A local firefighter who served in the U.S. Navy and had his home destroyed during Hurricane Sandy was sexually harassed and discriminated against for being a black Muslim, a new lawsuit filed against the FDNY alleges. Raheem Hassan, 30, of Staten Island, the fire eater arrested for allegedly threatening to "kill" his colleagues at a Brooklyn firehouse, endured being called a "n-----" and was asked to apologize for the Sept.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Staten Island Advance

The IAFC is accepting nominations for IAFC Fire Chief of the Year now through May 20. This high honor recognizes one career and one volunteer fire chief for their leadership, innovation, professional development, integrity, public service and contributions as a whole to the fire service. Nominations will be accepted through the online nomination form from any division, section or member of the IAFC.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

The former fire chief of Old Orchard Beach was ordered to spend one year behind bars for setting a fire that burned more than 40 acres. Ricky Plummer admitted starting the fire, but we may never know why. In a letter to the court, he said he could not explain his actions. For more than 40 years, Plummer served the fire service, many of them as chief of communities in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Florida.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLBZ-TV NBC 2 Bangor

On March 13, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On March 13, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: Madison firefighters are teaming up with Alt'n Bach's Town Tap to host a head-shaving fundraiser. They're raising money for childhood cancer research on Saturday, March 17. The event is from 3-6 p.m. at Alt'n Bach at 2602 Whalen Lane in Madison. Their goal is to raise $30,000 and there will be more than 20 local participants, including Madison firefighters, who will go bald to support the St.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 3:54:31 AM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

The Fairfax County fire department has problems with leadership, communication and the status of paramedics, but it does not face widespread issues with the treatment of women in its ranks, according to a report released Tuesday. The review by county officials comes just weeks after fire chief Richard R.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Washington Post

Three Suffolk County volunteer firefighters are facing arson charges in connection to nearly a half-dozen recent fires in New York, authorities say. Authorities said Central Islip firefighters Austin Lehman, 19, Stephen Hernandez, 25, and Shawn Key, 27, also put out the blazes they started at five abandoned houses in Central Islip and Hauppauge between October and January.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC New York

San Antonio officials made another attempt to negotiate a contract regarding health care and wages with the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association Tuesday, but the union declined to appear. The union’s contract ran out in 2014, and its stalemate with the city has lasted for more than 1,200 days.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Texas Public Radio

Borough council members publicly voiced support for fire department personnel who are overseeing day-to-day operations, but pledged to weed out a “few rotten apples” as police continue investigating some $54,000 in fireman’s relief association expenses. While speaking to a small group of firefighters who attended a council meeting Tuesday, Council President Lou Pacelli publicly recognized the department for its dedication to the community and assured them that council will maintain a good working relationship with the department.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Standard-Speaker

Voters in the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District chose to reduce the soon-to-be elected board from nine members down to five in a recent mail-in ballot. Although the results are still unofficial, 91 percent of votes had been counted on Tuesday afternoon and over 90 percent of those votes were in favor of reducing the number of directors on the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District’s Board of Directors.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

The man killed in the Beaver Dam apartment building explosion last week was a 28-year-old quality control technician for a food manufacturer there who had a background in science, but his pastor said he “was not a bomb maker.” Benjamin D. Morrow, 28, of Beaver Dam, was killed in the apartment blast, according to Roman Ryan of Joyce-Ryan Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Madison, which is handling Morrow’s funeral arrangements.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 9:15:50 PM - SOURCE: Madison

Firefighters still don't know what caused a home to catch fire near Lake Tomahawk on Tuesday. A home on South Bluebird Road caught fire just before noon. The fire destroyed the home, but nobody was hurt. "It was a wooden frame structure with a metal roof, and it was fully involved when we got here," said Lake Tomahawk Fire Chief Doug Rehm.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 2:46:38 PM - SOURCE: WJFW-TV NBC 12 Rhinelander-Wausau

VIDEO: Police are investigating after a 23-year-old man was found dead in a residence in the town of Deer Creek after a fire Monday night. Cody Nachtrab, an occupant of the home, was identified Tuesday afternoon as the victim in the fire. The fire was reported at about 11:20 p.m. on Pine Road, according to the Outagamie County Sheriff's Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 1:02:09 PM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

More than 10 million acres burned across the country during the 2017 U.S. wildfire season at a cost of more than $2 billion — the largest bill ever. And while many factors affect the risk for wildfires, new research out of the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that a flurry of homebuilding near wild areas since 1990 has greatly increased the number of homes at risk from wildfires while increasing the costs associated with fighting those fires in increasingly dense developments.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 6:23:51 AM - SOURCE: News.wisc

A fire that started on a deck and later spread to a kitchen wall displaced residents of a home in the village of Somers Monday. Somers firefighters were called shortly after 4 p.m. to the home at 11022 Seventh St. where a tenant had tried to put out a fire on the deck, according to Fire Chief Carson Wilkinson.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 2:05:05 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

The Cobb County Fire Department lost one of their own on Monday after she experienced a medical incident. Firefighter Stacey Leigh Boulware, 44, collapsed on Monday at Station 5 in Vinings after returning from back-to-back incidents that included "a full arrest and vehicle accident," according to the department.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

The Zachary firefighter and reserve police officer who was killed Monday night in a hit-and-run will be remembered as a dedicated public servant, said Zachary Fire Chief Danny Kimble. Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Lawton, 41, was killed Monday night when he was run over by a U-haul truck in the parking lot of the Baker Walmart, officials on the scene said.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Advocate

Houston firefighters on Monday asked a judge to force the city secretary to validate signatures on an equal pay referendum petition that has been backlogged in City Hall for eight months. The referendum would require firefighters to receive the same pay as police officers of corresponding rank. It was first submitted to the city in July but wasn't validated before the November election.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

If you go back and listen to the recording of the Broward County radio dispatch system, you can hear the frustration the voices of police. "I can't transmit for some reason," says one officer. Other first responders echo the complaint. "Just so you know, we're having trouble transmitting," says another person, and more than once, you hear a general plea for users to limit their communications to "10-33 calls" — radio code for an emergency.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NPR