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National Fire News

Nebraska Fire Department responding to calls more quickly with new Task Force system

Through the implementation of Task Force Response procedures, the Columbus Fire Department has made headway in regard to being more efficient with its overall response time to a variety of emergency situations happening throughout the Columbus community. On Monday evening, Fire Chief Dan Miller spoke during a Committee of the Whole Meeting held prior to the scheduled Columbus City Council meeting about how some procedural shifts have resulted in more efficiency, which ultimately can mean the difference between life and death.
- PUB DATE: 12/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Columbus Telegram

L.A. County supervisors to spend $4.5 million studying 'new realities' in fire service

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $4.5-million plan Tuesday to reduce the strain on the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which responds to devastating incidents such as the Woolsey fire but also provides 24-hour emergency services across 2,300 square miles. The new effort comes months after the board raised concerns about the department’s aging stations and equipment, and weeks after the Woolsey fire burned more than 90,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Report: The estimated costs of NG911

While public communication becomes increasingly digital and existing technologies become obsolete or unserviceable, public safety leaders in 911 and telecommunication agree that upgrading to NG911 systems across the country will ensure that every request from every individual is received, located and responded to in the way that best meets the needs of the public and first responders.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire recalled 19 years later

The plaintive wail of bagpipes fills in where 19 years ago sirens sounded. A prayer goes up from the same spot where firefighters called out over crackling radios hoping to hear something that would lead them to Lt. Thomas Spencer, Lt. James Lyons or firefighters Paul Brotherton, Timothy Jackson, Jeremiah Lucey of Joseph McGuirk who were lost inside the maze-like interior of the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse on Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Patriot Ledger

Top FDNY chief could lose job in power struggle with agency's top female commissioner

At the heart of the battle is Chief of Department James Leonard, 59, a tough-talking officer who started as a firefighter in Brooklyn’s Engine 310 in 1979 and is now the highest-ranked uniformed officer in the agency — second only to Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro. But for all his success, what some in the FDNY call Leonard’s abrasive and aggressive manner — and allegations he sometimes uses misogynistic slurs — have put him out of step in a department striving mightily to get into the 21st century, sources told The News.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Daily News

Judge orders Delaware State Police to turn over full report on firefighter's fatal helicopter fall

A federal judge has ordered Delaware State Police to turn over the full accident report on the death of a Lewes firefighter who fell from a helicopter during a training exercise in 2016. Tuesday's order comes after a lawyer for the family of Timothy McClanahan issued a subpoena for an unredacted copy of the report and related materials.
- PUB DATE: 12/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Delaware News Journal

Federal investigation of Maryland firefighter’s shooting death recommends changes

A federal investigation reviewing the 2016 fatal shooting of a Maryland firefighter found that 911 public safety call takers did not warn first responders that the possibility of guns had been reported at the scene and that volunteer firefighters were not wearing a common uniform the night of the incident that made it clear who they were.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Washington Post

Judge blocks implementation of Houston firefighter pay parity implementation after police union sues

A state district judge Friday evening granted a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of a voter-approved charter amendment requiring the city of Houston to grant its firefighters “pay parity” with police officers of similar rank and experience. State District Judge Kristen Brauchle Hawkins granted the TRO Friday night at the request of the Houston Police Officers Union, which filed a lawsuit earlier in the day against the city and the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Reedy Creek: The happiest fire department on earth

From responding to emergencies at the Bippity-Boppity-Boo Boutique, to rescuing a downed princess, the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters isn’t your traditional fire service. RCPF serves the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the exclusive government agency of Walt Disney World properties in Florida, providing all fire and emergency services for 38.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

How 150 survivors of California's deadliest fire made it out alive

It was the best bad place. To the south was a gun shop called Fins, Fur & Feather Sports, stocked with live ammunition. To the northeast, a propane yard. Across the street, a Fastrip gas station. All around, soaring, drought-crisp pines. And in the center? About 150 terrified people who had fled the ferocious Camp fire only to be stopped at the intersection of Skyway and Clark Road, forced to sit out the deadliest conflagration in California history.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Tentative contract removes New York chief from union

