Six months after a D.C. fire lieutenant was charged with neglect of duty in a delayed response to a choking toddler who later died, FOX 5 has learned he has not been disciplined and has chosen to retire. This new development has deeply angered the baby's father. wo sources familiar with the process say Lt.
- PUB DATE: 1/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTTG-TV MyFox 5 DC

Fire stations in the city are crumbling and in “poor condition,” with some even lacking functional smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors, according to a city audit. The report, commissioned by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, also calls for $22 million in spending over 15 years to replace 29 firetrucks and bring the department’s aging fleet of pump and ladder trucks in line with national standards.
- PUB DATE: 1/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston herald

“We really saw the best of the community that night. It wasn’t just firefighters helping out, it was neighbors rescuing neighbors,” Battalion Chief Scott Roseberry said of the actions he witnessed on Dec. 26 after Garland was hit by an EF4 tornado. Garland’s first responders had already been taxed twice as two major flooding events caused widespread damage.
- PUB DATE: 1/13/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

On January 10, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An injured Dundee Township volunteer firefighter reportedly was refused treatment at a local clinic because he did not have his identification with him, officials said. Dan Motylinski, chief of the Dundee Township Volunteer Fire Department, said one of his firefighters partially fell through the floor while battling a blaze at Country Heritage Community Homes Saturday morning.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Monroe news

Four family members, including two young children, were killed Monday night after a house exploded in Northfield Center Township. Northfield Center Fire Chief Frank Risko said a mother and her two daughters, ages 8 and 12, were found on the first floor near a front hallway of the two-story colonial-style house.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northeast Ohio Media Group

A quick-thinking off-duty Medway firefighter averted a potential catastrophe yesterday after a boiler at a local day care sprang a carbon monoxide leak. Lt. Matt Anzivino, 42, said he was dropping off his two young daughters at Back to Basics Preschool on his way to work yesterday at about 7:40 a.m.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald

Following a series of scandals that have washed over California’s state fire department, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed spending $4.4 million to launch a new unit to investigate personnel messes and prevent them from occurring in the future. The “Professional Standards Program,” according to the state budget plan the governor unveiled Thursday, would dedicate 14 employees to “addressing personnel investigations and adverse actions” statewide at the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sacramento bee

My Fire Chief colleague, Billy Hayes, had a great article back in July examining which is more important for a successful officer — street smarts or book smarts, that is, training and experience or formal education. While the article weighed the pros and cons of each, Billy concluded that both had their place in the preparation of a firefighter to become an officer or a chief officer whether in a volunteer, combination or career department.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

On January 10, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 9, 10 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The Supreme Court kicks off the new year Monday seemingly poised to deal a major blow to the nation's public employee unions by wiping out, or at least weakening, a legal precedent that dates back nearly four decades. If the justices' recent rulings against organized labor are any guide, a deeply divided court is likely to make it harder for unions representing teachers, police and firefighters, and other government workers to collect fees from non-members.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today

One San Diego firefighter was paid $210,500 in overtime alone in 2014, according to newly released figures about local government payrolls. That‘s more than the annual salary of the FBI director, at $178,700, and the U.S. Attorney General, at $199,000. Kyle Kutzke, 34, who’s listed as a firefighter 2 for San Diego, was paid that amount on top of $26,700 in base pay, according to data the city comptroller submitted to the open government group Transparent California and the State Controller’s Office.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the san diego union-tribune

PHOTO - A firefighter was reprimanded and two superiors reassigned after a depiction of a Jacksonville firefighter as a terrorist was posted on a fire station computer and left there for a week. The image, though described as a joke between two firefighters, was deemed offensive and insensitive and should never have been posted, let alone left for a week in December, said Fire Chief Kurtis Wilson.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the Florida times-union

A Detroit firefighter is in stable but serious condition at Detroit Receiving Hospital after he was overcome by smoke while responding to a commercial building fire on the west side Saturday night. Firefighters were called to the three-alarm fire at the building on Michigan Avenue and Martin Street just before 7:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ-TV ABC Detroit

A municipal court judge ordered a Margate firefighter to surrender his public employment following his conviction last month for shoplifting $7.98 in items, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office announced Friday. The prosecutor's office handled the conviction of Ashton Funk, 34, and was also pushing for the forfeiture of his job as a firefighter and as a lifeguard, also for the city of Margate.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com

A mother who went back into a burning Philadelphia home to save her young child died in the fire, along with the toddler. The mother was pregnant, family members told NBC10. The fire started about 3:45 a.m. Friday inside a home in the 2800 block of N. 4th Street near Cambria Street. Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said a family member initially tried to fight the fire alone.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2016 8:14:43 AM - SOURCE: WCAU-TV NBC 10 Philadelphia

On January 7, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An organization representing African-American firefighters and paramedics on Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to expand its probe of the Chicago Police Department to include the Fire Department, saying hiring and disciplinary practices there are unfair. The African-American Firefighters & Paramedics League of Chicago also demanded that Mayor Rahm Emanuel dismiss Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago, alleging that Santiago has failed to investigate claims that minority firefighters are disciplined and demoted unjustly.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune

The specter of a lawsuit led the city on Wednesday to withdraw conditional offers of employment to three future city firefighters who were expected to start training at the state fire academy next month. Mayor Michael Passero said Risk Manager Paul Gills initially had raised concerns about the way the firefighter candidates were chosen.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse