FirstNet’s nationwide footprint is expanding. The First Responder Network Authority has given its partner, AT&T, the green light to build out FirstNet, the nationwide public safety broadband network. This includes deploying public safety’s dedicated spectrum – Band 14 – across statewide radio access networks in states and territories across the country.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FirstNet.Gov

VIDEO - Firefighters at Unified Fire gave the public a look a point of view not often seen in a newly released inspiring video called ‘I Believe’. “I believe this is not just my job. It is what I am meant to do; it is what I was made for,” the narrator of the video says. “This is who I am but ‘firefighter does not define me’.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVX-TV ABC 4 Good4Utah.com

The city firefighters’ union, Local 825, filed a four-count lawsuit alleging a breach of fiduciary duty against the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, a union which represents the state’s fire departments. “Have you ever had anyone demand money from you? It happens all the time: spam emails, unsolicited phone calls and junk mail,” said Frank Ricci, a battalion chief and president of Local 825.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stamford Advocate

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has directed the reinstatement of the city’s Girls’ Empowerment Camp, an event that had been canceled last week after an attorney questioned whether its gender-focused approach violated state and federal anti-discrimination statutes. The event will be expanded to two weekends — one in April and one in May -- and registration will be reopened.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office is investigating after the Mayfield Volunteer Fire Department, not far from the Tuscaloosa-Fayette County Line, was burglarized early Tuesday morning. The Mayfield Fire Chief says not only was the station burglarized, but two fire trucks were stolen, then run off the road and abandoned.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBRC-TV Fox 6 Birmingham

A group of Long Island firefighters landed in hot water for a massive brawl at a wedding party that left the groom injured, police said. The melee erupted Saturday between attendees at a Hagerman Fire Department dinner and wedding party guests in the foyer of the East Wind Hotel in Wading River, NY, Riverhead town police said.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

In November 2017, the fire service was alerted to an incident in Nashville, Tenn., that involved a firefighter recruit falling during a training session of the John Nance drill, which involves rescuing a firefighter from a sublevel situation. This drill involves many options, including lowering down a firefighter to assist in rescuing the downed firefighter.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

First responders being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder could soon have extended benefits under a bill passed Monday by the Florida Legislature. The state House of Representatives voted unanimously for legislation (SB 376) to extend workers' compensation benefits for those being treated for PTSD.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Tribune and TBO.com (Tampa Bay Online)

An independent arbitrator recently ruled against the Kokomo firefighters union in a grievance case filed by Local 396 that accused city officials of not staffing a tanker in an effort to avoid overtime costs. The grievance, first filed in November 2016 and largely unrelated to the ongoing contract negotiation controversy, alleged that city officials violated a contractual agreement in its attempt to not pay overtime.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kokomo Tribune

Two prominent members of the town’s firefighter community, allegedly liquored up from a fire department dinner, are charged with setting their own fire outside the firehouse. Gregory Bomba, 45, a former fire captain, and William Tortora, 57, the brother of Fire Marshal James “Chic” Tortora, were being held in lieu of $250,000 bonds after being charged with second-degree arson, second-degree reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

For the first time in recent memory, Kennedy Space Center firefighters are prepared to strike. Their contract expired seven months ago and now they say the NASA contractor over fire and rescue operations is trying to cut retirement benefits and get rid of sick leave. Firefighters told Channel 9’s Mel Holt they’re still hoping to make a deal that will allow them to protect the space center without sacrificing their livelihoods.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFTV-TV ABC 9 Orlando

Sonoma County’s top elected and administrative leaders all agree if another major disaster struck the region today, one key aspect of their response would be different than when the historic wildfires ignited five months ago: They’d use mass cellphone alerts to warn the public about the emergency. And if rainfall from this latest storm triggered dangerous debris flows in the county’s fire-scarred hillsides, a team of designated staff members would immediately jump into action.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

VIDEO - Dramatic video shows a section of a burning apartment building in Brooklyn tumbling onto firefighters, injuring one critically, as they poured water on the inferno. Four firefighters were injured in the conflagration, which began about 12:30 a.m. Monday at 667 Jefferson Ave., a three-story brownstone where flames shot out of the second and third floors, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 3/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

The Janesville Police and Fire Commission on Thursday threw out a malfeasance complaint against Janesville Fire Chief Randy Banker, saying the former employee who made the complaint didn’t provide enough evidence to prove wrongdoing. Former Janesville Fire Department fire inspector Donald “Jeff” Bowen last year filed charges of malfeasance in public office against Banker, Janesville Fire Marshal Sue North and Janesville Fire Department union President Lt.
- PUB DATE: 3/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: GazetteXtra

Police are investigating after a 25-year-old male Onset firefighter was injured in a hit and run during the Nor’easter on Friday. At approximately 7 p.m., Wareham Police Department patrol officers and Wareham EMS paramedics responded to Cranberry Highway in the area of the Onset Avenue intersection to the report of an on-duty Onset Fire Department firefighter struck by a passing motor vehicle, according to a press release.
- PUB DATE: 3/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Bedford Standard-Times (South Coast Times)

Mayor Eric Garcetti and leaders of the Los Angeles City Council ignored a report urging them to eliminate, or drastically amend, a controversial program that pays veteran cops and firefighters their salaries and pensions simultaneously for up to five years. The Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, was approved by voters in 2001 with a promise that it would keep veteran officers on the job a few years longer with no additional cost to the city.
- PUB DATE: 3/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Two firefighters were injured after an extra-alarm fire on Chicago's West Side Saturday morning. There was a "mayday" call at 1921 S. St. Louis in North Lawndale Saturday morning around 9:30 a.m. One of the firefighters, Michael Manchester, was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital and then transported to Stroger Hospital where he is in serious condition.
- PUB DATE: 3/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGN-TV Chicago

A year and five months after a Wilmington rowhome blaze claimed the lives of three city firefighters, federal officials are still investigating what factors made the Canby Park fire so deadly – and how the city can prevent similar tragedies. City residents and firefighters hope an upcoming report can help explain why the Sept.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Delawareonline.com

State legislators Thursday heard testimony that preparation for California’s new era of catastrophic and deadly wildland fires will require costly changes to land management, building safety and firefighting services, amounting to a wholesale upgrade of the state’s firefighting force. “We have to increase our pace and scale of everything we’re doing,” Mark Ghilarducci, director of the state Office of Emergency Services, told the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat

Brandon Anderson and Mike Laughlin took similar journeys into their firefighting careers. Both wanted to serve their communities and help others, and both enjoyed the everyday challenges of the fire service. These similarities between driven personalities form lasting bonds among firefighters across the country and around the world, but the connection between Anderson and Laughlin runs far deeper.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com