Kimberly Gregory held up an urn containing the ashes of her 20-year-old daughter Michela as she faced the men held responsible for the notorious Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36 people one and a half years ago. “This is all we have left of her,” Gregory said as a somber Derick Almena and Max Harris listened inside the courtroom at their sentencing hearing Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Mercury News

The death toll in what was already the most lethal year for firefighters in California since 2008 increased to five Thursday, when a heavy equipment mechanic was killed after falling asleep at the wheel on his way to the fire lines near Redding, a family member told The Chronicle. Andrew Brake, 40, of Chico died in a single-car crash on his way to work on the Carr Fire, which had already claimed the lives of two firefighters and five other people, including a woman and her two great-grandchildren, and a PG&E lineman, who died trying to restore power to the area.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SF Gate

The International Association of Fire Chiefs’ (IAFC) Volunteer and Combination Officers Section (VCOS) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have partnered to develop and release the Lavender Ribbon Report: Best Practices for Preventing Firefighter Cancer. This report provides 11 actions that can be taken to mitigate the risk of cancer for firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

A logging truck driver is recovering after being run over by his own fully loaded truck near Lake Kapowsin in Pierce County on April 16. West used a special set of skills to save his own life, even though he ended up losing a leg. "I basically felt or heard the bones in my leg break," Troy said. As he stood tightening the load of his logging truck deep in the woods, it started to skid, knocking him under the back wheels.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

Teamwork between first responder departments in Effingham County and the use of technology helped find a runaway juvenile on Sunday. Police Chief Jeff Fuesting said city and county police officers searched for the youth after first checking several locations where the 12-year-old boy typically was known to be.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Effingham Daily News

A man was airlifted to a Madison hospital Thursday morning for burn treatment after a gas stove explosion at a hunting shack in Tigerton. Tigerton fire chief John Gutho tells NewsChannel 7 the man was lighting a gas stove to make breakfast and a gas leak caused the explosion. Emergency crews responded to the property on Wendt Road in Tigerton just after 8 a.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 9:07:43 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

A DeKalb County firefighter was found dead at a Stone Mountain fire station during a shift change Wednesday morning, an official confirmed to the AJC. Barry Everett, 42, a nine-year veteran of the department, was discovered about 8 a.m. at Fire Station 25 on Rockbridge Road. He was assigned to the station’s B shift, fire Capt.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSB-TV ABC 2 Atlanta

In the early morning hours of September 6, 2017, a two-alarm fire erupted blocks away from Clackamas, Oregon, Fire District #1. As flames engulfed a two-story dwelling, Heavy Rescue 305 (HR305) was first to respond. Reaching the top floor, they broke a window and deployed a personal bail-out system to lower a woman to safety as the fire flashed inside.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

State-imposed guidelines on staffing levels and scheduling are causing fire company shutdowns and creating a potential threat to public safety, according to department officials. Chief Scott Evans filed a certified affidavit in Atlantic County Superior Court that details his concerns that the state-mandated changes to the firefighter schedule, as well as department-wide reductions in staff, salaries, benefits and compensation time, are “unsafe and unreasonable” and “will not permit ACFD to efficiently provide fire protection services to the City of Atlantic City.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City

Joseph Trama has resigned less than four months into his role as fire chief amid accusations that he stole money from the Irvington Fire Company. The company's board said in a statement last week that Trama had withdrawn or transferred money from company bank accounts in multiple unauthorized moves in July.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

Houston voters in November will choose whether to grant firefighters pay “parity” with police of corresponding rank and seniority. After weeks of wrangling over the issue — including angry debates, rare legislative maneuvers and allegations of electioneering — the city council voted unanimously Wednesday to place the proposal before voters Nov.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Retired fireman Mike “Cheese” Stemper has been selected as parade marshall for the annual Fireman’s Festival on Aug. 11 in Clintonville. Stemper has retired from the department but is now a member of the Fire Police. Those serving with the Fire Police are on a call system. They can be called to the station and often asked to help at the scene of the fire call, or they may remain at the station to assist should another call come in.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 11:59:17 PM - SOURCE: Shawano Leader

VIDEO: A family of four in the Village of Sheldon is safe after an explosion in the basement of its bar and home left it destroyed. In the village of Sheldon, some locals wear many hats. "I have a lot of em’!” jokes Jim Shaw. “Village president, captain of the fire department, what else do I do?” Early Tuesday morning, Jim Shaw put on an important one, as he and 70 other firefighters battled flames engulfing Sheldon’s Reich’s Roadhouse, which is not only a beloved village watering hole, but also the Reich’s family home.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 8:44:56 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

A 16-year-old boy has been hospitalized after falling from a cliff at Rib Mountain quarry. The teenager fell and was injured just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, South Area Fire District Captain Tim Stieve said. The boy slipped while free climbing on the cliffs with a group of people, Stieve said. He suffered significant injuries as a result of the fall.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 8:32:26 AM - SOURCE: Marshfield News-Herald

Firefighters had to remind three downtown residents Tuesday night of the city’s burning ordinance after they responded to reports of a large fire in a backyard, according to a release. Crews were sent around 11:30 p.m. to the 100 block of Lathrop Street for reports of a large fire in a backyard, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 7:49:41 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

The Sun Prairie Fire Department was honored Monday, Aug. 6 with a special guest. Duane Sprecher, owner of the Sun Prairie Culver's restaurant, presented a check for $ 21,642.83 to go toward Capt. Cory Barr's family as well as Firefighter Ryan Welch's family. The money was collected with 50 percent of proceeds from one day's sales in addition to funds collected in a donation jar on the restaurant's front counter.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 4:02:20 AM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

VIDEO - Two Franktown firefighters responding to a house fire in Sedalia rolled in their water truck Tuesday evening and were airlifted to area hospitals in critical condition, a spokesperson for South Metro Fire and Franktown Fire told 9NEWS. Early Wednesday morning, Franktown Fire tweeted the condition of the two firefighters had improved.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KUSA-TV NBC 9 Denver

Rex Strickland couldn’t be further from home. Coming from a county in Virginia whose eastern edge rubs against the nation’s capital, the Spokane Fire Department’s newest deputy fire chief is used to the rain. Lots of rain. And the people. Even more of them. That means he’s also acclimated to a bit more action than he’ll get in the other Washington’s second biggest city.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Spokesman-Review

An African American firefighter filed a lawsuit against the city on Monday, alleging he repeatedly faced discrimination and retaliation while working at a fire station in South Los Angeles. Emanuel Brown, a 10-year employee, said the mistreatment began Easter Sunday in 2017, when he found feces in a compartment where he stored his jacket and breathing apparatus.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Chief Billy Goldfeder – “Billy G” as he is affectionately referred to by his innumerable fans in the fire service – has always been focused on firefighter survival. He attributes his interest to the 1970s, when firefighter line-of-duty deaths where all too common. “It really impacted me,” he says, because though, “we didn't know better back then,” it was accepted as part of the job.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1