PHOTO - A photo of a Phoenix-area firefighter carrying an American flag over his shoulder while walking from a huge recycling plant fire went viral on Wednesday. The photo, originally posted by Adrienne Berman, shows Tempe Fire Department Capt. Nick Ells walking away from a fire near 36th Street and University Drive with the flag.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ktar

A battalion chief has become short-tempered and erratic in his decision making. A company officer is rumored to be going through a bad divorce and drinking heavily when off duty. A firefighter who was involved in a particularly bad medical call has been calling in sick a lot since then. As a fire chief, should you say or do anything in response to these circumstances? Should anyone? And if someone does take action, exactly what should that person do? Firefighters sometimes hesitate to get involved when a colleague might be having problems related to behavioral health, because they don't want to intrude.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Mayor Tony George has decided to scrap a 4½-year-old ambulance mutual aid agreement with three neighboring towns and instead return to using for-profit Trans-Med Ambulance as the primary backup unit for the entire city, multiple people familiar with the plan said Thursday. Fire Chief Jay Delaney would only say in an email that George gave him a directive “to change the dispatch procedures when city ambulances are already committed to calls.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice

Lexington got its first female fire chief Thursday with the appointment of Kristin Chilton, a 23-year veteran of the department. Chilton, 48, was an assistant chief until Mayor Jim Gray selected her for the top job. She was one of 32 applicants for the position. “This is an important day for our city,” Gray said.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: lexington herald-leader

A representative from the Governor’s Communications Office has said Governor Matt Bevin will sign the firefighter cancer bill into law. On Monday the House passed Senate Bill 195, a proposal that will give families of firefighters who die from certain types of cancer, $80,000 as an in-the-line-of-duty death benefit.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVQ-TV Lexington

Three members of the Elgin Fire Department are each facing month-long suspensions and demotions after an internal investigation into sexually explicit photos and videos made while they were at work, according to documents obtained by the Courier-News. Lt. Amanda Bruce, Firefighter Eric McMahon and Firefighter John Sardina also could be fired if they engage in similar actions at work over the next three years or if they violate any other terms of the disciplinary agreements each signed Tuesday after a lengthy investigation that started in August 2014, according to the documents obtained Wednesday via a Freedom of Information request.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune - metered site

All charges against former Shreveport Fire Chief Craig Mulford in connection with allegations that he interfered with the Fire Station 8 investigation have been dropped. Mulford was fired in September 2014, after he was indicted on the five counts of malfeasance in office for allegedly violating administrative policies while handling complaints about several firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPLC-TV NBC 7 Lake Charles

The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) have selected the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) as the recipient of the 2016 Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award. The award will be presented at the 28th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on May 5, 2016 in Washington, DC.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: fire engineering

PHOTO - The Torch Lake Township Fire Department responded to an accident involving their own truck this afternoon. The tanker rolled into the ditch right in front of the station on US 31 The tanker was heading north bound on US 31 and tried to make a left too fast. The Antrim County Sheriff's Department says the driver lost control causing the truck to flip over.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFQX-TV Fox 32

On March 21, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On March 17, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters in Denver showed off how valuable their equipment is one week after a man was rescued from a burning apartment building. The flames shot from the apartment building at 1515 Grant Street on March 15 as firefighters rushed to rescue a man from inside. “The velocity and the volume of fire that came out of that building that day, put an excess of probably 1,000 degrees more temperature on the surface of our firefighting gear,” said Denver Fire Department Asst.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCNC-TV CBS 4 Denver

About 100 firefighters from the U.S. and Canada assembled at Northbrook's Underwriters Laboratories on March 18 to find out if they have more, and safer, choices than they might think as they pull up to a residential fire. Steve Kerber, director of UL's Firefighter Safety Research Institute, said the traditional way to extinguish a house fire has been to immediately carry hoses in and aggressively attack from room to room, forcing the fire against the outside walls with water.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune - metered site

The Olmsted Township Board of Trustees and Fire Chief Patrick Kelly are accusing former Chief John Rice of misconduct in office, and "gross neglect of duty" that could cost Rice his job. Rice, who was demoted to assistant chief in February 2015, will have a chance to respond to the 14 charges during a disciplinary hearing Wednesday evening.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland Plain Dealer & Cleveland.com

One year to the day after burying his father, Tom Levy followed in his dad’s footsteps by officially becoming the acting chief of the Bridgewater Fire Department on Monday. “It’s nothing that was planned,” said Levy, who was appointed to acting chief last week after serving as the deputy chief to former Chief George Rogers.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wickedlocal.com

Reading any NFPA standard can be a laborious process at best. But they are some of the most fundamentally important documents at our disposal in the fire service. The work that members of any NFPA technical committee put into developing and revising the standards, which are revised on a five-year schedule, is truly a labor of love.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

On March 21, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On March 19, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Former IFD Chief Brian L. Sanford died Monday at the age of 59 following a years-long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. Sanford served as a firefighter in Indianapolis for 32 years He served as chief of the Indianapolis Fire Department from 2008-2014. Doctors diagnosed Sanford with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2011.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRTV-TV ABC 6 Indianapolis (The Indy Channel)

A jury awarded a former Vallejo firefighter more than $2.3 million Friday at the end of a nine-week long trial in a case against the city. Todd Milan, 47, sued the city alleging retaliation in 2013 after his employment was terminated in 2012. The jury took about two days to deliberate before awarding Milan $2,357,089, $400,000 of which for emotional distress, while the rest is for past and future wage lost, said his lawyer Leslie Levy.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vallejo Times-Herald