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

Ten brand new fire trucks have been a source of pride for the city of Detroit. But one firefighter pointed out an alarming imperfection in one of the new rigs and the administration didn't like it. Firefighters simply call it retaliation after the city took it away. Detroit firefighter Mike O'Lear was stunned by the reaction or retaliation as he calls it, following a letter he fired off to the city last week.
- PUB DATE: 9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJBK Fox Detroit

Wildland fire is a coalition effort. Your safety, success and resilience depend on your cooperators, and your working relationships with them. Trust is essential. Trust is a key factor in many accidents, successes and close calls, but its full impact is often missed. Traditional approaches to safety focus on compliance and prevention, which have helped the fire service make great strides.
- PUB DATE: 9/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

A St. Paul firefighter died of a heart attack Monday evening after collapsing at his Merriam Park firehouse, the first loss of a city firefighter in the line of duty since 2009. Firefighter-paramedic Shane Clifton, 38, collapsed after exercising at Station 14, 111 N. Snelling Ave. He was later pronounced dead at Regions Hospital, according to Fire Chief Tim Butler.
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press

A man convicted of setting a 1995 fire that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters will get a new trial. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday said it would not hear arguments in the case involving Gregory Brown, who was awarded a new trial last year by Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III. A few hours later, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A.
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-gazette

Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson announced today that she will put together a new committee to address the ongoing dispute between Toledo’s fire department administration and rank-and-file union. The mayor said members of business, labor, government, and faith groups will volunteer their time to help mend the dispute between Toledo Firefighters Local 92 and Chief Luis Santiago.
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: toledo blade

A Lancaster County firefighter kept battling a house fire Friday night even after he was injured when the front porch collapsed beneath him. Capt. Ray Ingram, 33, with the Shiloh Zion Volunteer Fire Department fell through a concrete porch while fighting a fire at an abandoned house on Monroe Highway.
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSOC-TV

Thanks to funding from USFA/DHS, ISFSI today releases the second phase of training videos for the Principles of Modern Fire Attack. The ISFSI has built a series of training videos to assist departments in educating their professionals in the initial attack sequence, incorporating the fire dynamics research from the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firefighterclosecalls.com

A Eureka Springs firefighter is recovering after he was seriously injured fighting a structure fire on Grand Street. Fire officials say a team of two firefighters entered a burning mobile home when one of the firefighter's air pack mask was dislodged. Officials believe that Rod Wasson's mask was knocked loose while entering a doorway.
- PUB DATE: 9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHOG-TV ABC 29/KHBS-TV 40 Fayetteville-Fort Smith