NASA’s new artificial intelligence — capable of running on a cellphone — could soon put Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana to shame. The hope for the AI, named AUDREY, is to be deployed in the field to help save first responders’ lives by making split-second recommendations in dangerous situations, NASA officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News

Justin Beebe loved nature, especially the woods. He was also a hard worker who always put others before himself, his lifelong friend Colin James said. So it seemed only natural that Beebe combined these elements and joined the Lolo Hotshots crew to fight wildland fires. “This was the job of his dreams,” James said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Vegas Review-Journal

More than 5,400 Ground Zero responders and others who lived, worked or went to school near the fallen Twin Towers have come down with 9/11-linked cancers, a grim tally that has tripled in the past 2¹/2 years. As of June 30, 5,441 people enrolled in the WTC Health Program have been diagnosed with 6,378 separate cancers, with some struck by more than one type, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post

When the fast-moving Oak Knoll fire jumped from a field of dry grass and weeds across Interstate 5, it began devouring a row of Ashland homes, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air. "Heavy, thick, dark, acrid smoke was rolling through the subdivision," Jackson County Fire District 5 Chief Darin Welburn said of the 2010 fire started by a mentally ill homeless man.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mail Tribune

A wind-whipped wildfire roared through a Northern California town still recovering from a devastating blaze nearly a year ago, destroying more than 100 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, authorities said Monday. The fire seemed calm Sunday before gusts kicked up the flames that tore through neighborhoods in Lower Lake, a town of 1,200 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGO-TV ABC 7 San Francisco

A former Old Orchard Beach fire chief has been indicted on a felony arson charge and a related misdemeanor in connection with a seven-alarm fire in April that burned 42 acres of marshland in the town. Ricky Plummer, 59, of Biddeford resigned from his post about a week after he was arrested on the arson charge on May 7.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

The fire union has filed a complaint against the city, citing safety and labor concerns related to Office of Emergency Management Deputy Director Rick Fontana, who the bargaining unit alleges has been performing the duties of Fire Department employees. The complaint was filed this week with the state State Board of Labor Relations by union attorney Marshall T.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Haven Register

July was a deadly one for the nation’s fire service as 16 firefighters died on duty. The majority of the deaths were due to medical issues including heart disease and hypertension. USFA records show July as deadliest month in recent years. In June 2013, records show there were 25 firefighter deaths that included 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed in a wildfire.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

A planned two-day hearing to determine whether Liberty Township's fire chief should be disciplined for alleged management lapses has been extended into next month. Following 10 hours of testimony on Monday and Tuesday, a third day was needed on Wednesday to hear testimony of three firefighters, a medical adviser for the fire department and a human resources specialist, each testifying to problems with Tim Jensen.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch

In July, a group of fire officials from cities and towns across Massachusetts that have colleges in their communities met at NFPA to discuss the upcoming school year and a perennial challenge: how to start and end the college year without a significant fire tragedy on or around their campuses. The fears of local fire officials are not without merit.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association

Criticism over extravagant "incentive" pay to four top leaders of the Unified Fire Authority has spurred not one audit, but two. Citing complaints alleging improper compensation and "other potential misuse of public funds," the Utah state auditor launched an investigation of Unified Fire Authority compensation, credit cards and fuel cards last week.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Salt Lake City Deseret Morning News

Durham's speed humps often delay firetrucks and ambulances in getting to their destinations and increase risk to those they're trying to serve, a fire official says. Deputy Chief Chris Iannuzzi of the Durham Fire Department wrote a paper on Durham's speed humps while attending the elite Executive Fire Officer Program in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A fire and explosion at a Silver Spring apartment complex has caused massive damage, killing two, injuring dozens and displaced almost a hundred residents, some of whom are still missing. The incident is now being treated as a death investigation. According to Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein, fire crews were called to the 8600 block of Piney Branch Avenue for reports of an explosion and fire shortly before midnight.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV 9 DC

An assistant fire chief that Mayor Tony George had demoted to captain last week is returning to his post after his replacement turned down the promotion. Michael Bilski, president of the International Firefighters Local 104, said Ed Snarski ascended back to his assistant chief position after Robert Suchoski, one of two firefighters promoted to assistant chief, decided to return to his position as captain and fire inspector.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice

VIDEO - J.J. Watt is one of the best defensive ends in the league. He takes on big players and makes huge tackles. To say he's tough might be an understatement. But what happens when he spends the day as a firefighter in his home town? Watt and his father, John Watt, visited the Pewaukee (Wisconsin) fire station so that Watt could see what it's like to train as a firefighter in full gear.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

GoodCall, a data analytics company, released a study listing the best places for first responders to live in the United States. According to their research, more metropolitan areas from the Pacific Northwest ranked in the top 20 than any other region of the country. Nearly 1,000 metropolitan areas were analyzed in terms of safety, affordability of housing and pay, among other factors.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A Cowlitz 2 firefighter has found another way to serve his community. Brad Yoder, a Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Firefighter/EMT, will donate his right kidney to Dana Clayton, a local woman who is lifelong friends with Yoder’s wife, Laura, according to a Cowlitz 2 press release. The surgery will take place Monday at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily News

When one firefighter is seriously hurt a ripple is felt throughout the FDNY — but Tuesday it was more like a wave. Three firefighters were critically injured in a massive inferno that ripped through five buildings in the Bronx. Officials say more than 170 firefighters responded to the fire which broke out at about 12:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC New York

In the latest show of support for police, hundreds of firefighters and staff Tuesday started wearing Back the Blue T-shirts on duty. “It’s not only for our local Police Department but officers across the country,” Assistant Fire Chief Bill Murphy said Tuesday. North Texas law enforcement agencies have been flooded with cards, emails and food from residents showing their support for officers, starting in the hours after Dallas police were ambushed July 7, leaving five officers dead.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

VIDEO - Police in Kentucky are looking for a man caught on surveillance video attempting to torch a barbershop -- and in the process lighting himself ablaze. Investigators in Madisonville -- located roughly 150 miles southwest of Louisville -- said two suspected arsonists in a white Ford minivan targeted the business Sunday morning.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHAS-TV ABC 11 Louisville