VIDEO: In 2016, Ashland hired three additional firefighters for the first time since 2001 in response to service demands. Due to a $2 million budget deficit, those brand new positions could be eliminated in the 2019-2021 budget. Ultimately, that would affect service levels in the city and reduce the number of staffed crews from about 10 members to a maximum of nine members.
- PUB DATE: 4/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVL News 10

VIDEO: Concerns over title transfers and insurance lead the City of Howardwick to file a lawsuit against the volunteer fire department that protects it. In a recent lawsuit, the City of Howardwick contends a former city secretary improperly transferred the titles of three fire trucks and an ambulance to the Howardwick Volunteer Fire Department instead of to the city.
- PUB DATE: 4/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFDA News 10 Amarillo

The Talcott Volunteer Fire Department sits proudly with its engines in line. It was in June of 2016 when the department was closed by state officials who cited lack of crew members and equipment testing. As the community had to rely on other departments as far away as Alderson to respond to calls, Chief Bill Costomiris and board members were forced to build from the ground up to get recertified.
- PUB DATE: 4/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVNS-TV FOX 59

The National Transportation Safety Board has been unable to determine the ignition source that sparked the explosion in a Silver Spring apartment complex meter room, where natural gas had been building up for at least three hours. Seven people were killed and 65 were sent to the hospital after the explosion and fire at the Flower Branch Apartments on Aug.
- PUB DATE: 4/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-FM

VIDEO: The wife of a fallen police officer thought she would be getting help - but found out her family won't be getting the benefit of help with tuition bills. A law in the books is supposed to take care of in-state college tuition for the families of fallen officers and firefighters, but there's a loophole that two freshman lawmakers want to tie up to make sure no family is left behind.
- PUB DATE: 4/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 2 News Detroit

Two fire districts in southern Arizona will become the first in the area to put to use new methods to help sick or injured children. Golder Ranch Fire and Northwest Fire District's firefighters will train to use the Handtevy Pediatric Emergency Standards. The standards will allow for firefighters to act quicker and more efficiently when it comes to treating the smallest patients.
- PUB DATE: 4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGUN 9 Tucson

For years, most of the Santa Fe Fire Department’s work has not been fighting fires but delivering emergency medical services. It’s finally working on a long-awaited reorganization to better reflect that. When Fire Chief Paul Babcock took over the department in the fall, he made it a priority to create a new EMS division alongside the operations and support services divisions.
- PUB DATE: 4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Fe New Mexican

The sky was turning orange and the embers were flying from the Camp Fire when Oney and Donna Carrell and Donna’s father sped away from their Paradise home. “I thought, ‘Oh, well, the house is done,’ ” Oney Carrell said. A few days later, they learned otherwise. The Carrells’ home survived the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history with a couple of warped window frames, a partially charred down spout and a stubborn smoky smell inside.
- PUB DATE: 4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sacramento Bee - Metered Site

If the state of Alabama doesn’t update state law regarding the public employees retirement system, it may end up having a negative impact years down the road for the Vestavia Hills Police and Fire departments, leaders from both departments said. In the 2012 legislative session, the Alabama Legislature changed the way employees were classified, with employees starting their jobs on or after Jan.
- PUB DATE: 4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vestavia Voice

Lower Burrell Council is exploring a local tax incentive for city firefighters to boost their thinning ranks and properly reward their community work. Councilman Joe Grillo is looking at city firefighters forgoing the city’s earned income tax or other possibilities. A course for young firefighters is also under consideration.
- PUB DATE: 4/23/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TribLIVE

David R. Short II was remembered as having a larger-than-life personality. According to friends, he was easy to talk to and well-liked in his community. The 26-year-old Indianapolis Fire Department recruit firefighter was killed Friday evening in a four-vehicle crash near the Indianapolis Regional Airport in Hancock County.
- PUB DATE: 4/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Indy Star

VIDEO: Eight west Valley firefighters are recovering following an explosion at an APS substation in Surprise on Friday night. Four Peoria firefighters who were injured are "doing good," according to a department's spokesperson. In a post on the Peoria Fire-Medical Department's Twitter page, officials say Engineer Justin Lopez, who was in critical condition and taken into surgery following the explosion, "is awake and doing as well as can be expected.
- PUB DATE: 4/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC15 Arizona

Volunteer firefighting companies are calling on the state legislature to pass a law that would allow them to charge for the ambulance services that they provide. Last week, the Firemen's Association of the State of New York and its members held a legislative outreach event at the Cambria Volunteer Fire Hall to vouch for such a bill.
- PUB DATE: 4/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Niagara Gazette

The city’s fire department has proposed a budget that would allow it to devote more money to replenish the department’s Narcan stock, train incoming firefighters and cover costs for computer services. In a budget meeting Tuesday night, the city’s Emergency Operations Center and police and fire departments laid out their budget requests and fielded questions by the budget committee.
- PUB DATE: 4/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

VIDEO: A crew of Shreveport firefighters is working together to bring the mysteries of the firehouses to light and to network television. "Cooking with Fire," an original series created by Shreveport Fire Department's Captain Allen Dantes, is a documentary-reality style food and travel show. SFD fireman, chef and host Mark Myers Jr.
- PUB DATE: 4/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Shreveport Times

A firefighter responding to the High Plains fire south of Jewel Cave on Wednesday died of an apparent heart attack. Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley reported that Dwayne Hudson of the Argyle Fire Department was a passenger in a fire response vehicle and suffered a medical emergency while en route.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Custer County Chronicle

The state House Judiciary committee tabled Wednesday a bill opening a three-year window for workers’ compensation benefits to be provided for all Montana volunteer firefighters. Senate Bill 29 cleared the Senate Jan. 29 but was not referred to a House committee until last week. The bill calls for all volunteer fire departments in Montana to provide workers’ compensation coverage by October 2022.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Independent Record

The drinking water in Paradise, California, where 85 people died last year in the nation’s worst wildfire in a century, is contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical benzene, officials said. Officials said they believe the contamination happened after the November firestorm created a toxic combination of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes as residents and firefighters drew water heavily, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles

VIDEO: The families of two San Antonio firefighters have filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of a device that might have saved one of the men and prevented injuries to another, according to a law firm. The lawsuit also names the owner of Spartan Box Gym for allegedly setting the fatal fire at his business.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSAT-TV 12 News

After four years in legislative purgatory, a bill that would grant firefighters cancer coverage — in a stunning reversal brought about by sustained public pressure and allegations of political vendettas — is being fast-tracked to clear the Legislature this year. The bill cleared a key hurdle Thursday morning when the House State Affairs committee agreed unanimously to advance the proposal, after more than an hour of discussion marked by teary testimony and lawmakers’ vocal support.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald - Metered Site