Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr on Tuesday testified in front of a U.S. Senate committee about the changing nature of terrorism and how first responders’ must now be prepared for a variety of attacks. Kerr, the president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, spoke before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about how firefighters prepare themselves for large attacks since 9/11.
- PUB DATE: 2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: austin statesman

VIDEO - An overnight crash of an SUV into a JEA truck filled with propane on Arlington Expressway killed a Jacksonville firefighter, sources told News4Jax. The crash occurred around 11 p.m. Tuesday night just west of the Cesery Boulevard overpass. All westbound lanes of Arlington Expressway are closed for hours while state troopers investigated.
- PUB DATE: 2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJXT-TV CBS 4 Jacksonville

Nearly 100 first responders and other protesters showed up at Monday’s Beaufort County Commissioners meeting after a commissioner called firemen who provide on-scene medical services “bubbas.” The controversial comments were made by Beaufort County Commissioner Hood Richardson during January’s meeting.
- PUB DATE: 2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNCN-TV NBC 17

A 30-year-old man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder after shooting at first responders at a crash scene. Cache Valley Daily reported that Cade M. Austin, 30, was driving erratically before he crashed into a large natural gas regulating device on Dec. 15. He then brandished a handgun and exchanged gunfire with Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Hunt.
- PUB DATE: 2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

The top two officials in the Pensacola Fire Department are out on administrative leave pending the results of an open investigation. Fire Chief Matt Schmitt and Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Glover were placed on paid leave Tuesday. Details of the investigation were scarce, with city spokesman Vernon Stewart only confirming it would be performed “by an outside organization.
- PUB DATE: 2/3/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pensacola news journal

On February 1, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 28, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A probationary firefighter was seriously burned when he plunged through the collapsing floor of a burning Staten Island house Monday. Firefighters managed to rescue the probie within moments, but he suffered second- and third-degree burns on 5% of his body, FDNY officials said. The three-alarm blaze broke out at 8:46 p.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

An agreement between the city and its firefighter union that ends more than $40 million worth of disputes is now final, with approval from both sides. The City Council voted 6-0 Monday to approve the settlement, one week after approving a tentative version of the plan in closed session. “Reaching equitable settlements are essential to exiting bankruptcy,” City Attorney Gary Saenz said in a written statement.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Bernardino Sun

Will the same panel that demoted Jesse Alba for violating department policies more than two years ago now change its mind and reinstate him as fire chief? After sitting through a two-day hearing in which Alba fought to regain his former position, the five-member Waukesha Police and Fire Commission must decide whether he should be given another shot at holding the city's top fire position.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: waukeshanow

Minutes count in the time between ambulance sirens sound and when patients are wheeled into emergency rooms — a maxim Broomfield resident Mike Kobneck saw first-hand. Kobneck was a paramedic for more than 10 years before he started up Novum Concepts and created the Biophone app with Kevin Scardina, a fellow paramedic and software developer.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: broomfield enterprise

Officials have suspended a firefighter for 90 days without pay following a controversial post he made on his personal Facebook page regarding opiate addicts and the drug Narcan. Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund announced in a press conference Monday the 90-day suspension is without pay and the firefighter will have to undergo sensitivity and social media training.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

On January 29, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 28, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An overall quiet day for the Blue Grass Stockyards turned into anything but a run-of-the-mill Saturday. As of Sunday morning, firefighters are still on scene after a massive fire at the Lexington stockyard. Lexington fire crews were called to Blue Grass Stockyards on Lisle Industrial Avenue just after 2:00 Saturday afternoon.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wkyt-tv cbs

For decades, Illinois cities, villages, fire protection districts and others providing police, fire protection and ambulance services have enjoyed general immunity from lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who may accuse paramedics, firefighters and police officers of failing to provide the level of protection or response individuals may believe they should have.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: cook county record

Town officials have launched an investigation after a post allegedly made to a Weymouth firefighter's personal Facebook account denounced opiate addicts and the drug Narcan, calling the overdose-reversing drug “the worst drug ever created.” The posts suggest letting overdose victims die. Weymouth Mayor Robert Hedlund told WCVB news partner The Patriot Ledger he was “well aware” of the alleged Facebook post after he and Weymouth Fire Chief Keith Stark received emails from several upset residents.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

Five restaurant co-workers, most believed to be in their 20s, died in a house fire Sunday morning in a Novi subdivision. The fire’s cause is still unclear, police said. Police and fire personnel were alerted about 9:30 a.m. and arrived to find smoke filtering up from the basement of the home in the 23000 block of Mystic Forest Drive, said Novi Public Safety Chief David Molloy.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: detroit free press

A proposal that would institute a major overhaul of the state's badly underfunded pension plan for public safety workers will be introduced in the Arizona Senate on Monday. The overhaul is the result of months of meetings between lawmakers, pension officials, firefighter and police unions as well as cities, towns and other public agencies that pay into the system.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson News Now

On January 28, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.