “They look worn out. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth
It happened in a flash. A father desperate to save his child from the smoke and flames quickly filling his apartment, tossed his baby from the second floor of a burning apartment building.Fortunately, DeKalb County firefighter Robert Sutton, who was among the first firefighters to arrive at the Parks on Glenwood, caught the baby in one swift move. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAGA-TV Atlanta MyFox 5 News
On April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City fell victim to the worst act of domestic terrorism the United States has ever experienced on its own soil — as did the lives of 168 men, women and children.
Dr. Johnny Kirk, assistant professor of psychology at Northeastern State University, witnessed the horrors and damages of the Murrah Building bombing. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Enid News
A Las Vegas Fire & Rescue captain arrested in a child prostitution case engaged in sexual activities with a 15-year-old girl at his assigned fire station, according to a Metro Police arrest report made public on Wednesday. Richard Odell Loughry, 46, was arrested on Monday as he left a store with his wife, according to police. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun
Allentown's firefighters made a public plea to the City Council on Wednesday to invest in new firetrucks for the city, saying the current equipment shortage has reached a "crisis" level.
Keith Pierce, the city fire department's safety representative, said that as of this week, all of the city's reserve fire equipment has been moved to the front line due to breakdowns with several pieces of the city's first responding equipment. - PUB DATE: 4/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call
Fire Chief Larry Reilly will retire this June after four decades with the Norwalk Fire Department.
“It’s been 42 years and I turned 65 in March so I think it’s a good time go,” Reilly said. “I’ve enjoyed the 42 years working with people in the department and working for the people in Norwalk but it’s time to move on. - PUB DATE: 4/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Hour
The Texas Senate has endorsed allowing paramedics and other first-responders, including volunteer firefighters, to carry concealed handguns in restricted areas.
The bill by Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas met little resistance in the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday. A similar measure is pending in the House. - PUB DATE: 4/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth
Philadelphia firefighter Joyce Craig’s “personal alert” device was at least 12 -- maybe even 17 -- years old.
Her breathing device included a “breathing hose” that also was 12 years old. Both pieces of equipment, vital to a firefighter inside a structure fire, failed Craig in the moments before fellow firefighters pulled her from an early morning blaze in December 2014. - PUB DATE: 4/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCAU-TV NBC 10 Philadelphia
An early morning house fire in Logansport on Monday led to the discovery of a drug growing operation, according to officials.
The fire broke out around 7 a.m. near the intersection of 14th and High streets.
Four people were inside the house at the time. They all got out OK, but two firefighters were injured. - PUB DATE: 4/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISHTV.com Channel 8
Today a Detroit teenager got a chance to meet the firefighter who saved his life.
Detroit Fire Fighter Lt. Theresa Halsell wasn’t at the house fire that burned the teen’s home, but she was the guest speaker who taught his class at Woodward Academy how to survive a house fire.
Her lesson played out in real life for Thomas Locke when he woke up to a fire inside his Grandmother's home. - PUB DATE: 4/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ-TV ABC Detroit
Firefighter Joyce Craig made five “Mayday” distress transmissions as she became trapped in the dining room of a burning West Oak Lane home on Dec. 9, 2014.
“Engine 73 can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” Craig, 37, said in her final transmission.
Nine minutes later, Craig – the first female Philadelphia firefighter to die in the line of duty – was found by her comrades with her left hand still near the nozzle of her fire hose, according to a report released Monday by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. - PUB DATE: 4/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com