The city’s second-highest paid employee in 2017 will soon be without union protection if the City Council approves a new contract Thursday with the Uniform Fire Chiefs Association. The tentative agreement signed by Mayor Patrick Madden and Deputy Fire Chief Dave Paul, president of the UFCA, would remove Fire Chief Thomas Garrett from the union.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albany Times-Union

Former Maine fire chief sues city amid effort to recall selectmen

The former Ogunquit fire chief has filed a complaint in York County Superior Court seeking to appeal his firing earlier this fall. Mark O’Brien had served with the Ogunquit Fire Department for 37 years before he was placed on leave, investigated and ultimately fired by the town manager, who had concerns about his ability to lead the department.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Central Maine

Stepped-up watches guzzled gallons from Pennsylvania fire department's budget

The afternoon of Aug. 15, Wilkes-Barre Fire Department’s Engine 1 filled up with 24.74 gallons of diesel fuel at the city pumps, a routine repeated 38 more times over the following eight weeks of daily patrols under the ramped-up community fire watches ordered by the mayor. Engine 1, based at the department’s headquarters at the East Ross Street station, took on 750 gallons total during the watches, almost double the fuel intake for the eight weeks in June and July, according to fuel logs obtained by the Times Leader through a Right-to-Know request.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes Barre Times Leader

California's Ghost Ship fire two years later: Will massive lawsuit finally lead to accountability?

The thick black smoke from a savage warehouse inferno came quickly two years ago, but not quickly enough to spare 36 mostly young partygoers from the terror of knowing they were at life’s end: “I am going to die, mom,” one texted; a young couple fell into an embrace, dying of asphyxiation in each other’s arms.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

New Hampshire official lobbies for support of NIOSH study on firefighter exposure to PFAS chemicals

Assistant Mayor Cliff Lazenby will ask the rest of the City Council to support his efforts to lobby the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct a health study on firefighters who have been exposed to PFAS chemicals. Lazenby said he intends to ask the City Council at Monday’s meeting to send a letter signed by Mayor Jack Blalock and the council asking NIOSH to conduct such a study.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online

Dallas RIT Team Recounts Rescue of Colleagues After Roof Collapse

VIDEO - A group of Dallas firefighters who rescued other firefighters during the devastating condo fire earlier this week are now sharing their incredible story of what happened. Everyone survived the 4-alarm fire in northeast Dallas Tuesday morning. That includes the three firefighters who got trapped when a ceiling collapsed on them.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KDFW Fox 4 News

Texas city drops ‘evergreen’ lawsuit, eyes turn to fire union

The city of San Antonio notified the San Antonio Professional Fire Fighters Association on Thursday that it has officially dropped the lawsuit that the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear over the summer. The dismissal of the suit sets the stage for contract negotiations to begin more than four years after the fire union’s contract initially expired.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News

Massachusetts ladder truck reportedly missed 10 calls while hanging city's holiday decorations

Some Medford firefighters are upset after their ladder truck was pulled out of service for hours to put up the city's holiday decorations. Medford Firefighter Eddie Buckley says he's shocked because the town is already down ladder trucks. One of them is out of service for repair so Boston Fire is loaning them one, leaving Medford with just one working ladder truck of its own.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston 25 News

Video: Dramatic bodycam footage shows California wildfire rescue of nurses

Butte County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Parmley was on Pentz Road attempting to rescue four nurses when his patrol car broke down. With embers swirling around him, he set out on foot surrounded by flames. Parmley switched on his body camera “in hopes of capturing what he thought were going to be the last moments of his life,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mendocino Beacon

Former Oregon PIO says deputy chief sexually harassed her

A woman who has performed hundreds of on-camera interviews and appeared on billboards representing Jackson County Fire District 3 has filed a civil-rights complaint with the state claiming that local officials took away her spokesperson duties as retaliation for complaining of sexual harassment and taking a medical leave earlier this year.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Medford Mail Tribune

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