Eleven firefighters received pension payments exceeding $500,000 last year, and all of them did so by taking part in a little-known loophole in one of San Diego’s most controversial employee benefit programs. The Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, allows city employees to collect a paycheck and a pension at the same time, but for a fixed period.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: san diego union-tribune.

Two firefighters who claim they were stripped of their badges by Fire Chief Darren Rosario for publicly criticizing him are suing the chief and the county. Earlier this month, attorney Ted Hong filed a lawsuit in Hilo Circuit Court on behalf of West Hawaii Battalion Chief Ty Medeiros and a separate amended complaint on behalf of retired West Hawaii Battalion Chief Steve Loyola.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: west hawaii today

VIDEO - The NYPD and FDNY have a long history of working together as one to save lives in New York City. But put them together on a field of play and all hell usually breaks loose. It happened again on Sunday, when the city's Bravest and Finest squared off in what was supposed to be a charity football game at MCU Park on Coney Island.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

Chief Billy Goldfeder, co-owner of FirefighterCloseCalls.com, writer of the Secret List since 1988, and a 43 year veteran of the fire service, was sued last year by an Illinois non-profit, Remembrance Rescue Project, over content he published in an email in 2014. The suit was dismissed today by Judge Anna H.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: fire law blog

A man was arrested on a public intoxication charge after hitching an unauthorized ride on a Dallas Fire-Rescue truck early Monday. Firefighters were dispatched about 12:35 a.m. to an apartment complex at 8538 Park Lane to deal with a disturbance involving several people. When firefighters returned to their station about 12:50 a.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: dallas morning news

On May 23, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

On May 21, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On May 20, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On May 22, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On May 20, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Houston fire inspectors are refusing to follow orders from a top administrator over building inspections because they fear the rules would endanger the public and put firefighters at risk. The open insurrection started after Houston Fire Marshal Jerry Ford issued new protocols last year that inspectors believe cut corners on safety in an effort to pad the division's performance statistics.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Well-known Fire Chief Richard Marinucci – who in March was asked by Northville Township officials to resign or be fired – has filed a lawsuit claiming wrongful termination, age discrimination, violation of the Michigan Open Meetings Act and denial of due process, among seven separate counts, following a reported issue with a township financial audit.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hometown Life

An investigation by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources found that tree branches rubbing on a power line started the 2015 blaze near Twisp that killed three U.S. Forest Service firefighters. The agency's report says ignition likely happened as a light wind moved the branches and a sagging Okanogan County Electric Cooperative distribution line on Aug.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: oregonlive.com

ALL ICC MEMBERS: VOTE NOW TO DEFEND HOME FIRE SPRINKLERS. VOTING DEADLINE – MAY 26, 2016. The requirement for all new homes to have home fire sprinklers has been included in the International Residential Code (IRC) for the past three editions, and because of this requirement, over 100,000 families now live in sprinklered homes.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IRC Fire Sprinkler Coalition

The last thing Fire Chief Brian Rooney might have wanted was a City Hall reception, but members of the department he led for 10 years insisted on a chance to say thank you. So Rooney, his wife Adrianna, and their two grown children greeted well-wishers and listen to a proclamation declaring Friday “Chief Brian Rooney Day” in Bridgeport.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: connecticut post

On May 22, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On May 21, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Ken Fustin, who retired as Springfield's fire chief less than a year ago, has been hired to lead the fire department in Port Orange, Florida. The city manager of Port Orange, a city of about 59,000 just south of Daytona Beach in eastern Florida, announced the hiring at Tuesday night's city council meeting, according to a report in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Springfield State Journal-Register

A bill that will allow first responders to provide medical treatment to dogs and cats has unanimously passed out of the General Assembly and is now headed to Gov. John Kasich’s desk to sign. Pets who are often considered a part of a family “and they should receive treatment if necessary or life-threatening situations,” said Meg Stephenson, executive director of the Animal Friends Humane Society.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHIO-TV Dayton

Old Orchard Beach is beginning the search for a new fire chief following the resignation of Ricky Plummer, who has been charged with arson in connection to a seven-alarm fire in April. Plummer, 59, of Biddeford, was arrested on May 7. He is accused of starting a brush and woods fire on April 15 that spanned about 40 acres near Jones Creek.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: bangor daily news