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

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