Dave Rowell’s shirt says it all: “Euclid Fire: Nobody Fights Alone.” When I meet Rowell, a captain in the Euclid Fire Department, we pull beat-up chairs across from each other in the duty office of Station 1, a functional-looking brick building on a strip of East 222nd Street. Outside the office, the bay doors are open.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland Magazine

VIDEO: Crews worked to clean up an oil spill Wednesday morning in Elliott Bay near the Seattle Waterfront. At about 8 a.m., crews at Fire Station 5 found a small leak of waste oil from Fireboat Leschi, Seattle fire officials said. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, several gallons were spilled. Crews immediately secured the leak and several agencies responded.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

The city’s Department of Buildings will begin enforcing a commercial sprinkler law passed in 2004 requiring all New York City landlords to install the fire prevention equipment. Despite the 15-year window for property owners to get up to code, it was revealed at a November City Council committee hearing that about 1,100 buildings were still not in compliance with the Local Law 26 — and 86 building owners have completely ignored city notifications.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AM New York

On Oct. 23, firefighters from multiple Norwich departments were called to a massive house fire on Bentley Avenue, a scene of controlled chaos with mutual aid back-up staged just down the road from the blaze as city trucks sprayed the multi-family residence with streams of water. Norwich Fire Department Acting Chief Keith Wucik, as incident commander, had a lot of balls in the air that afternoon between directing the main firefighting effort to keeping track of how many members had arrived on scene from the city’s volunteer departments.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norwich Bulletin

Village trustees passed a resolution on Monday night urging the Racine County Communications Center to adopt a practice of dispatching the nearest available emergency medical unit, and requesting that all county communities west of Interstate 94 pass similar resolutions. The move to closest-unit dispatch would mean when an emergency call comes in, dispatchers would send the closest available first responders, regardless of municipal borders.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times - Metered Site

The FirstNet public safety communications platform – built with AT&T* in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – is growing in a big way. More than 10,000 public safety agencies and organizations across the country have subscribed. And over 1 million FirstNet connections are in service, bringing first responders and those that support them the reliability, capability and accountability they trust to carry out their mission.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AT&T

Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker are locked in a battle over whether the city should sign on to a new mutual aid agreement with emergency services districts in both Travis and Williamson counties and several small cities. While Baker appears to have the winning hand, he says he has worked hard to compromise with the union, giving it nearly everything it was seeking.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin Monitor

Los Angeles County firefighters on Tuesday won approval to ask voters for more money to help their sprawling department tackle increasingly destructive wildfires and a growing volume of medical calls. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place a proposed parcel tax on the March ballot. The tax would apply to residents in the department’s coverage area, which spans 58 cities and the county’s unincorporated areas.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles

The union representing Portland Fire & Rescue firefighters says reduced staffing at one of the city’s 31 fire stations is putting public safety at risk. According to Isaac McLennan, vice president of the Portland Firefighters Association Local 43, only two on-duty firefighters are currently regularly staffed around-the-clock at Station 23, located on Southeast 13th Place.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPTV FOX 12 Portland

There are too many medial calls in the city of Albuquerque and not nearly enough paramedics or trucks to handle them. Now, Albuquerque Fire Rescue is asking the state public regulation commission to change the rules so they can help patients. “We’ve had a significant increase in calls in 5 years, last year ran 90,000 medical calls 110 total calls system here in the City of Albuquerque… it’s just really busy right now,” said Deputy Chief Emily Jaramillo with AFR Emergency Services.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRQE-TV CBS/FOX 13 Albuquerque

A crowd of people lined up on one end of Worcester's Union Station one recent Sunday morning. They were there to see a special exhibit commemorating the Worcester Six. "I guess 20 years is the time to break all this stuff out again and show the people. And the people still support us,” said Angelo Bongovio, a Worcester firefighter from 1983 to 2011.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBUR 90.9 FM

In the Fall of 2017, a member of the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department (DFR) died by suicide. Earlier that year, the firefighter had been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) and as a result faced disciplinary action. When the department learned of a second alcohol-related issue later the same year, and pending the outcome of the investigation, additional disciplinary action led to the firefighter being placed on administrative leave.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

Community groups threatened demonstrations and legal action against a newly signed controversial Monroe County law to protect emergency responders from threats and harassment. "We will certainly challenge it in court,” Rev. Lewis Stewart, president of the United Christian Leadership Ministry, said. “That's a fact.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHEC-TV NBC 10 Rochester

Emergency dispatch centers in Lake County are studying ways to consolidate or share the same equipment, personnel and policies to provide better service and increase efficiencies for residents and visitors. Since 2013, Lake County, through the Lake County Emergency Telephone System Board, has studied whether consolidating more than a dozen independent primary and secondary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) or dispatch centers in Lake County could enhance 911 service, according to Jim Hawkins, a deputy county administrator who also serves as 911 consolidation planning project manager.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune - Metered Site

The city of Lansing cannot unilaterally withdraw from Leavenworth County Fire District No. 1 by terminating an interlocal agreement. That is according to a ruling issued last week by Leavenworth County District Judge David King. The judge also ruled that a termination of an interlocal agreement cannot be used to require the apportionment of all of a fire district’s property.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Leavenworth Times

A group of retired White Plains firefighters are urging the city to uphold a promise made to them that their health benefits would be covered through retirement. For over a year, former Deputy Fire Chief Ed Lobermann, 85, has made presentations and met with city officials regarding the issue. Lobermann represents around 100 retired firefighters who pay 15% of their premium, when they were told in the 1970's it would be paid for them.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

Elected officials from the Village and Town of Waterford and the Village of Rochester agree: A joint fire and emergency medical services district would benefit all three municipalities. But at least 22 years after a consolidated department was first proposed, the chance of a district for these western Racine County communities appears further off than ever.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times - Metered Site

The Scottsdale Fire Department is facing a period of heavy retirements in the next five years, but Northwest Valley fire services are on a firm footing with staff. Scottsdale is a fairly new city department, having been creating July 1, 2005 after purchasing that portion of Rural Metro, including infrastructure and staff.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun City West Independent

A new real time wildfire mapping system was used on the Cave Fire near Santa Barbara, California this week. In September the Orange County Fire Authority began a 150-day pilot program to use and evaluate the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS). The program got off the ground thanks to funding secured in the 2019-2020 California state budget by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach).
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wildfire Today

City officials say opening the Rockford Fire Department vehicle repair shop on Falcon Drive to other fire departments is paying dividends by covering the cost of an extra mechanic and producing a modest profit for the department. Not only does the program raise revenue, but it also gives the department an extra set of hands to repair and return Rockford fire equipment to service quickly after a breakdown, Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rockford Register Star - Metered Site