The former captain of the Etowah County Rescue Squad has been arrested for criminally negligent homicide related to the drowning death of a rescue squad volunteer April 25. Michael Ervin Bettis, 49, Gadsden, was arrested on the misdemeanor charge after he was indicted by an Etowah County grand jury, according to a news release from Sheriff Todd Entrekin. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: gadsden times
The National Fire Heritage Center announced this week the Inductees into the “National Fire and Emergency Services Hall of Legends, Legacies and Leaders” (HLLL) the prestigious acknowledgment of contributions of lasting importance to all who serve and those served in communities large and small. This year’s Inductees were: James Braidwood, Keith Royer, Haraldur Stefansson, Ira H. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Heritage Center
Amid the sounds of wrenching metal and crackling fire, the hissing whine signaled that one of the overturned tank cars was doing its job.
Flames licked the tanker just outside the state fairgrounds on July 11, 2012. Thousands of gallons of ethanol heated up inside the car. As pressure mounted, the intense heat weakened its shell, less than an inch thick. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: columbus dispatch
Ashton Funk, a Margate City firefighter, lifeguard and champion beach patrol rower, could lose both his city positions after being convicted of shoplifting $7.98 from a local Wawa.
Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain said Tuesday that Funk, 34, of Northfield was arrested Sept. 10 on a complaint of shoplifting from the Margate WaWa. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: philadelphia inquirer
Mayor Ras Baraka is turning to an old friend of the city as he begins a drastic overhaul of its public safety system.
Anthony Ambrose was officially revealed as the city's acting public safety director at a City Hall press conference Monday morning. In the newly created position, he will oversee the city's police, fire and emergency management departments. - PUB DATE: 12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com
The Mount Greenwood post office was renamed Sunday the "Captain Herbert Johnson Memorial Post Office," in honor of a beloved fallen Chicago firefighter.
It was a ceremony to rename his neighborhood post office. Herbie Johnson was an Illinois Medal of Honor winner for rescuing several children from a burning building, and was well known and well liked in the department and in his South Side community. - PUB DATE: 12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago
The political powers of Yonkers are trying to keep the public from knowing much, if anything, about a bizarre fist fight that broke out between the city’s fire commissioner and one of his officers.
This happened at a YFD Christmas party held on the evening of Dec. 11 at the Fairways, a catering hall at the county-owned Dunwoodie golf course in Yonkers. - PUB DATE: 12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)
Emergency vehicles were clogging the South St. Paul street as Chanry Soeng arrived home after working the second shift at a Lakeville packaging plant.
When she realized they were at her house, she sprinted toward the door, demanding to see her children.
First responders restrained her, then delivered terrible news: her husband, Soeun Sem, 60, and the couple’s youngest son, 2-year-old Eric, had died in the fire. - PUB DATE: 12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: star-tribune
Sacramento-area fire agencies last week unveiled a new mobile phone app that recruits passers-by to respond to cardiac emergencies.
The PulsePoint app is designed to alert ordinary citizens when someone nearby needs cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Those trained in CPR can then run over and begin administering aid before medical personnel arrive. - PUB DATE: 12/22/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sacramento bee
A 19-year-old Mount Marion fire captain died Saturday evening while fighting a house fire in the Centerville Fire District, authorities said Sunday.
At the Mount Marion Fire Department headquarters on Old Kings Highway and Glasco Turnpike Sunday morning, a sign outside paid tribute to volunteer fire Capt. - PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: kingston daily freeman
A firefighter died after collapsing during a training Saturday.
Firefighter Close Calls reported that Stacy Crawford, 47, with the Emergency Services District #1, was participating in training exercises at a fire station in Powell, Texas when he collapsed. Crews tried to resuscitate Crawford, but were unsuccessful. - PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1
A radio recording released Friday indicates that six minutes elapsed between the time emergency tones were sounded to announce the creation of a collapse zone at a fire Oct. 12 and when a wall collapsed, killing two Kansas City firefighters. The timing is significant because safety experts say all fire personnel should be instructed to exit a collapse zone immediately after one has been established around an empty building. - PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the kansas city star
A diabetic Indiana woman who lost her job as a fire department paramedic has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit with the township for $725,000, marking what is likely the largest amount awarded in the state under the Americans with Disabilities Act for someone with diabetes.
Kristine Rednour, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, brought legal action against the Wayne Township Fire Department after she was fired in 2011 because of "medical events" caused by her illness, according to her complaint filed in the U. - PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Indianapolis Star
Reputed Cicero street crew member Paul Carparelli wants a federal judge to give him a break when he is sentenced Monday for extorting money from debtors because he once served as a suburban firefighter.
Federal prosecutors, though, say Carparelli isn’t exactly firefighter-of-the-year material, according to a transcript of a secretly recorded conversation. - PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago sun-times
VIDEO - Rangeley Fire Cheif Tim Pellerin said his team and many surrounding communities used extensive rope training techniques for a three-hour operation to rescue a driver teetering on a rock ledge.
Pellerin said a commercial truck veered off Route 4 at Small Falls, hit a guardrail and went airborne, landing on a rock ledge some 40 feet off the roadway. - PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCSH-TV NBC 6 Portland
The family of Chicago firefighter Daniel Capuano filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the owner of the building where Capuano suffered fatal injuries during a fall down an unprotected elevator shaft. Julie Capuano, the firefighter's wife, filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Anilroshi, the company that owns the two-story brick warehouse at 9213 S. - PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune
Two volunteer firefighters have been charged with assault after two other firefighters, women from another station, say the men tried to force them out of a home as they battled a blaze in Lanham, Maryland.
Christopher Kelly and Jeff Miller of the West Lanham Hills Volunteer Fire Department both have been charged with assault and obstruction in the reported turf war, according to charging documents. - PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nbc washington
A wrongful-termination case filed by Atlanta’s former fire chief can proceed, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May was asked by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the City of Atlanta to throw out the case filed by Kelvin Cochran. But Judge May granted most of Mr. Cochran’s motions, including his primary claims of unconstitutional retaliation; discrimination based on his viewpoint; and violation of his rights to freedom of religion, association and due process. - PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington times
Members of the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission voted unanimously Thursday to replace the test the city uses to hire new firefighters, the latest change to a selection process that Mayor Eric Garcetti has struggled to reform in his bid to root out nepotism and diversify the department’s rank and file. - PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: los angeles times
Renewal of the Zadroga Act, legislation that provides health benefits for first responders who grew ill after the Sept. 11 attacks, has been included in the year-end tax and spending bill Congress is to consider later this week.
An $8.1 billion measure to renew the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will be included in a $1. - PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV 7online.com
