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National Fire News

3 state troopers, 5 firefighters injured in New Jersey dump truck crash

VIDEO: A crash on Interstate 280 involving a dump truck left several people injured, including three state troopers and five firefighters. New Jersey State Police say that the troopers were on the eastbound side of the highway in West Orange around 10 a.m. Tuesday investigating a previous, unrelated car crash when the dump truck collided with the troopers and their vehicles.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News 12 New Jersey

OSHA report: Faulty information aided in Iowa firefighter's death

A narrative of the January 5 fire that resulted in the death of one Clinton firefighter and critical injury of another suggests that the men didn’t need to be on top of the silo at all. Seconds before the explosion in the grain silo, an Archer Daniels Midland official told the Clinton Fire Department that he believed that water could have been applied through a side hatch as CFD had originally planned, according to an incident narrative report by the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Clinton Herald

Washington state fire chief warns of firefighter layoffs, station closures if property tax levy fails

The chief of the West Thurston Regional Fire Authority says more than a dozen career firefighter positions could be cut and two of the department's four full-time fire stations could close if a maintenance and operations levy proposal fails in the up-coming primary election. Property owner Jim Elsner supports the levy.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

Op-Ed: Why California needs to buy wildfire insurance

The one small saving grace over these last two years of horrendous wildfires in California was that they came at a time when the state had ample resources to respond without having to divert money from schools or healthcare. That won’t always be the case. As a result of climate change, we can expect catastrophic fires to occur with grim regularity.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times - Metered Site

Kansas firefighters gear up to help police in dangerous situations

VIDEO: A group of Kansas firefighters is doing more than just putting out fires. “You always worry about those situations where you need medical attention,” says Chief Jeffrey Hooper, Hutchinson Police Department. “It is difficult then to get medics in the hot zone.” Beating the heat is something firefighters are used to.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSNW-TV NBC 3 Wichita

California Department Mourns Loss of 28-Year-Old Firefighter Who Passed Away On Duty

Cal Fire San Diego is mourning the loss of one of their own: 28-year-old firefighter Yaroslav Katkov, who passed away on duty Monday morning. Katkov suffered a medical emergency during a training hike Sunday morning with his engine crew, CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNSD-TV NBC 7 San Diego

Hawaii Aims To Reduce Unnecessary ER Visits By Empowering Paramedics

Minor wounds, rashes, gout pain — these are some of the many medical conditions that should be taken seriously, but they may not merit a 911 call or a trip to the emergency room. Hawaii health officials are considering how to reduce unnecessary ER visits through a community paramedicine program. The revised emergency transport system that could begin next year would allow medical professionals to transfer patients to predesignated destinations, such as urgent care clinics, or even provide complete treatment at the scene.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Honolulu Civil Beat

NASA tracks wildfires from above to aid firefighters below

Every evening from late spring to early fall, two planes lift off from airports in the western United States and fly through the sunset, each headed for an active wildfire, and then another, and another. From 10,000 feet above ground, the pilots can spot the glow of a fire, and occasionally the smoke enters the cabin, burning the eyes and throat.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Phys.org

Iowa fire department touts new airboat’s capabilities

Saturday featured a late-night rescue effort by Van Meter firefighters, as they helped get 13 people off of a sandbar. It was the first time the team used this new air-boat for a real operation, but they say they could never go back to working without it. In Van Meter, water rescues don’t happen often, there are only a handful of them every summer.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOI-TV ABC 5 Des Moines

Texas county faces long list of gaps identified after recent chemical fires

More monitoring and manpower is needed for Harris County to better respond to chemical fires like the three that struck the region earlier this year, worrying residents and shutting the Houston Ship Channel, according to a study evaluating the county’s response to the fires. The most critical response gap identified involved staffing in the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, where another 16 hazardous materials technicians —at a cost of $1.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

As Washington burns, experts work to perfect fire danger forecasts

Firefighters are tackling three blazes in central Washington near Yakima and forecasts show conditions to fight them are going to get worse. The Pipeline Fire and Left Hand Fire are both between Yakima and Ellensburg. The Kusshi Creek Fire is south near the Yakama Reservation. The Left Hand Fire has forced six homes to evacuate and hundreds more are on notice.
- PUB DATE: 7/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Seattle

Mapping Los Angeles' Homeless Encampment Fires: Residents Can See Their Neighborhood

Fires that start in Los Angeles' homeless encampments pose a serious safety threat because they often spread to nearby apartments, homes, businesses and other buildings. The map above, illustrating fires that started at homeless encampments in 2018, shows just how widespread the problem is in Los Angeles County.
- PUB DATE: 7/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles

Firefighting planes and their crews spotlighted at EAA AirVenture convention in Wisconsin

PHOTOS: Flying Apache attack helicopters in Iraq and Afghanistan prepared Tim Cherwin for his current job. The foe might be different but sometimes it's just as dangerous battling forest fires in a twin-engine turboprop plane. War zones and forest fires in the western United States — which Cherwin has fought from the air for the past five years — offer similar challenges: mountainous terrain, low altitude flying, extreme heat, rapidly changing weather conditions and endangered lives.
- PUB DATE: 7/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Pennsylvania's Fought Mill fire remembered 40 years later

It was a monster of a fire that threatened a number of nearby structures and endangered the lives of scores of firefighters when flames consumed the R.S. Fought and Sons Feed Mill at Walnut and Railroad streets forty years ago. “The flames were going a hundred feet into the air,” Gene Cahn remembered during a recent interview at the borough’s firehouse.
- PUB DATE: 7/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Idaho fire department repurposes retired ambulance to save lives

The town’s fire department is changing up how it responds to emergencies. With the addition of an ambulance called “Aid 1” — also known as a QRU or quick response unit — the Twin Falls Fire Department is working toward implementing a tiered response approach similar to those used in larger cities, according to Fire Chief Les Kenworthy.
- PUB DATE: 7/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Times-News

VIDEO: 2-alarm fire engulfs house in Maryland; 5 firefighters injured

Anne Arundel County fire officials battled a two-alarm house fire in Lothian late Thursday night. The State Fire Marshal's Office said 80 firefighters were called just after 8:30 p.m. to the 5500 block of Greenock Road. Video showed a large two-story, single-family home completely engulfed in flames.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAL-TV NBC 11 Baltimore

Ohio city council will weigh-in on controversial decision to reduce fire battalion chiefs

A story we've been watching closely all week is the fight between Youngstown's firefighter's union and the administration. The union has accused city leaders of swapping one safety issue for another. The fire chief stands behind his proposal. However, the issue was placed before the city's safety committee on Thursday and has now been forwarded on to council as a whole to weigh-in.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMJ-TV NBC/CW 21 Youngstown

‘I Lost Count At 60’: Neighbors, Firefighters Clean Up Used Needles In Minneapolis As Problem Grows

VIDEO: Health department workers say finding syringes on the ground is becoming a frequent problem in Minneapolis. While leaders work on long-term solutions, the Minneapolis Fire Department and outreach workers are picking up the slack. In a parking lot off 27th and Bloomington Avenue, across from Minneapolis Fire Station 5, it takes less than a minute to stumble upon a stray needle.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCCO-TV CBS 4 Minneapolis

Listen to IAFC's 3rd iChiefs Podcast, 'The 100-Day Plan: Succeeding as a New Fire Chief'

Your first 100 days as fire chief are a critical time to make a positive impression and to lay a meaningful foundation for the future. Having a 100-day plan before you take over is the first step to being successful. Fire Chiefs John Butler, Fairfax County (Virginia) Fire Chief John Butler and Al Yancey, Jr.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Where will the West's next deadly wildfire strike? The risks are everywhere

It started when hot autumn winds snapped a power line east of Paradise, California, showering the ground with sparks. Flames shot up in dry grass near the Feather River, fanned into nearby pine trees and raced 8 miles to town. Eighty-five people died and nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed in the Camp Fire, the state's deadliest wildfire.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

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