Lansing firefighter Bruce Wheeler jumped out of the way of a speeding pickup truck, looking into the eyes of the driver, just before it struck and killed his friend and fellow firefighter Dennis Rodeman. It was that close encounter, which Wheeler described in testimony Thursday, that led prosecutors to add another charge against 23-year-old Grant Taylor — assault with intent to murder.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lansing State Journal

A day after undergoing chemotherapy, 9/11 first responder Robert Digiovanni stood angrily outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell‘s office, railing about politics interfering with life-or-death issues. Digiovanni, who has non-Hodgkin lymphoma, had been lobbying for legislation to extend expired health care benefits for himself and others who were exposed to toxic dust after the 2001 attacks in New York.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS New York

When 44-year-old D.C. firefighter Kevin McRae died in the line of duty it wasn't the flames or falling debris that caused his death. McRae, like many other firefighters, died because of a heart attack while climbing in full gear to help put out a blaze at an apartment building in Shaw. About 66 percent of firefighter deaths in the line of duty are from heart attacks, making it the number one cause of line of duty deaths for firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA9.com

On December 2, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 29, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The six Worcester firefighters who died battling the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. blaze 16 years ago will be remembered Thursday evening during an event at the Franklin Street Fire Station. The gathering begins at 6 p.m. Firefighters, public officials and people from around the area gathered at the fire station last year as the city honored the firefighters during the 15th anniversary of the fire that took the lives of fire Lt.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: masslive

While Congress drags its heels on renewing the Zadroga Act, a hero former FDNY battalion chief was buried on Wednesday after succumbing to World Trade Center-related cancer, officials said. Manhattan Battalion Chief James Costello, 52, died the day before Thanksgiving and was buried in New Jersey after a Catholic funeral mass, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

Akron and the plaintiff firefighters in a long-pending promotions lawsuit have reached a settlement that avoided what would have been a third trial. The city must pay $1.04 million in back pay and pre-judgment interest to the firefighters. “This allows them to look in the rear view mirror and say, ‘God, that decade is over,’” said Bruce Elfvin, an attorney for the firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: akron beacon

It is official, the 2015 Assistance to Firefighters Grant application period will open at 8 a.m. Dec. 7, and close Jan. 15 at 5 p.m. A number of us aren't too happy with the idea that we may be wrapping our presents while wrapping up our AFG application. So here are a few simple tips to ensure that you can begin the day the application period opens and complete it with time to still enjoy the holidays.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

An assistant fire chief facing charges for having sex with an underage girl who applied to be a junior firefighter is back on duty before his case is heard in court. New Florence Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Chief Kenny Steiner is facing 12 counts related to the alleged sexual contact involving Steiner and a girl who had applied to be a junior firefighter in 2013.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh

There wasn't anything different about Tuesday's fire call to Selden Road, according to LeRoy Acting Fire Chief Tim Hogle."It was our typical, should've been a normal fire scene that we've been on numerous times in my numerous years with the fire service," Hogle said. But as we already know, that call was anything but normal.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WROC-TV CBS 8 Rochester

On November 30, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 29, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 28, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The fire chief of a neighboring department is prepared to testify that the Owls Head fire chief failed on several fronts in his response to a blaze that destroyed a commercial garage here in 2013, according to an attorney in a civil case. South Thomaston Fire Chief Bryan Calderwood will be an expert witness and is ready to testify if the case goes to trial, according to a memorandum filed on Nov.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: bangor daily news

Four months later, Fire Chief Richard Ares is not sure what really happened the day he flew off a porch while fighting a fire in Templeton, landing on his back and fracturing his spine. He only knows for sure that he is lucky. His back was repairable. The back of his head required 10 staples but it has healed.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram & Gazette - metered site

A serial arsonist behind a string of blazes in Forest Hills, Queens, taunted police like a Riddler wannabe — leaving behind a coded message at one fire scene that dared cops to solve his puzzle, sources said. But the firebug was as overconfident as his Batman-comic counterpart — since police were quickly able to crack the code and discover his identity.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post

The National Volunteer Fire Council launched a nationwide recruitment campaign Tuesday to increase the number of volunteers in fire and emergency services. The Make Me a Firefighter campaign will help build awareness among the public as well as provide departments with the tools and resources to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Pueblo West firefighters are now equipped with bulletproof vests and helmets. These life-saving tools will add an extra level of protection for the crews heading into potentially dangerous situations. It's been in the works for weeks now but in the wake of Friday's mass shooting in Colorado Springs, firefighters tell News5 this gear is more important now than ever before.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOAA-TV NBC 5 & 30 Colorado Springs

Joseph J. Tomizzi’s decision to step down as a deputy fire commissioner occurred while he and the Fire Investigation Unit he headed are being investigated by the state Attorney General’s Office, a probe that apparently centers on allegations that Tomizzi was abusing his authority by performing criminal background checks on individuals, The Buffalo News has learned.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: buffalo news