When he likely retires in 4½ years, Clarence Tucker will remember Dec. 1, 2016, for two reasons: It was his birthday; he turned 55. And he got to spend it with his family inside Akron Fire Station No. 7 as Mayor Dan Horrigan swore in the 28-year firefighter as the 19th Fire Chief and only the second African-American to lead the fire department in its 180-year history.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal

The California Supreme Court jumped into a high-stakes dispute over public employee pensions Tuesday, agreeing to decide whether laws aimed at limiting preretirement actions to inflate future benefits can be applied to millions of government workers. A state appeals court in San Francisco ruled in a Marin County case in August that the new laws could be applied to current employees — a potentially major setback for the workers and their unions, and a victory for local governments facing mounting deficits in their pension plans.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com

A Forest Service firefighter from California’s Eldorado National Forest blew another whistle Thursday on sexual harassment and gender bias inside federal public lands agencies. Reinforcing claims previously made by many others over many years, Fire Prevention Technician Denice Rice told a House panel of repeated problems facing women, who remain greatly outnumbered by men in the Forest Service.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: McClatchy Washington Bureau

A strong explosion in Eastern Kanawha County this morning blew the helmet off a firefighter. "It sounded almost like a cannon going off," Malden Fire Chief, Squeak Peterson told WSAZ. The tank burst, sending pieces flying through one neighbors home and another neighbors shed, according to firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAZ.com

Residents wanting to head off the hiring of a paid fire chief in Lake Wylie are making a late push, though they may not have much time. The same day the Lake Wylie Pilot posted a letter online from the Bethel Rural Fire Tax Board explaining its reasoning for hiring a paid chief to lead Bethel Volunteer Fire Department, a change.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Herald Online

On December 1, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: Hours after a fire was reported at a fire at a salvage yard in Lafayette County Thursday, smoke could still be seen coming from a building on the property. The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department said it is believed that something caught fire at First Capitol Salvage in the 400 block of Union Street in Belmont.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 7:47:15 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

A Bloomingdale firefighter and his wife were killed overnight after a tornado hit the mobile home they were staying in in Ocoee, TN. According to Bloomingdale Fire Chief Ferman Tyler, Mark Faulk, Jr. and his wife Saundra were staying in a mobile home in Ocoee when a tornado passed through between 2:30 a.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVM-TV News 9 Columbus

As the flames roared from ridgetop to ridgetop Monday night, a crew of Oak Ridge and Maryville firefighters battled blocked roads and downed power lines in a late-night rescue of a dozen visitors staying in rental cabins behind Dollywood. Huddled in three cars with their four dogs for at least two hours on Mitchell Road, one of the victims told firefighters they were trapped by fires roaring on both sides of the road and debris blocking the road.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel

A Redmond smokejumper is fighting for his life after being critically injured in a fall while fighting a wildfire in Alabama. Ray Rubio, a smokejumper with the Deschutes National Forest, was one of many from the area who were sent to an assignment in Birmingham, Alabama, as more than 30 wildfires are burning in the South.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVZ.com

This may be a first — an auto mechanic that saves people money. A city-employed mechanic with the heart of an inventor is being hailed by the FDNY for doing more with less — and saving the city a bundle in the process. Jomar Pichardo, 31, who’s responsible for keeping the city’s fleet of EMS ambulances running 24 hours a day, has saved the department more than $700,000 by engineering ways to refurbish ambulance batteries and car parts that the city would normally toss away and repurchase.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

When an ambulance driver using her phone’s GPS got distracted and crashed through a guardrail, rolling off an embankment in north-central Ohio in August 2014, the consequences were dire: A 56-year-old patient was ejected and killed, and an EMS worker was injured. The emergency medical service worker was not strapped in, and the patient was only partially restrained, a situation that is all too common in ambulances across the nation.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stateline.org

Researchers from the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health will create the framework for a project to study cancer in firefighters. Cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters who are exposed to toxic chemicals while on the job, according to a news release.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVOA-TV NBC 4 Tucson

At least 10 people who live in the Uncommon Apartments building in Madison had to find a different place to stay because their apartments were damaged during a fire. The Madison Fire Department says the fire broke out around 12:40 p.m. Wednesday in the building in the 100 block of N. Bedford Street. The fire started in a room on the fourth floor.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 11:14:17 PM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

On November 30, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 29, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 28, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An early morning explosion Wednesday woke the marsh foreman for Searles and Son Marsh as fire broke out in a 4,900 square foot building. The building, a combination of maintenance shop and warehouse, was burning heavily and partially collapsed when firefighters arrived on scene at 3864 Searles Road, Cranmoor, about 10 miles west of Wisconsin Rapids, Vesper Fire Chief Dennis Dederich said.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 5:37:43 PM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

VIDEO: A feast for firefighters. It's how one local church is giving back to heroes who put their lives on the line to keep us all safe every day. Wednesday night, Zion Lutheran Church in Chippewa Falls prepared, and delivered, a meal to firefighters and EMS personnel at the Chippewa Falls Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 5:37:38 PM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

On November 26, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.