Communities just downstream of California’s Lake Oroville dam would not receive adequate warning or time for evacuations if the 770-foot-tall dam itself — rather than its spillways — were to abruptly fail, the state water agency that operates the nation’s tallest dam repeatedly advised federal regulators a half-decade ago.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sun

The son of Utica Fire Chief Russell Brooks has filed a federal civil complaint against the City of Utica alleging the city violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws. On Dec. 2, John Brooks filed the federal civil complaint saying he was subjected to a hostile work environment at the Utica Fire Department — where he has been employed as a firefighter-paramedic since 2006 — because he requested an accommodation as a practicing Nazirite.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer Dispatch

You’re driving your engine to the scene of reported structure fire as part of a multi-company response. You’re navigating traffic on a heavily traveled thoroughfare and you’re fast approaching a controlled intersection. What should you be prepared to do? Stop! That’s the first lesson I always imparted to firefighters when I was teaching them how to drive fire apparatus.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A long time servant of Jefferson Davis County and the town of Bassfield died in the line of duty on Tuesday. Bassfield Volunteer Fire Chief Bill Matthews, a retired Marine, was found slumped over in his fire truck on the scene of a brush fire. Mayor Patricia Courtney said a firefighter was manning the hose and called to Matthews to move the truck and got no response.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Jackson Clarion-Ledger

Two Omaha firefighters sued the city Tuesday over Mayor Jean Stothert’s hiring of Fire Chief Dan Olsen, alleging she failed to follow the correct selection process. Battalion chiefs Robb Gottsch and Dan Stolinski, both finalists for the chief position, asked that a court declare Olsen’s promotion to be void.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald

A selectman called attention Tuesday night to the town's potentially flawed and confusing policies and procedures, which might come into play in deciding the fate of the town's fire chief, who has been on paid administrative leave for over a month. On Jan. 10, the selectmen alleged Fire Chief Peter Martell did not have the authority or the selectmen's approval to spend $33,814 of town money for a 2017 Ford Expedition.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

A six-month study of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department found on-the-job bullying, harassment and other problems, issues that were raised after 31-year-old firefighter-paramedic Nicole Mittendorff took her own life last year. No one knows if cyberbullying played a role in Mittendorff’s death, but she had faced online harassment and bullying, possibly by colleagues.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

It was a crime that thundered across Kansas City, took the lives of six firefighters, and 28 years later, still resonates as a shattering, life-changing moment for countless people. And on Wednesday, many of those people packed a Kansas City courtroom — and an overflow room with a monitor — for a hearing to determine if Bryan Sheppard, one of those convicted of that crime, will one day walk out of prison.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star & KansasCity.com

Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue just announced a cutting-edge program to save lives. They’re the first fire department in the world to start taking home Automated External Defibrillators on their days off. TVF&R already has one of the highest survival rates in the country for patients who have cardiac arrest or heart attacks.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGW-TV Northwest News Channel 8

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley announced in a press release Tuesday that no criminal charges will be filed against the driver of the fire truck involved in a fatal crash. Ventura County firefighters, Ryan Osler and Adam Price were driving to Vandenberg Air Force Base to work on the Canyon Fire back in September 2016.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KEYT-TV ABC 3 Santa Barbara

Legislative debate stretched several hours Tuesday night at the Iowa Capitol as Republican lawmakers tried to fast track votes on a bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public workers in the state. In the end, one key vote from the GOP-controlled Senate was put on hold until today after Democrats led hours of discussion over an amendment to gut the bill.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

The dramatic final scene of a new flick starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron turned a little too real when an inferno broke out on its Brooklyn set, witnesses and fire officials said Tuesday. Jackman was among the roughly 150 people on the Brooklyn Navy Yard set as “The Greatest Showman’s’’ climatic staged fire spiraled out of control, sources said.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

A video shown at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce annual dinner on Jan. 20 in which chamber employees jokingly refer to “hot,” “full monty” and “shirtless” firefighters has resulted in at least two personnel complaints filed against the city, naming fire Chief Garret Olson and City Manager Katie Lichtig.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Luis Obispo County Tribune

After he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Casper Fire Captain Jeff Atkinson wanted to spend his free time creating lasting memories with his two boys — he didn’t want to waste precious hours filling out paperwork or arguing his claim for worker’s compensation. The captain filed for workers’ compensation after he became sick, his wife said, but he was denied.
- PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Casper Star-Tribune

A city resident, who was rejected as a firefighter because he has high blood pressure, has filed a $500,000 federal discrimination lawsuit against the city. Antonio Dias, 30, claims that although the city’s own doctor said he can perform the duties of a firefighter as long as he takes medication for his high blood pressure the city’s personnel director refused to clear Dias.
- PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan said he is outraged after the House State Affairs Committee voted, 6-9, on Monday not to move forward with legislation that would close a fireworks loophole in Idaho. Meridian Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer also echoed Doan’s concerns in a statement released Monday afternoon, and Nampa Fire Chief Phil Roberts has also stated in the past he is among those in favor of banning the sale of aerial fireworks.
- PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Idaho Press-Tribune

McLennan County’s state representatives have expressed support for a bill that would allow first responders with a state License to Carry a Handgun to carry while responding to emergencies, but local officials have differing views. Waco Fire Chief Bobby Tatum, said he’s adamantly opposed to firefighters caring guns on duty.
- PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waco Tribune

Fire chiefs and firefighters on Monday urged Gov. Scott Walker to require new homes to have more devices to prevent fires, saying a new electrical code being considered by his administration doesn't go far enough. "This is a reckless disregard for safety," said Wauwatosa Fire Chief Rob Ugaste, president of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association.
- PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stevens Point Journal

On Saturday, the Des Moines Professional Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local 4 President Joe VanHaalen announced that a 29-year-veteran of the Des Moines Fire Department died Saturday morning after having a medical emergency while on duty Friday. Fire Engineer Douglas McCauley, 58, died because of an unknown medical problem.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Des Moines Registeer

The Washington Supreme Court moved this week in favor of two Bellevue firefighters battling melanoma whose insurance benefits were rescinded by the city and state Department of Labor. “I thought [the verdict] was great. The fact that skin cancer is a presumptive disease for firefighters, there’s kind of this promise made to us… When it was denied, it was a hard deal.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bellevue Reporter