The Modesto City Council on Tuesday turned down a $1.08 million grant that would have paid for a dozen firefighters to become paramedics after an emotional roller coaster of a discussion that lasted more than 2-1/2 hours. Council members Kristi Ah You and Tony Madrigal cast the only “yes” votes to accept the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, while the five other council members voted “no.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Modest Bee

City officials scrapped plans to raise the roof of the downtown Lebanon fire station to make room for its new $870,000 ladder truck. Lebanon bought the truck, but it doesn’t fit in either of its fire stations. The lone bid to raise the roof and renovate the downtown station came in at $680,000, more than double the projected $250,000.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dayton Daily News

VIDEO - We’re learning more about what happened when a firefighter fell from a helicopter rescue basket, and that his injuries were far more serious than initially revealed. The incident was caught on video, and first responders say it’s the latest case that shows a need for more safety measures. The video may be hard to watch.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHON-TV FOX 2

Today, six former Oswego firefighters suited up for duty for the first time with the Syracuse Fire Department. It was a fortunate turn of events for six men whose positions were axed in Oswego, and for the SFD, which lost an unusually high number of recruits in its most recent class. Bill Ryan, chief of staff for Mayor Stephanie Miner, called the deal a win-win for Syracuse today.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse Post-Standard

In what feels like a very divisive world, you hear sometimes hear about great deeds. Some tug at the heart strings. A local Phoenix fire captain shows us all that a small deed can lead to big things. Capt. Gary Hernandez is a fire investigator with the Phoenix Fire Department. He traveled to New York City for a vacation with his family.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 5 AZ KPHO

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

The cause of a massive explosion last month in Fitchburg that leveled a home and scattered debris over a half-mile radius, severely damaging several other homes, may be tied to two mistakes made five years apart. Madison-based attorney Dan Rottier said the first oversight occurred in 2011 when his client, Cheryl Drive homeowner Brian Grittner, had his gas-powered dryer replaced with an electric one, and the dryer installer failed to cap the gas line during the job, Rottier told 27 News on Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 4:17:05 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal

In an effort to cut costs once a fire and ambulance agreement expires next year, the Dousman Fire District has proposed merging with the Oconomowoc Fire Department to create a new district that it says will save the communities it covers $2.3 million over 20 years. Officials from the Dousman Fire District shared a proposal with the Oconomowoc Common Council on Tuesday night to create the Western Lakes Fire District by next year.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 1:57:29 AM - SOURCE: Lake Country News

Bethel Volunteer Fire Department leaders ask York County Council either to keep local fire service control with volunteers, or let them know otherwise so they can start making plans. Volunteers say if Council doesn’t respond by Oct. 18 to their request to suspend the hiring process for a new paid chief, the department will assume the county is discontinuing its longstanding agreement with them for fire protection in Lake Wylie beginning next year.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Herald Online

In a case of “he said” versus “he said” former Wilkes-Barre Township fire chief John Yuknavich and the new chief Richard Hart have court dates next month on separate harassment complaints against each other arising from an alleged shouting match during the cleanup of the Giant’s Despair Hill Climb last summer.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Leader

It's 8:30 a.m. and the sun is already heating up the artificial turf at Banning High School's football field. Some 70 ninth- and 10th-graders line up on their stomachs for push-ups. For some of these kids, the "push-up ready" pose looks like a cross between an aborted yoga position and a nap. "Come on! Butts down, hips off the ground, shoulders over your hand!" barks Los Angeles Fire Capt.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NPR.org

The Orlando Fire Department told News 6 that it is in the in the process of applying for a grant that would allow the department to purchase more ballistic vests. "When you look at what the nation has gone through and what we went through here in Orlando. I guess we are more astute. We are more aware, more cognizant of what's happening in the world because it affects us here in Orlando," said fire Chief Roderick Williams.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ClickonOrlando.com

PHOTO - Eric Hurst remembers his first time sitting in a particular red firetruck. He was 5 or 6 years old and he was infatuated. Today, that very same truck is parked in his garage. “It's amazing,” Hurst, now 32, said. “I can't believe I found it.” Hurst, public information officer for South Metro Fire Rescue and operations manager of the 9-1-1 dispatch call center, was born and raised in south metro Denver.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Centennial Citizen

VIDEO: Authorities are investigating after a deadly house fire near Antigo. The Langlade County Sheriff's Office got a 911 call last night about a barn on fire. When firefighters and deputies arrived on the scene they found both the barn and a house engulfed in flames. After the fire was put out, a body was discovered inside the home.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2016 9:11:47 PM - SOURCE: WGBA-TV NBC 26 Green Bay

On October 4, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission made some changes to the departments' general outlay requests that include cutting fitness equipment, IT infrastructure and a water rescue dummy. Budgets and outlay request are subject to change in the coming weeks. Beaver Dam Police Chief John Kreuziger said the radio system upgrades are getting the cut from this budget because the common council already approved the funding this year.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2016 6:58:55 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

On October 2, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Rescuers pulled two boaters and a dog to safety Sunday evening from the French Island spillway, according to the Campbell Fire Department. A 16-foot boat was pinned against the dam on the south end of Lake Onalaska, and it was danger of going over the spillway about 6 p.m. Firefighters in a rescue boat extended a line to the boaters and pulled the boat from the spillway’s current.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2016 2:05:15 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

The Kenosha City Council unanimously approved a resolution Monday to borrow more than $4.7 million from the federal government to help finance a midtown “super fire station.” The loan will be paid back over a 20-year period with the use of Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, at about $250,000 a year.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2016 1:41:56 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

John Centanni has spent the better part of his life as a Newark firefighter. The 51-year-old fire chief rose through the ranks after joining the department in 1986, and has dedicated his life to ensuring the safety of Newark's residents. On Monday, Centanni worked his last shift before retirement. "You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger cheerleader of the Newark Fire Department," Raul Malave, the city's assistant public safety director, told dozens of friends, family and colleagues who'd gathered on Clifton Street Monday for Centanni's ceremonial sendoff.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newark Star-Ledger/NJ.com