One day after Houston voters approved a sweeping pay raise for the city’s firefighters, union officials called for an end to “divisive politics” and a return to collective bargaining, even as Mayor Sylvester Turner said the ballot initiative’s passage would force him to downsize the Houston Fire Department, cause response times to rise and endanger public safety.
- PUB DATE: 11/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

VIDEO - Picture everything in your building blowing sky high, the ceiling caving in, and everything landing in a jumbled pile. Now, imagine digging through that pile, perhaps multiple stories of debris, to find a gravely injured colleague. Welcome to the world of collapse rescue, which firefighters and paramedics may face at a moment’s notice.
- PUB DATE: 11/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Chicago

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday in favor of two Arizona firefighters who claimed they were fired because of their advanced age. In the court's first opinion following oral argument of its new term, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the Age Discrimination Act covers state and local governments without regard to the number of workers they employ.
- PUB DATE: 11/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

Voters on Tuesday granted Houston firefighters the same pay as police of corresponding rank and seniority, giving a boost to firefighters who long have felt neglected by City Hall while dealing a blow to Mayor Sylvester Turner and the city budget he administers. The passage of Proposition B sets up a potential court fight over the legality of the measure, and raises the possibility that Turner may swiftly implement his pledge to lay off more than 850 firefighters and scores of other city workers to accommodate what he repeatedly has called the measure's "unaffordable" cost.
- PUB DATE: 11/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

More than 150 people came to Monday’s City Council meeting to offer a rebuttal to the city’s recent mailing about the Public Safety Officer program. People in red shirts signifying opposition to PSO program filled City Hall. Council chambers could not hold the crowd, which overflowed into nearby rooms.
- PUB DATE: 11/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Proposition 11 has passed, the AP is predicting. The campaign largely funded by private ambulance companies had voters deciding what to do with employee breaks. Emergency ambulance employees who work for private companies will be allowed to continue their current practice of having emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics stay on-duty during their meal and rest breaks in order to respond to 911 calls.
- PUB DATE: 11/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS Sacramento

The Madison Fire Department is examining its health programs and policies as federal officials plan to investigate the death of one of the department’s members earlier this year after a stressful shift. While it’s still unclear seven months later if a taxing 48-hour shift contributed to the sudden heart attack death of firefighter and paramedic Richard Garner, the fire department is looking at whether its wellness programs, fitness testing policies and shift scheduling could better prevent job-related health problems or deaths.
- PUB DATE: 11/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Jounral

A jury sided with a former West Covina deputy fire marshal last week in his whistleblower-retaliation lawsuit against the city. Jason Briley had worked for the West Covina Fire Department for nine years when he was fired in September 2015. The city claimed Briley had been fired for improper conduct and being difficult to work with, but he alleged the move was retaliation for him pointing out various city facilities — including City Hall, the Cortez Park Community & Senior Center and the Cameron Park Community Center — did not have proper fire alarm systems.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Thomas Scheuerman wants to vote Tuesday. He'd really, really like to cast a ballot. To do so, he's planning on having a colleague cover part of his shift while Scheuerman votes at 7 a.m., right when the polls open, before rushing to work. "If he says no … I'm kind of stuck," Scheuerman said. "If there's a situation and someone says no — has child-care issues or something — I'm stuck, I won't vote this year.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com

Columbus will pay $410,000 to the family of a woman who was killed in a crash with a fire truck on the Southeast Side in 2013 as part of a settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit. The Columbus City Council voted Monday to settle the lawsuit brought by William R. Glenn, whose mother, Elvyra T. Glenn, 86, died a week after a crash between her vehicle and a Columbus Division of Fire engine at the intersection of Brice and Refugee roads on Nov.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch

After receiving at least three letters with complaints and meeting with the local firefighters association, the Augusta Fire Department wants to set the record straight about claims made against it. Michael Meyers, the department’s public information officer, said the majority of the allegations made by Augusta Professional Firefighters Association Local 3357 President Charlie Coleman in a series of letters since Sept.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Augusta Chronicle

Five people were arrested in London on Monday after a video posted on social media showed a group burning an effigy of Grenfell Tower, the public housing block where 72 people died in a massive blaze in 2017. In a statement, London's Metropolitan Police said five men, ages 19 to 55, were being held on suspicion of a public order offense after they turned themselves in to a south London police station.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

The cold and rainy night on Sunday seemed fitting in the town of Magee, given the sad and mournful emotion felt throughout the community, since Saturday's accident which killed 34-year-old volunteer firefighter Dustin Grubbs, while on his way to fight a structure fire. Black ribbons are seen adorned all along the outside the Magee Fire Dept.
- PUB DATE: 11/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJTV Jackson

Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk has selected retired Atlanta Fire Chief Joel Baker to be the next head of the Austin Fire Department, replacing former Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr, who retired this summer. Baker was selected from a pool of 84 candidates, who included finalists Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin and Fire Chief Kevin McGee of Prince William County, Va.
- PUB DATE: 11/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin American-Statesman

A Costa Mesa fire captain who was struck and critically injured in a crash involving a suspected DUI driver while cycling over the weekend has died, officials announced Monday. Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue Capt. Mike Kreza with was riding a bicycle shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday on Alicia Parkway near Via Burgos in Mission Viejo when he was struck by the driver of a van.
- PUB DATE: 11/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles

The motorist who ran over a fire hose at the scene of an Oct. 23 house fire in Geistown is on the hook to pay for any damage to the hose and faces a fine of up to $300, authorities said. Fire broke out at 6 a.m. in the 200 block of Karen Way. A 4-inch, cotton sleeve, large-diameter hose was connected to a hydrant and laid across the road when a man driving an SUV ran over the hose.
- PUB DATE: 11/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The Augusta Fire Department has been sent at least three letters of complaint from the local firefighters association stating concerns about safety. The letters by the Augusta Professional Firefighters Association Local 3357 have been sent since Sept. 21. An additional letter was sent by the International Association of Fire Fighters complaining about the way the city of Augusta has attempted to suppress the organization’s voice.
- PUB DATE: 11/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Augusta Chronicle

A contractor that specializes in locating and marking underground utilities to prevent accidents failed to properly mark a natural gas line that was struck by a communications construction firm, which led to a massive explosion in downtown Sun Prairie in July that killed a fire department captain, according to a search warrant unsealed in Dane County Circuit Court.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal

She’ll make less money and will have to report to a new person in a high-ranking job she previously held, but Toledo fire Chief Brian Byrd said Karen Marquardt’s bump from assistant chief to battalion chief isn’t a demotion. Regardless of how it’s characterized, Assistant Chief Marquardt’s pending move down to a lower rank means there are no women left in the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department’s top five positions.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the appointment of six leaders in public safety, technology and network financing to serve on the Board of the FirstNet First Responder Network Authority. The new members bring the FirstNet board to a full complement, with 12 non-permanent members selected by the Commerce Department and three permanent seats filled by the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Commerce.Gov