The U.S. Forest Service can hire firefighters this year after winning an exemption from President Trump’s civilian governmental employee hiring freeze. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acting deputy secretary Michael Young announced exemptions to “ensure a safe food supply, fire-safe communities, safe and secure public lands and rapid emergency response to natural and human-caused disasters,” according to a USDA press release.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Missoulian

As a boy, Brandon J. Thibeau was so determined to be helpful, his grandmother had to cut her broom’s handle in half. That way, he could still pitch in sweeping up around the house, his mother said. It was an early glimpse of the young man her son would become. Never one to draw attention to himself, he was always looking out for others – even until his last days, she said.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

Prosecutors plan to file 12 counts of capital murder with special circumstance allegations today against three people arrested in connection with a 1993 fire at a Westlake apartment building that killed seven children and three adults, including two pregnant women, according to District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News

A Bronx first responder is not content to spend his vacations relaxing — instead, he patrols the Mexican border with a heavily armed vigilante group. “Our main goal is to stop narcotics trafficking,” said FDNY emergency medical technician Andy Poliakoff, whose time off is spent in the desolate Sonoran Desert hunting for Mexican drug runners.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

VIDEO: The Waldo Fire Department is in mourning after one of its firefighters died in a weekend crash. The Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office says 31-year-old Ryan Moyer was killed in the crash Saturday afternoon in the Town of Lyndon. Moyer was driving a pickup truck when it crashed. Two other firefighters were injured.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 10:18:37 PM - SOURCE: The Morning Blend

VIDEO: Portage County fire crews responded to an apartment fire Monday night. Authorities said a woman was taken to Ministry Saint Michael's Hospital and was being treated for smoke inhalation. The fire broke out around 7 p.m. on Martha's Lane in Stevens Point. According to fire officials on the scene, the fire appears to have started in the kitchen of one of the units.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 7:04:48 PM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

On February 5, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 4, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 5, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 5, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 4, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 2, 10 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On February 1, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The Waldo Fire Department is in mourning after one of its firefighters died in a weekend crash. The Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office says 31-year-old Ryan Moyer was killed in the crash Saturday afternoon in the Town of Lyndon. Moyer was driving a pickup truck when it crashed. Two other firefighters were injured.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 5:44:33 AM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

In the 15 minutes after firefighters and a nurse knocked at Thelma Lee’s Maryland townhouse, they checked her blood pressure, told her what foods would keep her blood sugar from skyrocketing and set up an appointment — and a ride — to visit her primary-care physician. They also changed the battery in her chirping fire alarm and put a scale in her bathroom so she could monitor her weight.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Washington Post

FDNY brass read the riot act to firefighters at the Midtown firehouse where an African-American rookie claimed he was hazed by naked smoke-eaters — calling the reported incident “a sexual assault” and a “cover up,” bombshell audiotapes obtained by The Post reveal. The officers warned the members of Ladder 35/Engine 40 — nicknamed “The Cavemen” — that “if this gets out to the media, there are guys gonna lose their jobs.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Struggling under the weight of pension and health care obligations, Michigan lawmakers appear ready to take another whack at public employee benefits — a move that reflects renewed determination to shift workers to 401(k)-style retirement systems, even if it happens in baby steps. Other states have made more modest changes, but the latest push shows that conservatives want to approve big reforms 20 years after Michigan became the first state to close pensions to future state workers.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWJ-TV CBS Detroit

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office is reviewing the handling of a Jan. 15 incident in which a phone recording shows a deputy refers to an assault victim as "a speed bump" and the Clatskanie Fire Department as "dodos." Beyond the unidentified deputy's "sarcastic, unfeeling comment," the incident also is being reviewed for its broader implications for the handling of public safety in Clatskanie, said Columbia County Sheriff Jeffrey M.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Oregonian, Hillsboro Argus, Oregon Live.com

The faces of four real-life Bravest will be smiling from the facades of every firehouse in the city on Monday — part of a new recruitment tactic put in place by the Fire Department. For the first time ever, banners will be draped across firehouses in an effort to encourage potential new recruits to sign up for the firefighter entrance exam this spring.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

The Fire Department will have to go an extra two months understaffed after the city abruptly - and without offering an explicit explanation - took the unusual step of scrapping a new list of screened and tested recruits. The entire process now has to be repeated. The delay in holding a training academy means the department, which is short three firefighters and coping with long-term illnesses and injuries, risks running up costs, according to Chief Oscar Elmasian.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com