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National Fire News

Technology testing in Missouri - MakeWay device can warn drivers when an emergency vehicle is nearby

The Eureka Fire Protection District is testing technology designed to keep drivers and emergency responders safe. Division Chief Scott Barthelmass said his department sees dangerous driving nearly every time they respond to a call. “A vehicle approaching at 60-70 miles per hour when there’s an emergency ahead is dangerous,” he said.
- PUB DATE: 11/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVI-TV FOX 2 St. Louis

FDNY Union Says Increased Pedestrian Space Around Rockefeller Center ‘Makes This City Less Safe’

The FDNY-Uniformed Firefighter Association is criticizing the decision to shut down streets around Rockefeller Center for pedestrians during the holidays. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that the city would expand pedestrian space in the area and close streets to traffic, saying the increasing number of people in the area is “creating a real safety issue.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLNY-TV 55 Riverhead

After latest deadly blaze, Massachusetts department creates task force to examine fire safety

In view of the Nov. 13 house fire that claimed the life of 39-year-old Lt. Jason Menard, the department’s second line-of-duty death in less than a year, City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr. Friday announced his intention to name a task force to look at firefighter safety. The task force will do its work alongside the typically yearlong federal review the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health conducts as a matter of course after a firefighter dies on duty.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Less carcinogens, healthier firefighters - Here's how a Virginia fire department is trying to reduce deadly exposure

When buildings and vehicles are set ablaze, toxic chemicals are released into the air. Those chemicals can last by hanging on to firefighters' gear, even taken back to the station after fires are put out -- causing troubling consequences for health and safety to those in duty. According to a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study, firefighters are twice as likely to get skin and testicular cancer and mesothelioma.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV CBS 9

Cal Fire says In-N-Out was responsible for a SLO County fire; It’s suing for $1.2 million

Fast food chain In-N-Out was responsible for a 2017 grass fire in rural Arroyo Grande, a lawsuit filed by Cal Fire in San Luis Obispo Superior Court alleges. According to the lawsuit, a wildfire sparked Sept. 20, 2017 on a property owned by In-N-Out at 9815 Huasna Road in Arroyo Grande. The fire was caused by a tractor mowing grass on the property, Cal Fire says in the suit — noting that the property was covered in “dry annual grasses and scattered brush, which created a receptive bed of flammable vegetation.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Luis Obispo Tribune - Metered Site

Pennsylvania ambulance company takes unique approach to collecting money

Use an ambulance, don't pay the bill and face criminal charges. That is what's happening in one Westmoreland County community. EMS companies all over the area are facing huge debts. Rescue 14 in Adamsburg in Westmoreland County is no different. But the district attorney has signed off on its new groundbreaking method of bill collecting.
- PUB DATE: 11/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPXI-TV NBC 11 Pittsburgh

New York city budget woes prompt steep layoffs: 14 firefighters, 15 cops to be cut

The Newburgh City Council on Thursday night approved its 2020 financial plan that includes steep layoffs to public safety and a tax increase for non-homestead payers after an emotionally-charged meeting at the Activity Center. The $46.8 million budget plan calls for the elimination of 35 public-safety positions, six of which are funded-vacancies; meaning 15 uniformed police positions and 14 uniformed firefighters will be cut.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Record Online

Two fire departments become first in Indiana to require dementia training

Local firefighters and first responders participated in special training on Wednesday aimed at learning how to identify someone with dementia. Carmel and Noblesville fire departments are working to become the first departments in the state to require the training. With an increasing regularity, firefighters are responding to patients suffering some form of dementia.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISH-TV News 8

Hot oiler truck explosion causes fire in Texas that destroys fire engine

A hot oiler truck and a frack tank offloading product were the cause of an explosion Thursday on Fairgrounds Road in southeast Midland. Chief Charles Blumenauer of the Midland Fire Department said a fire engine responding to the scene also caught fire after the initial incident. A hose disconnected from the hot oiler and spilled fluid, causing a rolling fire under MFD Engine 3, he said.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Midland Reporter-Telegram

Tulsa selected to host prestigious firefighter training program in 2020

A prestigious firefighter training event is coming to Tulsa for the first time. The Oklahoma Smoke Diver Program will be held at the Tulsa Fire Training Center next March and is expected to have a $200,000 economic impact on the community.The program is only available in a handful of states. Oklahoma firefighters began work on bringing it to the state about five years ago.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 23 News

3 Squatters Killed, 4 FDNY Firefighters Injured When Suspicious Fire Rips Through Abandoned Queens Home

Three men were killed when flames tore through an abandoned home overnight in Queens. Police sources told CBS2 the cause is believed to be suspicious. Firefighters were called shortly after midnight to Farmers Boulevard near 111th Avenue in the St. Albans section. When crews arrived, they found the men – believed to be squatters – already dead inside the house.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York CBS Local

Volunteer fire departments still exist? Yes — but this one in the Florida Keys is facing change

It’s a slice of small-town America that’s disappearing across the country. Just like the mom-and-pop hardware store, the volunteer fire department is being replaced with big-city professional departments. In the Florida Keys, only two all-volunteer departments have managed to hang on, along with volunteers serving on paid departments.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

Former New Jersey firefighters allege racism in lawsuit against city

Two former city firefighters, both African Americans, have filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming they were the victims of racial discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment, especially under the leadership of retired Fire Chief Joseph Dooley. The 15-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Superior Court in Union County, charges that Joseph Braxton and Mark Bullock were subjected to "racial comments and jokes" daily.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My Central Jersey

‘Clearly a great leader', Missouri city names its first female fire department chief

Kansas City’s interim fire chief, Donna Maize, will become the first woman to lead the department, the city announced in a press release Wednesday. Maize, who was serving in City Manager Troy Schulte’s office, took the helm as interim chief in September when Gary Reese stepped down. Schulte on Wednesday appointed her to the permanent position, which she had indicated previously that she didn’t plan on pursuing.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Kansas City Star

Good Samaritan dad, firefighter killed helping at Pennsylvania crash scene

Lloyd Musick was driving south on Route 309 in Lynn Township on Tuesday night when he came upon an overturned truck that had just been in a crash. He stopped his vehicle and joined two others to help out the victims in the wreck, authorities said. Musick didn’t know the people involved in the 5:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Morning Call

Massachusetts firehouse ordered vacated after discovery of asbestos

The sign on the door at Firehouse 7 says it all: “THIS PROPERTY CLOSED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.” Asbestos was detected on open surfaces inside the North Plymouth station, prompting the site to be locked down until further notice. Both the town manager and the Board of Health both issued declarations ordering Firehouse 7 closed.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Plymouth Wicked Local

Efforts underway in New York to build firefighter cancer registry amid observed link

No one knows how many firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer in the country, let alone the state or Dutchess County. In the past five years, officials from the state to firemen associations, have recognized the prevalence of the cancer risk that career and volunteer firefighters face. And different organizations are taking steps to quantify the problem.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Poughkeepsie Journal

Words Matter: How to Safely Communicate About Suicide - Free Webinar, November 21

The public safety sector—including fire service, law enforcement, EMS and corrections—has made significant gains in raising awareness around suicide among first responders. But did you know that sometimes the very messages used to promote awareness can cause harm and undermine suicide prevention efforts? Fortunately, there is a safe way to talk about suicide.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1.com

1 million dollars for a fire truck? Yup, and here’s why

The Lewiston Fire Department’s new Engine 3, a Pierce Ascendant with aerial ladder, is an impressive beast no matter how you look at it. But the rig cost the city nearly $1 million dollars and there are people who want to know how this truck is better than the old one, which lasted the city 22 years.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Journal

New protocol allowing firefighters to leave scene to be tested in North Carolina

All members of the Medical Control Board voted to start testing a pilot program that would allow Charlotte firefighters to leave the scene of a call if the patient is OK and MEDIC is already on its way. "You call 911 and you're going to get a red truck coming pretty fast in a short time frame,” said CFD Chief Reginald Johnson.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSOC-TV

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