A 40-year-old corporate jet pilot, is the new chief of the city’s 115-member volunteer fire department.
Mayor Richard Dziekan administered the chief’s oath to Robert Laskowski, Jr., a 22-year member of the East End Hose company, before more than 100 people Saturday morning at Derby Middle School.
Laskowski’s wife, Melissa, pinned the chief’s badge on her husband’s uniform. - PUB DATE: 1/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post
As Engine 33 of the Buffalo Fire Department battled an intense fire in the attic of an East Side home Thursday night, a firefighter became separated from his hose, disoriented and couldn't find his way out.
He tried to press the "man-down" button on his portable radio but was unable to. He took his gloves off in an effort to activate the button but could not, causing severe burns to his hands and wrists. - PUB DATE: 1/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News
Paramedic Rob Ravndal went on hundreds of emergency calls before the one response that ultimately ended his career at Lincoln Fire and Rescue.
The trauma of that call, a 3-year-old's drowning in 2015, sent the father of young children into a spiral.
Nightmares. Breakdowns. A general sense of fear.
Even after his bosses pulled him off the ambulance, Ravndal struggled at work and at home as he grappled with post-traumatic stress disorder. - PUB DATE: 1/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lincoln Journal Star
A city medic is temporarily off the job after being bitten, kicked and spit on by a 17-year-old girl with reported mental issues, while police officials and the president of the Detroit firefighters union dispute whether there was a proper police response to the incident.
Police on Tuesday were called about a woman causing a disturbance in the 16000 block of Washburn on Detroit's west side. - PUB DATE: 1/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News
An 11-year-old boy was rescued by Naperville firefighters and police officers after he fell through the ice of an artificial lake Sunday afternoon in the west suburb.
At 4:49 p.m., first responders got a call from someone who saw a child slipping into the water of a frozen retention pond near an apartment complex in the 1300 block of McDowell Road, according to a statement from the Naperville Fire Department. - PUB DATE: 1/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFLD-TV MyFox 32 Chicago
Two utility contractors faulted for contributing to an explosion that leveled part of downtown Sun Prairie and killed a volunteer firefighter in July have been fined for “serious” violations by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In citation letters dated Jan. 4, OSHA said its inspectors found that Kansas-based Bear Communications and Michigan-based VC Tech failed to call a diggers hotline or utility owners to locate underground lines before starting work. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal
Winter is when the federal government starts spending dollars to prepare for the wildfire season, but the ongoing shutdown has put some of this preparation in limbo.
Cutting underbrush and holding prescribed burns are critical to keeping firefighters safe and protecting towns near fire-prone areas. But there’s basically no prescribed burning going on right now according to the National Association of State Foresters. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boise State Public Radio
VIDEO: A Palm Beach County firefighter is suing Fire Rescue after he says a captain discriminated against his disability.
Eduardo Mesa said others then joined in on the retaliation.
Eduardo Mesa's lawsuit is at least the fourth lawsuit filed against the county or Fire Rescue regarding discrimination and retaliation since 2016. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPTV-TV NBC 5 West Palm Beach
A local fire department is making changes after NBC Connecticut Investigates began looking at what some might consider generous perks for its commissioners.
The bonuses went away after our first set of stories. Now commissioners have eliminated some of the last of the perks.
They agreed to get rid of the weekly free tank of gas they are eligible to receive. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVIT-TV NBC 30 West Hartford
Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday invited the Houston firefighters union to sit down with him to discuss “any ideas you have” about how to implement the pay parity measure passed by voters last November, but left it unclear whether negotiating pay raises through contract talks was an acceptable idea. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
Two utility contractors faulted for contributing to an explosion that leveled part of downtown Sun Prairie and killed a volunteer firefighter in July have been fined for “serious” violations by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
In citation letters dated Jan. 4, OSHA said its inspectors found that Kansas-based Bear Communications and Michigan-based VC Tech failed to call a diggers hotline or utility owners to locate underground lines before starting work. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal
Winter is when the federal government starts spending dollars to prepare for the wildfire season, but the ongoing shutdown has put some of this preparation in limbo.
Cutting underbrush and holding prescribed burns are critical to keeping firefighters safe and protecting towns near fire-prone areas. But there’s basically no prescribed burning going on right now according to the National Association of State Foresters. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boise State Public Radio
VIDEO: A Palm Beach County firefighter is suing Fire Rescue after he says a captain discriminated against his disability.
Eduardo Mesa said others then joined in on the retaliation.
Eduardo Mesa's lawsuit is at least the fourth lawsuit filed against the county or Fire Rescue regarding discrimination and retaliation since 2016. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPTV-TV NBC 5 West Palm Beach
A local fire department is making changes after NBC Connecticut Investigates began looking at what some might consider generous perks for its commissioners.
The bonuses went away after our first set of stories. Now commissioners have eliminated some of the last of the perks.
They agreed to get rid of the weekly free tank of gas they are eligible to receive. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVIT-TV NBC 30 West Hartford
Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday invited the Houston firefighters union to sit down with him to discuss “any ideas you have” about how to implement the pay parity measure passed by voters last November, but left it unclear whether negotiating pay raises through contract talks was an acceptable idea. - PUB DATE: 1/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
Mashpee Fire Lt. Nicole Stanley realized just how important banning harmful chemicals in flame retardants is when she was diagnosed with occupational cancer last summer.
“Now that I’ve been diagnosed with cancer, it’s an eye-opener to me. I thought I was protecting myself,” Stanley told the Herald.
Doctors have attributed Stanley’s rare form of breast cancer to exposure of carcinogens in her 28 years of service on the Mashpee Fire Department, she said. - PUB DATE: 1/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald
The FDNY will start training firefighters on how to safely pass gaps in elevated bridges after one of New York’s bravest plunged to his death from a span in Brooklyn on Sunday, Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.
“We will try to ensure this never happens again in our city,” Nigro said outside the wake for Steven Pollard, 30, on Wednesday night. - PUB DATE: 1/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
VIDEO: California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday pledged fresh investments to prevent, fight and escape wildfires, including millions to help local governments improve their communication during emergencies and a fee to fund an update for the state’s 911 system.
At a fire station in the fire-prone Sierra Nevada foothills, Newsom outlined $105 million in new fire-related spending on top of $200 million approved by lawmakers last year. - PUB DATE: 1/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 13 Sacramento
The consolidation of Hamilton’s big government fire service has been stalled and set back because of concerns voiced by the state Department of Community Affairs.
The Democratic-led Hamilton Council last September voted 4-1 to introduce an ordinance calling for Hamilton Fire Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 to be “hereby dissolved and abolished effective Jan. - PUB DATE: 1/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Trentonian
VIDEO: Orange County commissioners agreed this week to fund a mental-health training program intended to help first responders and others struggling to shake free of the horrors they saw at the Pulse nightclub massacre.
“Forty-nine innocent people killed at one time,” said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who responded to Pulse as the county sheriff on June 12, 2016. - PUB DATE: 1/10/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel
