VIDEO: The New Bedford firefighters union is once again calling on the city to end its policy of "blacking out" certain engines when the department is short-staffed.
The city's black out policy sometimes leaves one random truck unstaffed to save money. The department has been operating under the policy for at least ten years. - PUB DATE: 12/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLNE-TV ABC 6
PHOTOS: Julian Reams literally is leaving his mark on the St. Lucie County Fire District.
Reams, 32, a firefighter with the agency, also is an accomplished artist from Miami, and he brought some of his artistic passion to his job as a first responder.
Reams has painted three murals on as many fire stations, two of which are stations where he’s been based since joining the agency in December 2012. - PUB DATE: 12/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TC Palm
VIDEO: As a singer-songwriter, Larry Long has made a career out of making music with a message, but he hopes his latest creation will strike a chord on the issue of firefighter health and wellness.
"You can never predict where a song is going to go or the effect it's going to have, but time will tell," said Long, who is from south Minneapolis. - PUB DATE: 12/31/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMSP-TV FOX 9 Minneapolis
The failure of the state of North Dakota's ladder truck has left Jamestown Fire Chief Jim Reuther worried about the department's ability to fight fires and make rescues from taller buildings in Jamestown and the North Dakota State Hospital.
The ladder truck is owned by the state of North Dakota under an agreement where the JFD provides fire protection to the State Hospital. - PUB DATE: 12/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Jamestown Sun
VIDEO: A shortage of water hampered firefighters' efforts Friday to save a historic 120-year-old home in Concord which was originally built for the prominent descendant of a U.S. President.
The fire at 240 Fairhaven Hill Road burned a 6,500-square-foot home that was built in 1899, according to records. - PUB DATE: 12/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston
When the call comes in for an opiate overdose, Akron Fire District Chief Joseph Natko said paramedics drop everything and respond as fast as they can. But four to six minutes can pass from the time someone dials the phone to when a paramedic treats the patient.
When people overdose, Natko said they can seem intoxicated or unresponsive. - PUB DATE: 12/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal
Jamie Dukes tried the door handle, throwing his weight against the small metal door that led to the outside of a North Charleston industrial facility.
It wouldn’t move.
Inside the structure, pallets of polyester were stacked more than 6 feet high. A plastics warehousing firm was moving in, and Dukes, a North Charleston fire inspector, was on site to sign off that the property was up to code. - PUB DATE: 12/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Post and Courier - Metered Site
VIDEO: The Newark Division of Fire now has a permanent way of remembering its fallen heroes.
The department recently installed a memorial for firefighters killed in the line of duty.
“It’s a real risk and our new wall reminds folks of that,” Newark Lt. Neal Murphy explained.
The tribute consists of eight plaques with names, dates and a short description of each of the eight men killed since the fire department’s inception. - PUB DATE: 12/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCMH-TV NBC 4 Columbus
Municipal officials have agreed to set up what’s called a 401(a) plan, tax-differed retirement saving accounts, for retiring public safety employees. Members of the City Council approved a measure on Monday allowing mayor Andre Sayegh’s administration to set up the plan at the request of the police and fire unions. - PUB DATE: 12/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Paterson Times
Major changes are coming to the Owen Valley Fire Department.
Lt. Joe Frye said the department will lose a majority of its firefighters at the end of the year because the Owen Valley Volunteer Firefighter Incorporated Group could not reach a contract agreement with the Owen Valley Fire Territory Board. - PUB DATE: 12/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRTV ABC 6 Indianapolis
The city’s firefighters union is pushing for more emphasis on mental health after losing an officer to suicide.
“One of our brothers passed away of this disease,” said Shawn Weeks, president of Local 1891, the union that represents Boynton’s paramedics and firefighters. “Nobody thought this was gonna happen. - PUB DATE: 12/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Palm Beach Post
Knowing how to properly handle all the equipment that's used to fight fires is a crucial part of a firefighter's job.
Joseph Cross looks like he's adept and ready to go to battle, but he is actually not a firefighter – yet. He is training to become one after fighting some personal demons and ending up in prison. - PUB DATE: 12/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bay News 9
Looking a the numbers at the end of the first year of the Racine Fire Department’s home visit program, department Division Chief Brian Wolf said he’s seen how the program “is greatly needed.”
For its first year, the program has been focused on cardiac patients. Fire Chief Steve Hansen said the department’s partners in the program at Advocate Aurora and Ascension All Saints would like to see the program expanded, but the department’s plan is to grow the program incrementally. - PUB DATE: 12/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times - Metered Site
Much of a Long Island firehouse was destroyed after going up in flames Christmas morning, leaving the chief in tears as he described the loss of two pumpers, a ladder truck, an ambulance and the volunteer department’s firefighting equipment.
A passing state trooper noticed the blaze at the unoccupied North Massapequa fire headquarters at 1000 N. - PUB DATE: 12/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
Spartanburg County’s fire service needs have failed to keep up with the growth of more than 50,000 residents over the past 20 years, the county’s leading fire official says.
That’s primarily because the county’s master fire service plan has not been updated in more than 20 years, according to Barry Frost. - PUB DATE: 12/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spartanburg Herald Journal
VIDEO: Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze at a commercial building in Mahwah shortly before 5 a.m. Christmas Day, working for hours to get it under control, officials said.
The fire occurred at the Arzee Building Supply Center at 37 Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said. All five Mahwah fire department companies, township police and firefighters from mutual aid support from Rockland County in New York responded to the call, officials said. - PUB DATE: 12/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com
The Pell City Fire Department is working on a new partnership with local businesses for 2020.
The department will ring in the new year with its new Fire and Life Safety Program. This program will mainly entail the inspections of all business in the city during the new year.
Ahead of these inspections, the city is also asking that businesses complete a few minor steps that will help both them and the department in the long run. - PUB DATE: 12/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Clair Times
A nine-foot tree outside Fairfax County’s Public Safety Headquarters is not only celebrating the holidays but honoring those who served.
“The cumulative impact of stress from being a first responder starts to creep up on you,” said Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler.
Two years ago, stress caught up with the Chief after some of his friends died in the line of duty and by suicide. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA-TV ABC 7
As the city continues to stay mum on the plan to encrypt tens of thousands of police radios in New York City, yet another group is expressing concerns that they will also be shut out of the NYPD feed — volunteer firefighters and ambulance companies.
Dozens of volunteer ambulance groups currently respond to help New Yorkers around the city, and they monitor police radios to provide assistance. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: amNewYork
Mike Berthiaume, 31, a Franklin firefighter, was transferring a patient at the hospital when he suddenly felt pain in his knee.
The injury would cause him to miss work, his one true passion, for the next year.
“I basically just twisted my knee the wrong way, it was like a compression and twisting injury, and from there it just escalated,” said Berthiaume. - PUB DATE: 12/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Boston Herald - Metered Site
