Cal Fire Capt. Scott Rohrs and his three crewmen were racing to the scene of the Valley Fire when the foreboding news crackled over radio dispatch: Four elite firefighters had been overrun by flames, suffering serious second-degree burns. The fire was barely an hour old, but driven by fierce winds and the most intense, dry conditions of California's four-year drought, those men had been forced to deploy their silver shelter bags, survival gear of last resort.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: san jose mercury news

A deputy was injured and a firefighter killed Thursday after a high-speed chase ended in a fatal wreck in northern Greenville County, authorities said. North Greenville firefighter Jordan Barry Howard, 30, of Marietta, was on his motorcycle heading to work at about 7:30 a.m. when he was struck head-on by a Ford pickup, Deputy Coroner Kent Dill said.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: greenville online

Standards are intended to provide a set of criteria by which firefighters can have some confidence that their turnout gear provides a minimum level of protection. For the past 40 years, NFPA 1971 has provided these criteria and undergone seven major revisions going from a dozen pages to the current 145 pages.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

San Antonio firefighters have received an internal memo asking that they do not wear their uniforms while going to and from work. "We had heard information that there had been a Houston fire captain that had been targeted, some other firefighters in the Houston area that had been targeted just by having uniforms on," SAFD Chief Charles Hood said.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSAT-TV ABC 12 San Antonio

Four children were injured Wednesday in a late-night house fire in southeast Atlanta, and a neighbor Thursday described the dramatic rescue of the children by other neighbors and firefighters. When firefighters arrived at the home on Valley View Road about 10:30 p.m., a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were already outside, but they indicated that three other children were still inside the burning house, Channel 2 Action News reported.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Trained to jump off helicopters and launch early attacks on wildfires with only the tools on their backs, four firefighters took off from the Boggs Mountain Helitack Base in a Super Huey chopper Saturday during the Valley fire’s first explosive moments. Firefighters Niko Matteoli, Richard Reiff, Logan Pridmore and Capt.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the press democrat

The Providence firefighters union has hired a private security firm to protect Mayor Jorge Elorza's house after threatening social media posts against him became the subject of a police investigation. Paul Doughty, president of Local 799 of the International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, said Tuesday the union hired Imperial Security of Johnston to guard the mayor's house at an estimated cost of $500 per day.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: providence journal

Cleveland's outgoing fire chief and two supervisors will face internal charges after an audit revealed dozens of missing and erroneous records at the department's training academy. The charges, outlined in letters released by the city Tuesday, make Patrick Kelly the third consecutive chief to leave the embattled fire department under a cloud of controversy.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the plain dealer

Someone makes an angry comment at a city council meeting about a fire response. A blogger creates a cartoon that makes the fire department look incompetent after a recent event. An anonymous person posts inflammatory comments about the fire department online. As fire chief, you will be affected by all of these occurrences.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Wildfires that have raged in California this summer haven't just overwhelmed firefighters — they've also stumped computer models designed to predict the intensity of flames and where they'll burn. "These fires are actually exceeding what our models will even predict," said Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

Grant Taylor told police he struck a firefighter with his pickup truck after he became angry with firefighters who were collecting donations and slowing down traffic, according to court records. He honked his horn and threw an apple core at Lansing Firefighter Dennis Rodeman before driving away, turning around and running down Rodeman in the street, according to testimony from a Lansing police detective.
- PUB DATE: 9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: lansing state journal

At least eight people were confirmed dead and five more missing late Monday after two cars were caught in a flash flood in Hildale on the Utah-Arizona border. Several vehicles were reportedly swept into waterways after heavy rains hit at approximately 5 p.m. MT, including two vehicles that had been carrying 16 people in Maxwell Canyon north of the city, said Kevin Barlow, assistant fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today

VIDEO - An Atlanta fire station is feeling the heat after allegedly letting prostitutes pose in their fire house. CBS46 found these racy pictures on a website advertising, among other classifieds, local escorts. In the ads, two girls in lingerie sit provocatively on trucks that belong to the city.
- PUB DATE: 9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 46 Atlanta

A terrifying video a man said he recorded as he escaped a fast-moving fire in northern California on Saturday captures the intensity of the conflagration. The man, listed as MulletFive on his YouTube account, says he recorded the video as he drove away from his home in Anderson Springs around 7:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today

The Burton Fire District is without one of its brothers on Monday after a firefighter fell seriously ill during a call on Sunday afternoon. It all started around noon on Sunday when firefighters responded to a call about a motor vehicle accident in the Pinewood district of Beaufort. Shortly after they arrived at the scene, however, it was one of their own men who was in the most critical condition of all.
- PUB DATE: 9/15/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBF-TV NBC Myrtle Beach

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

On September 10, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

Homes and businesses burned as a fast-moving wildfire fueled by heat and winds exploded in Lake County, forcing thousands to flee and leaving four firefighters with burns. The small town of Middletown was particularly hard-hit, with blocks of homes and other structures lost. Photos showed Middleton's main street on fire, with cars burning.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

The South Bend Fire Department is looking for younger firefighters than ever before. “Our feeling was that if an individual is able to join the military at age 18, and take on the responsibilities associated with a job like that, that the same should hold true for the fire service,” said South Bend Fire Chief Steve Cox.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc57.com

Mayor Mitch Landrieu will remain free after the Louisiana Supreme Court intervenes in the ongoing battle with fire fighters. The fight isn't over yet, but Landrieu won't be placed on house arrest. "I want to thank the Louisiana Supreme Court for its ruling," he said. "I have to say that I never imagined in my wildest dreams when I became your mayor that I could lose my freedom for doing my job and fighting hard to protect the taxpayers of the city.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wafb.com