Despite trying for a year to increase the number of volunteer firefighters on its roster, the Elkin Fire Department is seeing little reward to its recruiting efforts. If the department falls below 20 members on its roster, it could mean an increase in property owners’ fire insurance rates, and as of just more than a week ago, the roster had 21 members.
- PUB DATE: 2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Elkin Tribune

After EMS response times for life-threatening emergencies jumped by more than 20 seconds last year, the FDNY plans to spend $5 million on two pilot programs to handle what it calls a record number of emergency calls. Starting this summer, the FDNY plans to use 10 “fly cars” — fire supervisor SUVs carrying a paramedic — to emergencies in the Bronx ahead of ambulances, fire officials told the Daily News on Monday.
- PUB DATE: 2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Bad guys, beware. Woody Williams is not playing around when it comes to his neighborhood fire station. He will be there to protect the men and women who work there. A photo of Williams in his plaid jacket and pajama pants has gone viral after he went out to his local fire station to keep an eye on the place while firefighters were out on a call.
- PUB DATE: 2/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBF

On February 21, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 20, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

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

California's new corrections chief is backing off a plan to lower standards for inmate firefighters, focusing instead on persuading county sheriffs to send more jail prisoners to the state program. Scott Kernan, who took over last month as secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he expects California will have enough inmate firefighters for this year's fire season despite a dwindling pool of candidates from state prisons.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sacramento Bee

More than 40 fire departments from seven counties battled a fire Friday at a warehouse owned by FutureX Industry in the small town of Marshall in Parke County. Fire departments from Parke, Montgomery, Fountain, Vermillion, Putnam, Clay and Vigo counties answered the call at 226 E. Guion St. with tanker trucks, aerial trucks and manpower.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal Review

The application for SAFER grant applications is now open. Fire and EMS agencies have until 5 p.m. March 25 to submit grant applications. Information on the program can be obtained here. The SAFER grant was established to: Assist local fire departments improve and restore staffing and deployment capabilities so they may more effectively and safely respond to emergencies.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

A Marble volunteer firefighter was injured Friday afternoon when the fire engine he was driving was hit from the side by a Walmart semi-truck on Highway 412 in Marble. According to Marble Fire Department Chief Ron Pfeiffer, who was at the scene, the engine was leaving the Marble Fire Station on Madison 2405 to respond to a field fire that had been reported on Highway 21.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Madison County Record

South Dakota is on the leading edge for 9-1-1 dispatch services with a new network that will link all dispatch centers in the state, and Mitchell was among the first to implement the new technology. Dispatch centers, officially known as public safety answering points, around the state are implementing a system called Next Generation 9-1-1, which is a system of hardware, software, data and operational policies that includes a statewide digital telephone system and an IP-based network that links all dispatch centers together.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mitchell Republic

On February 18, 10 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 17, 14 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 15, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The northern portions of Oklahoma saw several fires break out Thursday. Washington County fire crews battled a large fire in the Wann area. And in Nowata County, fires broke out along Highways 169 and 60. One firefighter is recovering after troopers say a man hit him while driving through the smoke.
- PUB DATE: 2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOTV-TV CBS 6 Tulsa

The fire department has launched a pilot program to make ambulances healthier for the environment. EMS crews save lives while on the move, but idling ambulances could be doing harm. “Each ambulance, when running, we found put forty-five tons of carbon emission into the atmosphere per year,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
- PUB DATE: 2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS New York

In November of last year, Liberty Volunteer Fire Department was asked by Walton County Fire Rescue for assistance in a rural part of the county. "One of the firefighters there decided not to send tanker support for Walton County," said Fire Chief Bobby Martin for Walton County Fire Rescue. The person who made the decision was Assistant Fire Chief Tony Roy with the Liberty Volunteer Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBB-TV My Pan Handle.com

Michael Kiddy was stocking shelves at his job at Food Lion in Valdese when his heart stopped beating. The 60-year-old man collapsed in a back aisle of the store. That spot would have marked the place he died, had it not been for quick thinking witnesses and first responders, including Michael’s own son.
- PUB DATE: 2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNCN-TV NBC 17

VIDEO - A private helicopter with five people on board crashed Thursday into Hawaii's Pearl Harbor, leaving a teenage passenger in critical condition, officials said. The Bell 206 aircraft made a hard landing and sank near the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, a popular tourist destination on Oahu, U.S. Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan said.
- PUB DATE: 2/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

On February 15, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.