A volunteer firefighter is on administrative leave after he allegedly threw his helmet at a vehicle while directing traffic. The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office charged the 20-year-old firefighter with a misdemeanor of malicious injury to personal property. He was later released on a $500 personal recognizance bond.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the times and democrat

The president of the Barstow Professional Firefighters Association urged the City Council on Monday to consider annexing the Barstow Fire Protection District into the San Bernardino County district. "I want to make the suggestion that we go forward with the proposal and look into that wholeheartedly," Barstow Fire Protection District Firefighter John Wymore said.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: desert dispatch

Fifteen years ago they toiled in the smoking pit of Ground Zero and other 9/11-sites — and now they have to prove it. Several hundred EMS workers who registered with the city as part of the WTC clean-up effort decades ago are now being told the FDNY can’t confirm their participation. In a letter dated May 12 from the NYC Employees Retirement System, workers were told they had 60 days to get their own proof, such as “log books.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

VIDEO - The Anchorage Police Department today released dashcam footage of a dramatic roadside rescue that took place Sunday on Middlerock Road in East Anchorage. “I thought I was literally going to die," the driver can be heard saying after police and passersby rally to free him from the flaming vehicle.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTUU-TV NBC 2 Anchorage

The Philadelphia Police Department's practice of "scoop-and-run" during last year's Amtrak crash - transporting injured victims to hospitals instead of waiting for ambulances - meant that the injured were unevenly distributed at area hospitals in the hours after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com

Cancer is killing firefighters. While research over the past decade has shown that responders have a high risk for developing certain cancers, there’s still no database to determine just how widespread it may be. But that may soon change as members of Congress have introduced a measure to create a National Firefighter Cancer Registry.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

People who target police, firefighters and other first responders in Louisiana soon could face enhanced penalties when they commit crimes against them — just as they would for targeting someone based on their race, religion or gender. In a swift 33-3 vote, the state Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would add cops, firemen and other first responders to the list of protected classes under the state’s hate crime law.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the advocate

Mike Myers, 49, who retired as Las Vegas fire chief in 2013 after a 26-year career with the department and went on to work as chief of a fire department in St. Charles, Missouri, has been selected to be Portland's next fire chief. City Commissioner Dan Saltzman said Monday that Myers was selected from 31 applicants in a national search.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: oregonian

A local firefighter and paramedic lost his battle with cancer on Sunday morning. Kyle Jameson, 34, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in April of 2015, after a routine physical examination. He underwent chemotherapy treatment, which helped eradicate the cancer from his lymphatic system, but it spread deeper into his bones.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: manchester union leader

The Aurora Fire Department — having already racked up more than $2 million in overtime last year — can claim the title of having the busiest firefighters of any department in the nation, according to an industry report. The fire department union compiled 2014 data from Firehouse magazine, a leading industry trade publication, and found that Aurora firefighters respond annually to more calls per firefighter than any other department in the nation.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: denver post

Four volunteer firefighters are facing charges after police say they called to report fake emergencies. Logan Township police said Dustin Beckwith, Aric Beckwith, Daniel Johnson, and Edward Perino are charged with calling 911 to report false fires for the thrill of riding in a fire truck. "I am pretty much disgusted by this.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJACTV.com

In February 2014 we wrote that protective hoods are the most vulnerable area of the firefighter's ensemble. That's because hoods lack any type of barrier characteristics to keep out the superfine particles that absorb a variety of hazardous chemicals including carcinogens. This shortcoming was coupled with NIOSH studies and other research showing carcinogen buildup on firefighters' skin, particularly on the neck and face areas unprotected by the SCBA face piece.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Some firefighters in the county would have to pull out of their stations within four minutes of being dispatched — instead of the current eight minutes — under new tighter targets for fire crew response times being considered by the County Council. For stations in the city of Frederick and other towns, the new goal for response times — how long it takes from the moment a call is dispatched until a truck rolls out of the station house — would be cut in half under changes to county law proposed by the Frederick County Division of Fire & Rescue Services and the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: frederick news post

A D.C. fire lieutenant who last year was accused of botching a response to a choking toddler who died has been found guilty of neglect, fined $5,000 and demoted in rank, according to two officials familiar with the case. The attorney for the father of the 18-month-old said his client would have preferred that the firefighter, 28-year veteran Guy Valentine, been fired, but understands that he got the most severe punishment possible for a charge of neglect of duty.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington post - metered site

A groundbreaking study in Illinois could change the way firefighters attack the hottest and most dangerous fires. The Milwaukee Fire Department is taking part in the study, but a retired New York City battalion chief says the researchers are all wet. It may sound elementary, but scientists in suburban Chicago are studying whether applying water on a fire from the outside should come before search and rescue on the inside.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

Fire chiefs captured in racy photos on what was supposed to be a business trip are still in the hot seat. The county manager wants their boss to resign, but chief Steven Gonzales refuses to turn in a letter of resignation. "There's been a lot of public outcry," county manager Danny Monette said. Target 7 first told you about Gonzales and two of his fire chiefs.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOAT-TV ABC 7 Albuquerque

Firefighters and emergency service providers working for Reedy Creek Improvement District, protested a stalled contract negotiations Sunday by picketing at the Disney Springs reopening. The protest ran from 9 a.m. to noon with about 50 emergency responders participating. The issue is the contract talks are now at impasse and awaiting a decision from a special magistrate over pay and health insurance, as well as cancer and wellness screenings.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Click Orlando

Port Chester was ordered by the New York State Supreme Court to temporarily restore the staffing of the Rye Brook firehouse with a paid firefighter starting Friday night. The court’s ruling comes 24 hours after Rye Brook filed a lawsuit against Port Chester for violating a shared fire services contract when Port Chester eliminated its paid fire department last week.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

A day after being fired from his post near the top of the Pensacola Fire Department, former Deputy Fire Chief Joe Glover said he believes the investigation into the fire department and his subsequent firing was retaliation for claims of discrimination he's made against the city in the past. Glover and Interim Fire Chief Matt Schmitt were fired by Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward on Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pensacola News Journal

New information tonight as we continue to look into complaints from women firefighters in Fairfax County. They are upset about lewd pictures posted on the Facebook page of the man responsible for internal complaints. So how bad are the pictures? Some of them are so inappropriate that we couldn't show them on TV.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV 9 DC