A Bonita Springs Fire District commissioner said he wants firefighters to pack heat.
Fred Forbes, the district’s treasurer and secretary, said the department should look into the feasibility of training and outfitting firefighters with body armor and guns to better protect them from being shot.
“I think it’s something we need to evaluate,” Forbes told the Daily News. - PUB DATE: 9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: naples daily news
PHOTO - A Napa County fire engine rolled down an embankment on a winding rural road Saturday morning, destroying the engine and sending two volunteer firefighters to the hospital.
The accident occurred on Wooden Valley Road east of Napa around 11:30 a.m. after the two volunteers had been sent to a motorcycle accident in the area, said Capt. - PUB DATE: 9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the press democrat
PHOTO - Inside a burning building, the smoke often gets so thick and oppressive that firefighters can't see their hands if they wave them in front of their facemasks.
The roiling black clouds obscure everything: staircases, chairs, an unconscious person, even the flames - burning at more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit - on the other side of the room. - PUB DATE: 9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: lowell sun
A Milwaukee firefighter was violently grabbed by a man in a crowd of hostile onlookers as he tried to help a victim while on a medical call. It happened this weekend, and it has Milwaukee Fire Department officials making a plea to the public. This incident occurred on Saturday evening, September 5th near 60th and Capitol Drive. - PUB DATE: 9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6
A year-old plan to cross-train Alexandria firefighters and paramedics and add a fourth person to every firetruck is encountering resistance from city paramedics, who say it is unworkable unless the city hires more staff.
Alexandria Fire Chief Robert Dubé said that his plan will ensure that at least one person in every fire crew will be certified in advanced life support. - PUB DATE: 9/8/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the washington post
The U.S. Forest Service spent a record $243 million last week battling forest fires around the country, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday.
The agency has spent all the money Congress provided for fighting wildfires in the 12-month budget period, forcing it to borrow money from forest restoration work designed to reduce the risk of fires. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the new york times
Assistant San Diego Fire Chief Brian Fennessy was selected to become the fire department’s 17th chief, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced Thursday morning.
Fennessy, 56, who has 38 years of firefighting experience, is to take over for Chief Javier Mainar, who is set to retire in November.
During a news conference at Montgomery Field, Faulconer said Fennessy has “unmatched experience and operational knowledge,” two skills that will be especially important as the possibility of a strong El Niño looms amid a year-round regional fire season. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: san diego union-tribune
On behalf of the United States Fire Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently seeking nominations and applications for the position of Superintendent of the National Fire Academy located in Emmitsburg, MD.
The Superintendent for the National Fire Academy is responsible for advancing the professional development of fire service personnel and of other persons engaged in fire prevention and control activities. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Federal Emergency Management Agency
A total of 174 current and former firefighters are suing the city in federal court for lost wages due to alleged overtime miscalculations that union President James Kottage said he believes will “add up to seven figures.”
The firefighters in the suit allege that the Fire Department failed to accurately calculate their regular rates for overtime compensation, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new haven register
Civil District Judge Kern Reese held New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu in contempt Friday (Sept. 4), but said he would give Landrieu one week to come up with a reasonable plan to pay an outstanding judgment due to the city's firefighters before imposing a house arrest sentence.
Reese said he understood Landrieu was constrained by a tight budget, but that did not mean he had the right to shirk a legal judgment. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Orleans Times-Picayune
A child died in Southeast Washington on Thursday, when the closest available ambulance was about seven miles from the scene of the emergency.
That ambulance never made it to the child, and a fire engine started the trip to the hospital instead.
The boy was unconscious and not breathing when the fire engine arrived, D. - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington post
The City of Detroit and its public schools are launching a two-year pilot project to train high school students to become firefighters in the city, officials said today.
A group of 30 students will be the first trained when school starts next week, and by the time they graduate from the Cody High School Complex, they will be certified as both firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs). - PUB DATE: 9/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: detroit free press
It's been almost five years since a brush fire pickup lunged forward and crushed volunteer firefighter Leonard Murray, killing him. But the Indiana man's family continues to wait for an answer from the federal government about whether they will or won't get a one-time death benefit meant to help the survivors of fallen public safety officers. - PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today
They rumble past schools, homes and businesses in dozens of cities around the country — 100-car trains loaded with crude oil from the Upper Midwest.
While railroads have long carried hazardous materials through congested urban areas, cities are now scrambling to formulate emergency plans and to train firefighters amid the latest safety threat: a fiftyfold increase in crude shipments that critics say has put millions of people living or working near the tracks at heightened risk of derailment, fire and explosion. - PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Local Firefighters found themselves working in familiar territory this morning, their own Fire Station. The Randolph Village Volunteer Fire Station is now severely under-equipped. Firefighters are left wondering what to do next.
The 43-year old station is now trying to re-group. The focus has become how to keep the response going, with so little of their own equipment. - PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: myChamplainValley.com
Authorities in Oakland, California, were in for quite the surprise when they responded to a report of what appeared to be a baby trapped in a car, police said.
Emergency personnel smashed the car window and forced their way into the vehicle on Monday, only to find a lifelike doll sitting in the car seat, Officer Johnna Watson of the Oakland Police Department told ABC News. - PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc news
Captain Greg Hopper with the Sugar Land Fire Department knew he wanted to do something after the tragic death of Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth.
"I need to find a way to show them that I support them," Hopper told KPRC 2 News.
He decided to make decals that reads "I've Got Your Back" to show support for law enforcement. - PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston
The 25-year-old firefighter who survived a deadly blaze last month near Twisp, Okanogan County, faces a future that will require every bit of the grit he showed on the ground, his doctor said Tuesday.
Daniel Lyon has endured three surgeries so far to repair the burns that cover more than 60 percent of his body. - PUB DATE: 9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: seattle times
A month after the city started requiring firefighters to work an average of 56 hours each week, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza said Tuesday he’s open to altering the fire department’s work schedule.
In a letter sent to union president Paul Doughty, Elorza said he is willing to “move to a different schedule under the three-platoon system” in order to address concerns that Providence may be the only fire department in the country that requires its firefighters to work two 10-hour days followed by two 14-hour nights followed by two days off. - PUB DATE: 9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12
A Boston firefighter is on a mission. His helmet was stolen, and he says he won’t rest until it is found.
For the better part of a year, “They do have them out there,” Boston firefighter Brian Carey has been perusing Ebay.
“There’s an old beat up helmet right here,” said Carey.
Hoping to find his firefighting helmet from Engine 14. - PUB DATE: 9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWLP-TV Springfield
