There is a gaping hole in the fabric of the Spring Valley community after the unexpected death of longtime Fire Chief Terry Shafer, who died Saturday, Feb. 25 while on a weekend trip with his brothers. He was 62.
Shafer joined Spring Valley Fire in 1979 and began wearing the white chief’s helmet in 1986. - PUB DATE: 3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rivertowns
A Superior Court judge said he will decide soon whether to block the state’s overseers from cutting the city’s Fire Department to save the city money.
The city’s firefighters are suing the state and met for the first time Tuesday in court before Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez. Attorneys for both the city’s firefighters and state overseers predicted dire outcomes if the judge doesn’t rule in their respective favor, with the union raising public-safety concerns and the state invoking bankruptcy. - PUB DATE: 3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City
The parents of a University of Connecticut student who was killed in October after being run over by a campus fire department vehicle are suing the driver and the state over "the negligence and carelessness" that led to the young woman's death. Abraham and Shiny Chemmarappally, of West Hartford, filed the suit Feb. - PUB DATE: 3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant
When the weather’s nice on the weekends, Jennifer Chisholm watches children flock to the end of her street in the Chimney Hill neighborhood.
Two antique fire trucks are often parked in front of the house at the corner of Rosemont and Bunyan roads.
“It’s a main street, so everybody’s like ‘Wow,’ ” she said. - PUB DATE: 3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot/HamptonRoads.com
VIDEO - A firefighter in China was caught in dramatic footage as he rappelled from the ninth floor of a hospital and kicked a suicidal woman back inside.
The distraught woman in Ruzhou City opened an eighth-story window and sat on the ledge, where she caught the attention of passers-by and hospital staff, Asia Wire reported. - PUB DATE: 3/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
A CareFlite medical helicopter on the way to pick up a patient came "very close" to striking a drone aircraft Monday near Denton, the company's top executive said.
The helicopter had just taken off at about 5:30 p.m. when the incident occurred about four miles south of Denton Regional Airport, said CareFlite Chief Executive Officer Jim Swartz. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Dallas Fort Worth
Three people were killed and two others are in critical condition after a small plane crashed into a California home on Monday, authorities said.
Two dwellings were destroyed when the plane went down in Riverside at about 4:45 p.m, Fire Chief Michael Moore said.
All of the victims had been flying in the aircraft, he said. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News
When Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief David Coatney rode out on an ambulance for a shift in southern Dallas on the night of New Year's Eve, his paramedics responded to a hectic 10 calls in 12 hours.
"I thought that was an anomaly because of New Year's Eve," Coatney said. "But then when I pulled the data, I found that was a normal shift for them. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
The former South Thomaston fire chief has been ordered by a judge to account for approximately $15,000 that went missing from the town’s fireman’s association after it was allocated to help buy a new fire truck.
Justice William Stokes, in his Feb. 14 ruling, ordered that former Fire Chief Wayne Brown, along with former firefighter Colin Grierson, to come up in the next month with a detailed list of “any and all withdrawals and/or disbursements from the [South Thomaston Firemen’s] Association’s funds. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily ews
Soot, grit and grime once were the height of fashion at American firehouses. Strutting around in a singed helmet and smudged turnout gear let the world know that you were one tough firefighting son of a gun.
“For some it’s still like the red badge of courage,” said Herington, Kan., fire chief Ken Staatz. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star
Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed is on leave from her job for the second time this year. A spokeswoman refused to say late Monday afternoon whether Reed’s absence is performance related. There is no current administrative investigation of the chief, she added. Reed did not return a phone message.
“The city does not comment on the leave status of employees,” said Erica Derryck, a spokesman for Mayor Libby Schaaf. - PUB DATE: 2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times
Ron Savage, an anchor at Fox 2 News and on-call firefighter, died suddenly today after collapsing while training with the Milford Fire Department, said Fire Chief Thomas Moore. He was 63.
"Ron was a dedicated member of the Milford Fire Department since 2014 and this loss will truly be felt," Milford Fire Chief Thomas Moore said in a statement emailed to the Free Press. - PUB DATE: 2/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: HomeTown Life
The West Burlington Fire Department's profile picture on Facebook has changed overnight after losing one of their own.
The Eastern Iowa Fireground Photos is reporting on their Facebook page that firefighter James Franciskovich, 52, and two others were headed to the State Fire School in Ames, Iowa on Friday evening, Feb. - PUB DATE: 2/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WQAD 8
West Sacramento’s Deputy Fire Chief Rebecca “Becky”’ Ramirez never saw a female firefighter growing up and certainly never considered a career in the field.
In fact, when she and her husband, Adam Ramirez, were taking classes at a San Bernardino County-area community college, she encouraged him to enroll in a firefighting course offered there. - PUB DATE: 2/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sacramento Bee
Fire Capt. Rick Winship died in a hospital bed, not in a raging inferno or a tragic accident while racing to an emergency scene.
But his death was in the line of duty all the same, his widow says. The fast-spreading cancer that killed him two years ago was, Heather Winship believes, a result of exposure to toxic soot and smoke during his 26-year career with the Independence Fire Department. - PUB DATE: 2/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star
Following the suicide of Firefighter Nicole Mittendorff last year, the Fairfax County (Va.) Fire and Rescue Department contracted to have an assessment done of organizational culture and attitudes within the department. The resulting report includes many valuable insights and recommendations, but also falls short when it comes to really dealing with the issue of accountability. - PUB DATE: 2/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
PHOTO - A firetruck crashed in Whitley County, Kentucky Thursday. The Woodbine Fire Department truck crashed in a wooded area near Louden Road and Highway 92 eastbound.
According to the report, two firefighters were on their way to help with a structure fire at the time of the crash.
The men were transported to Baptist Health Corbin for minor injuries. - PUB DATE: 2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WATE.com
It would be difficult to find anyone more embedded in the culture of Prince George's County fire service —or in the community of Bowie — than county Fire Chief Marc Bashoor. As a kid, he rode his bike from the Tulip Grove section of town to Station 39 on Route 450 and watch the firetrucks go out. He became a volunteer there in 1981 at the age of 16 — he needed a note from his parents to sign up — and even lived in the firehouse for a time. - PUB DATE: 2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Capital Gazette
It’s been more than two years since Hartford Firefighter Kevin Bell was killed while battling a massive blaze in the city's North End and a final report reveals what factors contributed to his death.
The National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health (NIOSH) report reveals how the firefighter died and lists several recommendations for the fire department. - PUB DATE: 2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Connecticut
The Menlo Park Fire Protection District’s top official wants it to lead the pack in using drones for emergency operations.
“I want this agency to be the lead agency in the United States in the terms of applying new technology,” district board President Peter Carpenter said at Tuesday’s board meeting. - PUB DATE: 2/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mercury News
