A diabetic Indiana woman who lost her job as a fire department paramedic has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit with the township for $725,000, marking what is likely the largest amount awarded in the state under the Americans with Disabilities Act for someone with diabetes. Kristine Rednour, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, brought legal action against the Wayne Township Fire Department after she was fired in 2011 because of "medical events" caused by her illness, according to her complaint filed in the U.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Indianapolis Star

Reputed Cicero street crew member Paul Carparelli wants a federal judge to give him a break when he is sentenced Monday for extorting money from debtors because he once served as a suburban firefighter. Federal prosecutors, though, say Carparelli isn’t exactly firefighter-of-the-year material, according to a transcript of a secretly recorded conversation.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago sun-times

On December 17, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 16, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO - Rangeley Fire Cheif Tim Pellerin said his team and many surrounding communities used extensive rope training techniques for a three-hour operation to rescue a driver teetering on a rock ledge. Pellerin said a commercial truck veered off Route 4 at Small Falls, hit a guardrail and went airborne, landing on a rock ledge some 40 feet off the roadway.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCSH-TV NBC 6 Portland

The family of Chicago firefighter Daniel Capuano filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the owner of the building where Capuano suffered fatal injuries during a fall down an unprotected elevator shaft. Julie Capuano, the firefighter's wife, filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Anilroshi, the company that owns the two-story brick warehouse at 9213 S.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune

Two volunteer firefighters have been charged with assault after two other firefighters, women from another station, say the men tried to force them out of a home as they battled a blaze in Lanham, Maryland. Christopher Kelly and Jeff Miller of the West Lanham Hills Volunteer Fire Department both have been charged with assault and obstruction in the reported turf war, according to charging documents.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nbc washington

A wrongful-termination case filed by Atlanta’s former fire chief can proceed, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May was asked by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the City of Atlanta to throw out the case filed by Kelvin Cochran. But Judge May granted most of Mr. Cochran’s motions, including his primary claims of unconstitutional retaliation; discrimination based on his viewpoint; and violation of his rights to freedom of religion, association and due process.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington times

Members of the Los Angeles Civil Service Commission voted unanimously Thursday to replace the test the city uses to hire new firefighters, the latest change to a selection process that Mayor Eric Garcetti has struggled to reform in his bid to root out nepotism and diversify the department’s rank and file.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: los angeles times

On December 16, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Renewal of the Zadroga Act, legislation that provides health benefits for first responders who grew ill after the Sept. 11 attacks, has been included in the year-end tax and spending bill Congress is to consider later this week. An $8.1 billion measure to renew the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will be included in a $1.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV 7online.com

Kansas City police are investigating a fatal shooting, possibly self-inflicted, of a Kansas City firefighter at 34th and the Paseo, near a fire station. A resident of the area heard a gunshot, looked outside and saw the body between Kansas City Fire Station 17 and a residence to the south, police said.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

A potential deal to fix the U.S. Forest Service's chronic wildfire funding problem collapsed Wednesday in Congress. The lack of action means the Forest Service continues to face the prospect of cannibalizing its budget to fight wildfires while having fewer resources to reduce fire danger in the first place.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oregonlive.com

Key evidence that could explain why the Granite Mountain Hotshots moved from a safe location into a treacherous box canyon where 19 men died on June 30, 2013, was in the Office of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's possession but was not provided to a contracted state investigation into the disaster, autopsy records obtained by New Times show.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: phoenix news times

For the past couple of weeks, the Washington Park Fire Department has been busy putting out multiple fires, but it's department chief is now answering questions about the past of some firefighters. “Yes, I know both of my deputy chief and both my captain are both convicted of arson,” said Fire Chief Charles Schreiber said.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: kmov.com

On December 15, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A medical helicopter crashed in Arizona, killing two crew members, the copter's owner said. A third crew member is safe, said Christina Brodsly, spokeswoman for the company Air Methods. There were no patients aboard the aircraft, when it went down. "We are deeply saddened by the news that two of our crew members were taken from us, and our hearts go out to their family and loved ones," the company said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: cnn

An Enid Fire Department fire captain has been terminated following an October incident involving a laser allegedly pointed at an airplane. Fire Civil Service Commission Secretary Corbin Baker read the findings of fact and conclusions of law just before a nearly 12-hour meeting concluded shortly after 9 p.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: enid news & eagle

A township fire district must pay upwards of $1 million in back pay, benefits and interest to two firefighters who were fired in what has been deemed retaliatory union-busting, according to their union rep. "The taxpayers in the district get stuck paying the bill for six years of legal bills and pay for something they got no services for," said James Hannon, the president of the union representing Monroe firefighters, after an Appellate Division ruled last week in the union's favor.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com

Four years after former Highwood Fire Department Deputy Chief Ronald Pieri was arrested on charges related to payroll fraud, a Lake County Circuit Court judge has found him guilty on a single count of false entry for falsifying time records. But Judge Victoria Rossetti found Pieri not guilty on two counts of official misconduct and two counts of theft of government property.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune