Alex Graham was a fixture behind the wheel of Engine 21, part of a crew known as the Alley Rats that raced to calls around Northwest Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
But it was in Graham’s less flashy work on the training grounds at the other end of the city where the 48-year-old became the department’s go-to fix-it man, making sure water flowed from engines and through hoses at the required rate and that ladders could be raised to burning structures. - PUB DATE: 10/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Washington Post
They did the time — now they’re going to get paid for it.
A federal jury ordered the city to cough up millions of dollars to FDNY emergency medical technicians and paramedics who were stiffed for time spent on preparations before and after their shifts, attorneys for the first responders said Saturday. - PUB DATE: 10/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
A firefighter battling the explosive Kincade Fire near Geyserville was forced to deploy his personal fire shelter to prevent two residents from being overcome by flames as the blaze surged Friday evening, state officials said.
Fire shelters are used as a last resort, and the rescue, at about 6:20 p.m. - PUB DATE: 10/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle - Metered Site
Fairfield officials are debating whether to accept a federal firefighting staffing grant because of the city’s own financial obligations that come with the funding. Fairfield was awarded a nearly $1.26 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant so the fire department could hire six firefighters. - PUB DATE: 10/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal-News
The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that left two people dead early Sunday morning on Sprague Road, west of state Route 252.
According to officials, 31-year-old Keith Liedtke, of Columbia Station, was driving a 2007 Pontiac G5 in the eastbound lane of Sprague Road. Twenty-seven-year-old Brent Reszler, of Columbia Station, was in the passenger seat. - PUB DATE: 10/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKYC Studios
An ongoing dispute between neighboring fire department jurisdictions in northern Beaufort County could mean that, beginning Friday, the closest firefighters won’t always respond first to an emergency.
Leaders of the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department and Burton Fire District say their departments are equipped to keep residents adequately safe despite the latest escalation in the spat. - PUB DATE: 10/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Island Packet
The recent fatal fire on Coffin Ave has brought renewed attention to the fire department’s blackout policy.
First responders were able to locate and evacuate 85-year-old Louise Barboza on the third floor of her three-story home after receiving reports of a structure fire, but she suffered second and third degree burns and later died at the hospital. - PUB DATE: 10/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Coast Today
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has received just shy of a million dollars in Fire Prevention and Safety Grant money from FEMA to develop a free public safety drone compliance program that includes educational training and a searchable knowledgebase that tracks fire service drone programs and usage. - PUB DATE: 10/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org
After recently going solar, an Ann Arbor fire station is set to undergo interior renovations.
City Council has OK’d a $208,400 contract with Allied Building Service Co. of Detroit for upgrades to Station 6 next to Briarwood Mall, including adding gender-neutral facilities. The station was constructed in the early 1980s when the fire service was made up of mostly male firefighters, officials said. - PUB DATE: 10/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive.com
On Wednesday, October 23rd, the Wamsutter Volunteer Fire Department was working an accident scene of a single vehicle rollover off the north side, westbound Interstate 80 at mile marker 170. The pickup truck involved in that incident had just been towed away and the driver had escaped with minor injuries. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SweetWaterNow
A raging wildfire that forced massive evacuations in Northern California scorched thousands of acres in hours -- and is expected to keep growing.
The Kincade Fire ignited Wednesday night in Sonoma County, and burned 16,000 acres by Thursday night. It was fueled in part by high winds that had already prompted California electric utilities to intentionally cut power to thousands of residents. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVZ-TV NewsChannel 21
VIDEO: Firefighters came face to face with a man holding a machete during an early Thursday morning house fire call.
Police said crews were called out around 3 a.m. for a fire at Crestview Terrace. Firefighters found 51-year-old Edwin Aviles outside the home carrying a knife and a machete.
According to police, the man seemed to be suffering from mental health issues, and refused to drop the weapons. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBZ-TV CBS 4 Boston
Directors of TEEX, Texas A&M Forest Service, and the governor of Luxembourg, Belgium, met in Aggieland Thursday to learn more about how to control forest fires in the province.
"We are hosting the Belgium, Luxembourg governor here to talk about emergency response fire schools and how we do it in Texas," said Texas A&M Forest Service Director Tom Boggus. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KBTX-TV CBS 3 Bryan
More firefighters have died by suicide than in the line of duty over the past year, according to the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance.
The numbers are staggering. According to Jeff Dill, founder of FBHA, in the past seven days, eight firefighters across the United States have taken their own lives. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta
It was a hot, windy day in Southern California when a trash truck caught fire and the driver dumped the burning garbage on the side of the road. Minutes later, powerful winds blew the flames across a hillside and into a mobile home community, killing two people and destroying dozens of homes.
No California law governs how trash haulers respond to a fire in their truck, leaving it to the waste industry to provide guidance. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles
The state House has voted to exempt volunteer fire departments from Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law, which journalists and the general public can use to request information from public entities.
Supporters of the bill say it is a needed correction to a burdensome system, but opponents say it just makes the departments needlessly opaque. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Essential Public Radio 90.5 WESA
A free specialized plate proposed for firefighters and emergency responders was intended to be free for the duration of an individual’s volunteer service, not just for the first year, according to an opinion just issued by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.
The opinion was sought by Senate Transportation Committee Member David Rust, R-Tioga, and House Transportation Committee Chairman Dan Ruby after questions were raised during the 2019 biennium related to implementing Measure 4, approved by voters in 2018. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Williston Herald
EMS structure in urban areas varies to fit the need of the community. It is often part of the Fire Department – but may be a third service separate from police and fire – or follow a public utility model privately contracted to provide EMS services. In more suburban and rural areas EMS often follows a fourth model, with volunteers providing part or all of the EMS care in that county. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: JEMS.com
A new state law increases benefits for family members of first responders killed on the job.
The legislation, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Cuomo, increases the cost of living benefits by 3% for spouses of fallen police and firefighters.
“Police and firefighters who lose their lives in the line of duty are mothers, fathers, husbands and wives – and the family members they leave behind must be properly cared for,” Cuomo said. - PUB DATE: 10/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
Newport Fire Chief William Darin says the department made nearly 5,000 runs in 2018; that includes fire and medical responses.
Darin says less than 1 percent of those are for big structural fires. Newport Fire Union President Jake Silvati says the department is understaffed.
"We feel that it's not a matter of if something bad happens, it's a matter of when something that happens and we're very concerned about that or concerned about the safety of the citizens and the firefighters," Silvati said. - PUB DATE: 10/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKRC-TV 12
