After months of internal upheaval over a backlog in inspections, the Los Angeles Fire Department is replacing the official in charge of enforcing fire safety codes for apartment houses, schools, hospitals and other high-occupancy buildings. Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas said in a staff memo that Fire Marshal John Vidovich will step down next month and be assigned to the mayor’s office in an advisory position focused on new construction.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

A former fire chief contends that two firefighters were key conspirators in ousting him as chief and should be added as defendants in his lawsuit against the Eighth Utilities District. Paul Litrico claims in court filings that he did not know the two men were involved in plotting against him four years ago until district board member John Topping revealed their names during a deposition this year.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit Larry D. Christmas Jr. filed after the city rejected him as a firefighter because he refused to cut off his dreadlocks. U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. dismissed the case at the city’s request because he found the Pascagoula man failed to back up his claim that the city enforced an official policy that led to employment discrimination based on racial or religious beliefs.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Herald

The Oswego Common Council voted unanimously tonight to approve the 2017 budget that will eliminate 16 full-time firefighter positions and raise taxes by 1.97 percent. A public hearing, which was held before the vote, drew a standing-room-only crowd to City Hall. People packed the chambers and the hallway, but only four people spoke against the budget.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse.com

Highway 9 is an ordinary Arkansas country road. It has turn after turn but Sunday morning a Choctaw firefighter took a turn for the worse on the state highway. "My heart just sunk," says Choctaw Fire Chief Lamar Harvey. Harvey says his volunteer firefighter was headed to a house fire when he lost control, rolled over multiple times and crashed into a creek.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nwahomepage,com

On August 23, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: The Town of Sheboygan is putting out an urgent call for volunteers after running into a shortage of people willing to help out in emergencies. Chief Roger Benzschawel has been volunteering with the department for nearly 20 years. "When I started on the fire department, we were doing 40 to 50 calls a year," Benzschawel said.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 7:30:07 PM - SOURCE: Today's TMJ4

On August 21, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On August 20, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An Eau Claire man was killed in what deputies are calling an industrial accident at Huffcut Concrete in Lake Hallie. The Chippewa County Sheriff's Department says Otto Kolpien, 47, was an employee at the plant. The accident happened just before four Monday afternoon. Deputies say Kolpien got pinned underneath a heavy piece of industrial equipment.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 8:50:07 AM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

On August 22, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On August 18, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Sheboygan's fire union made their pitch last night for adding more firefighters to the department. Leaders of the union laid out a presentation to the city's Committee of the Whole as to why they want to see a least three more firefighters in the department and changes made to how battalion chiefs are scheduled.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 5:07:27 AM - SOURCE: WBFM-FM B93.7

The Syracuse firefighters union says the city is refusing benefits to a firefighter who had a heart attack after battling a blaze. Firefighter Bill Adsitt was denied a disability claim regarding a quadruple bypass surgery he had earlier this year. A doctor hired by the city determined the bypass an "elective procedure.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse.com

Canton Safety Director Andrea Perry told City Council on Monday that the city will rehire 10 firefighters by Sept. 3. The city laid off the firefighters April 29 as part of an effort to reduce a $5.1 million budget deficit, attributed to decreasing income tax revenue and state budget cuts. A Federal Emergency Management Agency Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant awarded earlier this month will bring Fire Department staffing from 134 to 144.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CantonRep.com

When Fairfax County firefighter Nicole Mittendorff hanged herself in April, a fellow firefighter likened the suicide to a “fire bell in the night” demanding an urgent response. It is not known why the 31-year-old took her life, but Mittendorff’s death stirred anger about lewd and harassing comments that had been made about her in a popular online forum.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Washington Post

Four minutes. That could mean the difference between life and death. When Kennewick city officials were considering spending $4.7 million to build and equip a fifth fire station, they talked a lot about getting more quickly to fires and medical emergencies. The last fire station in Kennewick was built 20 years ago.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tri-City Herald

Oak Lawn is hailing a recent Illinois Appellate Court decision in its longstanding litigation over staffing with the village's firefighters union as a significant victory for taxpayers. On Aug. 12, the appellate court upheld a 2015 Illinois Labor Relations Board's ruling that found Oak Lawn not liable for $3.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

On August 22, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

Some local fire departments are finding themselves in a tough situation. Many of the smaller departments are volunteer run and right now there is a shortage of volunteers. The fire department in Germantown said they have been facing the issue for several years as the city continues to grow. This year alone they have already responded to about 250 more calls than they did last year.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2016 3:46:59 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee