On January 2, 14 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 1, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The house fire that killed Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman has been ruled an arson, police announced today. Because of that, the firefighter’s death is being investigated as a homicide. Police are offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information on the case. Wolterman, 28, died Monday, Dec.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: journal-news

A Barling firefighter has been released from Mercy Hospital after falling through the attic of a burning home early Tuesday morning (Jan. 5). Firefighter Robert Barker was treated for both lower back pain and arm pain following his fall at a home on Meadow Lane around 1 a.m., according to Edwin Anderson with the Barling Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFSM-TV CBS 5 Fort Smith

Heart attacks, overexertion and stress were the leading causes of deaths of on-duty firefighters last year. Eighty five firefighters died while performing their duties in 2015, compared to 91 in 2014, according to statistics compiled by the USFA. Of the 85, 14 died of heart-related issues or strokes within 24 hours of an emergency response.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

If you're going to pull a phone scam on an unsuspecting victim by pretending to be a firefighter, make sure your victim isn't a deputy chief. That's what happened recently to Scott Schwartz, deputy chief of the West Haven Fire Department. "It was probably just a random thing," recalled Schwartz. "The number came up and they decided to try me but it didn't work very well.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 61 Connecticut

It's a Christmas tradition with airborne gifts: They get stuck in trees. Or fly astray. Whether model airplanes, Frisbees, kites or what have you, someone inevitably lands one in a tree. As drones – small lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles and the successor to the modest remote controlled model airplane – become more popular and more people receive them as gifts, the air might be getting a little more crowded.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: gloucester times

On January 2, 13 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 1, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 31, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 30, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Pittsburgh fire Lt. James O'Toole scooped up the coughing 86-year-old Nannie Felder and passed her through a second-story, front window to firefighters waiting outside on a ladder. Then O'Toole, 51, worried about getting out of the burning house alive. Flames engulfed the staircase that he had planned to use.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Firefighters from coast to coast are mourning the death of Michael Mullane, a longtime labor leader remembered as a legendary old-school negotiator who fought for the rights of his front-line constituents. “Mike Mullane was a leader. He was always by my side when I was learning the ropes, and I always looked up to him,” said Rich Paris, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston herald

A 47-year-old volunteer firefighter trainee died Saturday while participating in a search and rescue training exercise at a fire academy. U.S. Fire Administration reported that Charles Adams Jr., with the Spring Arbor (Mich.) Township Fire Department, became ill and momentarily lost consciousness. Displaying heart-attack-like symptoms, he was transported by ambulance to a hospital.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

New leadership, new policies and an increased workload have created a windfall for hundreds of Columbus firefighters, pushing the pay for many of them into six figures last year. The Columbus Fire Division spent nearly $2.5 million more on overtime in 2015 than the average of the previous three years.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the columbus dispatch

The Oregon sheriff whose county is at the heart of an anti-government call-to-arms said Sunday the group occupying a national wildlife refuge came to town under false pretenses. Sheriff David Ward said protesters came to Harney County, in southeastern Oregon, "claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today

On December 30, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 28, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 27, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Area firefighters are mourning the death of one of their own after recently retired Sheffield Fire Chief David Kray died Monday. “He was a great guy. His dedication to the community and the fire service was second to none,” said Rome Township Fire Chief Ed Koziol. He said he worked with Kray on the county-wide fire chief’s association.
- PUB DATE: 12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: star beacon