After years in the works Detroit Fire and EMS will now be wearing body armor. The new policy started today. The firefighter association president is conflicted about the new change. Mike Nevin says the job is dangerous. EMS and fire assaults happen frequently, so bulletproof vests are a welcome addition.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ ABC 7 Detroit

Washington Governor Jay Inslee will today sign precedent-setting legislation protecting people and orcas from toxic chemical pollution. After the law is signed, Washington will have the nation’s strongest policy regulating toxic chemicals in products, a major source of harmful chemicals in our homes and environment.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SaferChemicals.org

A program to activate first responders kicked off Wednesday morning in Lauderdale County. The campaign is designed to utilize the knowledge of law enforcement and firefighters in a way you might not think about. On a typical day, the Florence-Lauderdale Visitors Center is chock-full of tourists. Wednesday morning things were a little different; the visitors were wearing guns and badges.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHNT 19 News

Two massive fires in one day in the city of Troy have the firefighters’ union president continuing to call on city leaders for better staffing and another set of turnout gear. “It needs to be addressed. We can’t wait for a grant,” said Eric Wisher, Troy Uniformed Firefighters Association president. Wisher says the call volume has increased 40 percent over the years with new developments in the city.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News

VIDEO: Two volunteer firefighters were hurt on the job. The Salem Township firefighters were trapped inside a flipped fire engine. “(I) just thank God was in the right place for everybody,” said Salem Township Fire Chief Todd Lewis. First responders were called out to a barn fire along 300 West in Daleville around 1 p.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59

The July 2018 death of an inter-agency captain who was helping fight the Ferguson wildfire was ruled a “serious accident” and sparked an investigation and change in policies for the National Park Service. Capt. Brian Hughes, 33, of the NPS Arrowhead Hotshot agency, was killed on July 29, 2018, while he and his crew were removing hazardous standing dead trees to prevent the fire near Yosemite National Park from spreading, according to a news release.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Merced Sun-Star - Metered Site

Fighting wildfires in Washington costs an average of $153 million a year. Last year, Public Lands Commissioner Hillary Franz offered a plan to cope with some of those costs. How did the proposal fare? Under the state budget just finalized last week, the Department of Natural Resources will receive $48.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: iFiberOne

A longtime town firefighter recently filed a claim seeking payment for all hours worked as a volunteer over the last three decades, igniting potentially lengthy negotiations at a time when Waterford and other towns are shaking up fire services to address increasing concerns over manpower and labor laws.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Day

Monday marked the first day of testimony in the trial of two men accused in the Oakland warehouse fire that left 36 people dead more than two years ago. Derick Almena, 49, and Max Harris, 29, have been jailed since their arrest in June 2017. Prosecutors say Almena rented the warehouse and Harris acted as "creative director," helping book concerts and collect rent.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Los Angeles

Ed McLaughlin was 15 years old when he saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time. “I went to Philmont Scout Ranch, south of here, and hiked and fell in love with the area,” he said. Years later, McLaughlin’s brother bought a lot in the Forbes Park neighborhood in Costilla County, nestled near the Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: 9 News

VIDEO: First responders who helped save the lives of the 143 people on board the Miami Air plane that went skidding into the St. Johns River Friday night say it's their job but not something they will soon forget. More than 100 firefighters from across the city worked together to quickly get passengers off the wing of the airplane and back to shore.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News 4 Jax

Mayor London Breed swore in new Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson on Monday. Nicholson, who has served with the department for 25 years in a variety of roles, most recently as deputy chief of administration, is the second woman to be appointed chief and the first openly LGBT person to hold the title. Her instalment follows the retirement of Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, who led the department for 15 years.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Examiner

VIDEO: A 9-year-old boy from Rose Township is on a big mission to save lives. Lucas Vetter is raising money to buy lifesaving CPR machines for the fire department in Livingston County and he has reached his first milestone in his goal. "They showed us the LUCAS and I instantly became insanely impressed by how amazing it was," Vetter said.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Click On Detroit

Last summer, two Falmouth police officers were shot while responding to an incident on Ashley Drive. The suspect was also shot several times by police. All three were treated at the same time on the front lawn of the home by emergency medical staff from the fire department. Officers Ryan Moore and Donald DiMiranda and suspect Malik Koval all survived, but the tense scenario underlined the need for firefighters to have some protection when providing treatment under potentially dangerous conditions.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cape Cod Times

Officials confirm a firefighter died while fighting a fire early Sunday morning in Christopher. Seventeen fire departments and six police departments assisted in battling the two-story structure fire. The Christopher Police Department said a call came in around 3:30 a.m. reporting a fire at 118 West Market Street.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSIL-TV 3

A veteran paramedic who overcame a hardscrabble Bronx childhood to log an incredible 28 years with the FDNY will have stars in her eyes and four more on her collar Tuesday as the history-making new Chief of EMS. Lillian Bonsignore, a single mom barely out of her teens when she started as an emergency medical technician in 1991, becomes the first woman to hold the rank in the department’s 154-year history.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

VIDEO: 19 elected officials and leaders from Wichita and surrounding cities suited up in protective gear to see what it is like to be a firefighter for a day. In small groups, participants took turns battling a structure fire under the controlled supervision of firefighters. "We had fire going over the top of our heads," said David Dennis, Sedgwick County Commissioner of District 3.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSNW 3 Wichita

Since 1885, New Jersey firefighters and their families have benefitted from a special fund designed to support them in times of tragedy and financial hardship. It helps pay for the burials of fallen firefighters, provides financial assistance for first responders hit with medical bills, and even provides in-home health care for those who are aging and suffering from physical ailments.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

A longtime member of the Tulsa Fire Department received a historic confirmation to the State Fire Marshal Commission. Gov. Kevin Stitt recently appointed Training Chief Julie Lynn as the first woman to serve on the commission. She will replace Stan May, who resigned as commissioner after being elected to the state House of Representatives in January.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tulsa World

Firefighters in Miami Beach are concerned that nepotism played a role in selecting this year’s recruit class, creating an unfair hiring process and possible safety risks, according to three current firefighters who spoke on the condition of anonymity. More than 500 people applied for coveted positions with the Miami Beach Fire Department last fall and 124 made it past the written exam and physical agility test to the interview round.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Miami Herald