Jon Hansen, the spokesman for the Oklahoma City Fire Department during the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, has died. Hansen, 65, died early Friday after a long battle with cancer. He died in his home with his family at his side, the fire department said in a news release. The bombing of the former Oklahoma City federal building on April 19, 1995 claimed the lives of 168 people, and in the hours and days following Hansen played a key role in disseminating information to the public.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oklahoman

Jon Hansen, the spokesman for the Oklahoma City Fire Department during the 1995 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, has died. An Oklahoma City fire department official confirmed Hansen died early Friday. The former Oklahoma City federal building was destroyed at 9:02 a.m. April 19, 1995. The bombing resulted in the deaths of 168 people.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oklahoman

Three of five members of the Peninsula Township fire board have joined their fire chief and resigned their positions, alleging they cannot get the support needed from the township board to fund adequate emergency services. Recent discussions by township board members about selling a 27-foot rescue boat with fire-fighting capabilities and side-scan sonar, the only one on Grand Traverse Bay, prompted the resignations.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Traverse City Record-Eagle

Legislation that would make it easier for firefighters to access benefits from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation when they are diagnosed with cancer cleared the Ohio Senate Wednesday in a nearly unanimous vote. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Tom Patton, a Strongsville Republican, would establish a presumption that when firefighters get cancer, it is a result of their work.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland Plain Dealer

Modesto is facing potential legal trouble after one of its firefighters reportedly tripped and fell on a third-grader and broke her arm during a Fire Department safety event called the Clown Program, in which firefighters dress up as clowns and superheroes as they teach schoolchildren such basics as when to call 911 and how to get out of a burning house.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: modesto bee

Where to build the new fire station? Neighbors’ protest? Is "free" land really ‘free’? How many bays? Drive-through? Dorms or individual sleeping rooms? Air quality systems? One-story or two? You don’t really know overwhelmed until assigned to design and build your department’s next fire station. Probably the most expensive project of your career, but the new facility should also last 50 to 75 years.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

Is it hot in here or is it just the firefighters? The drive toward gender equality in the FDNY will now include its calendar — and the 12 beefcake hardbodies that make up its pages have finally met their match. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see the softer side of the FDNY. For the first time, the department will have both men and women in their annual Calendar of Heroes, the department announced Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

Lee County builders want to shut off Estero Fire Rescue District's sprinkler ordinance. The Lee Building Industry Association, Inc., and the Florida Home Builders Association filed a joint lawsuit in Lee County Circuit Court in an attempt to halt the fire district's recent sprinkler ordinance. The lawsuit also asks a judge to review whether the fire district followed state law when it created the ordinance, according to Chené Thompson, a private lawyer hired by the builders.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: naples daily news

A former division chief for the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District who alleged in a lawsuit he was fired due to his age has been awarded $704,000 by a jury. Following a monthlong trial in San Bernardino Superior Court, the seven-woman, five-man jury announced its verdict Monday, determining George Corley’s age was a “substantial motivating reason” for his termination, court records show.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Redlands Daily Facts

We regret to pass on the Line of Duty Death of Freeport (IL) FD Firefighter/EMT Michael D. Pontius (IAFF Local 441). Firefighter Pontius, 58, passed away 2 says ago, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 from Line of Duty injuries sustained from exposure to toxic substance while operating at a house fire. It’s important to note that the fire that killed him was in 2001.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firefighter close calls

The Las Cruces firefighter whose wife was pictured breastfeeding their infant son while wearing his uniform, and the union that represents city firefighters, defended the Las Cruces Fire Department on Wednesday, saying the agency is not against breastfeeding. The support for LCFD came a day after the controversy surrounding the photo made national news.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Cruces Sun-News

By now you’ve probably seen the video: A CHP helicopter hovers over Morro Rock while an emergency responder dangles and spins on a rope as he’s lowered down to a stranded, wetsuit-clad man frozen in a tiny crevice on the 600-foot-tall volcanic mound. The trapped man was Michael John Paul Banks, 27, of Fresno, who reached viral notoriety last week after his plan to scale the Rock to propose to his girlfriend via the FaceTime video app reached a snag when he got stuck coming down the east side of the cliff.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the tribune

Corpus Christi is serious about the most recent contract offered to the local firefighters' union being the "last, best" option, and the City Council wants to make sure everyone — namely the union members who are set to vote on the offer — knows it. Still, union leaders are expected to encourage members to reject the offer, which was delivered last month, next week.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: caller times

Following a lengthy closed-door session Tuesday morning, Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom said Kevin Yates has resigned his position as Hopkins County fire chief. The executive session was called to discuss Yate's position after county commissioners learned the fire chief was also working as fire chief in New Llano, La.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: myssnews.com

A 28-year Portland fire veteran will soon take over as chief of Clark County Fire & Rescue. John Nohr, chief of the emergency operations division for Portland Fire & Rescue, starts his new job on May 1, according to Clark County's interim chief, Ron Oliver. Nohr was one of five finalists for the job, which will pay him about $133,000 a year, Oliver said.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oregonian

At a press conference Tuesday, Mayor Kenney officially named his new fire commissioner, a Virginia transplant, and his pick for chief of prisons, a local veteran of the system and the first woman to hold the post. The pick for the fire department, Adam Thiel, elicited some displeasure from firefighter's union officials, who said they would have preferred an internal pick but were eager to work with Thiel, as well as the black firefighter's alliance, who said they wanted Acting Commissioner Derrick Sawyer to stay at the helm.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: philly.com

Firefighters can do more to protect themselves from getting occupational-related cancer, the Boston Fire Department preaches in a new video aimed at raising awareness and curbing deaths. “We made this a priority,” Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn said in an interview with the Globe, “because of skyrocketing cancer rates within the department and the need for us to take some proactive steps to try to mitigate some of these cancers.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston globe

A former Camden firefighter was convicted Tuesday of stealing more than $80,000 in state disability pension payments at the same time he earned his black belt in jiu-jitsu and competed in a mixed martial arts tournament, state authorities said. A Camden County jury on Tuesday found Shane Streater, 41, of Camden, guilty of second-degree theft by deception, which carries a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison and up to $150,000 in fines, according to the state Attorney General's Office.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com

Accident reconstructionists have released the results of an investigation into the cause of an April 3 accident involving a fire truck. Mississippi Highway Patrol Cpl. Eric Henry said in a release Monday that the Lake Harbor fire truck involved in an accident that killed a 10-year-old boy and sent the other four members of his family to the hospital, most in critical condition, did not yield the right of way to the Ford Escape in which the family was traveling.
- PUB DATE: 4/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the clarion-ledger

The Ingram Volunteer Fire Company was basically fired by a 6-1 vote of borough council tonight, prompting angry citizens and Ingram firefighters to ask who would now respond if a fire broke out. The city of Pittsburgh’s paid professional firefighters would be answering calls, Ingram Council President Sam Nucci said.
- PUB DATE: 4/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette