Fire departments in Grand Traverse County likely won't get pro bono help from neighboring departments in the future. The board for Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department approved a policy to begin charging neighboring fire departments between $1,000 and $5,000 for every two-hour stint a Metro fire truck spends responding to a fire outside the boundaries of the member townships of Acme, East Bay, and Garfield.
- PUB DATE: 12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: record-eagle

When Ryan Starling and the rest of the members of the San Bernardino Police SWAT team heard the crackling chatter of shots fired over the police scanner on the morning of Dec. 2, many thought it was part of a training exercise. That day, Starling and the team were taking part in an active-shooter training at the Arrowhead Springs Hotel, less than 10 miles from the Inland Regional Center.
- PUB DATE: 12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the sun

AT&T recently announced the launch of Dynamic Traffic Management, an offering that uses quality-of-service (QoS) technology in its LTE network to prioritize network traffic from enterprise, public-safety and critical-infrastructure customers during times of network congestion. By subscribing to the Dynamic Traffic Management solution for an extra $10 per month per device, an enterprise can have its traffic prioritized on AT&T’s existing LTE networks—the service is not available in areas where only 2G and 3G networks have been deployed—when normal best-effort service may be degraded by network contention, according to Gerry Myers, director of product marketing management for AT&T business services.
- PUB DATE: 12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: urgent communications

Amid the most destructive wildfire season in more than a decade, California’s firefighting agency amped up its warnings to thousands of property owners who weren’t doing enough to protect their homes by clearing brush and other flammable materials. But it rarely put any muscle behind the threats: Violators were fined just 4 percent of the time, down from 10 percent when the drought was declared four years ago, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection statistics requested by The Associated Press.
- PUB DATE: 12/31/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: merced star-sun

On December 28, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 26, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Washoe County officials will send a two-person crew to oversee fire and medical emergency services for an area of Washoe County larger than the state of Connecticut after Gerlach’s nine-person volunteer fire department submitted resignations in mid-December. The county’s short-term plan will be effective Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Reno Gazette-Journal

A North Kitsap Fire & Rescue firefighter sustained minor injuries when he fell through the floor of a house during a fire that broke out at 3 a.m. Dec. 29 in Poulsbo. The firefighter was treated at Harrison Medical Center and released, Poulsbo Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Matson reported. A young woman who was housesitting when the fire broke out suffered minor smoke inhalation, was examined by firefighters but refused transportation to the hospital, Matson reported.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: North Kitsap Herald

Middletown is looking at ways of spreading out the workload of its firefighters that could include the re-deployment of units in early 2016. As part of the 2016 public safety budget goals and objectives that were presented to City Council in October, the Division of Fire is planning to transfer Engine/Medic 85 from the fire station at Breiel Boulevard and Central Avenue to the Fire Headquarters Station 83 as well as work on obtaining additional capital grants to start the replacement of older equipment and the relocation of fire stations with cost requirements.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal News

Trenton's firefighters will soon begin wearing bulletproof vests to protect themselves on the job when they double as medics. The vests were approved as part of the fire union's new contract. The Trenton Emergency Medical Services have been wearing vests for years, but the firefighters have been the only first responders without them — even though they're often the first to arrive on the scene of a medical call, union president Wayne Wolk said.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nj.com

KIMA spoke with the firefighter who found an abandoned baby outside a Yakima fire station for the first time since it happened on Christmas Eve. It's now become a case the Yakima Police Department is trying to solve. Joanna Albrecht says it was hard to ignore her snooze button on Christmas Eve for an early morning work-out, but that she's very lucky she did.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIMA TV

On December 28, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 27, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 26, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A coalition of fire chiefs, responding to an increase in repeated drug overdoses by the same people, is seeking state money to hire drug counselors who can train first responders in how to better direct victims toward treatment and recovery services. Emergency responders this year have administered nearly 3,000 doses of the opioid antidote naloxone, known by its brand name Narcan.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMUR ABC

(VIDEO) What volunteer Fire Chief Nate Tracey did Monday morning was what any trained rescue worker would have done, he said. He just happened to be the first one there. The call came in as a crash with unknown injuries. It was in the first block of Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township and Tracey's department, Goodwill Fire Company, was the first one assigned to the incident.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Evening Sun

A San Diego firefighter remains employed after getting drunk at a department-sponsored training event — conduct he defended in court, saying there was no city rule against it. The November 2012 training class took place at the union hall, while firefighters were off-duty. The city paid for the training, which was required for certain career advancement, and firefighters were given considerations such as excuses from mandatory overtime while they were at the training.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Tribune

Two of Boynton Beach’s five fire stations are closed while the city is investigating health concerns in the buildings, Mayor Jerry Taylor told The Palm Beach Post on Monday. And, there are air-quality monitors at City Hall. While Taylor said the closings are because of either mold or mildew in the two fire buildings, Vice Mayor Joe Casello said he was told it was the former.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Palm Beach Post

Chicago firefighters were responding to a routine drill in a Loop high-rise hotel Saturday when a West Side man allegedly took advantage of their distraction and stole a Chicago Fire Department SUV from the scene, authorities said Monday. Joseph Gunn, 43, of the 4200 block of West Cermak Road, allegedly made off with the department-issued SUV of the first battalion chief that was left running outside the Hilton Chicago at 720 S.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

On December 27, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.