A former Yakima firefighter says he was injured on the job because the city understaffs its fire squads. The accusation is part of a damage claim the former firefighter, Jerry Elmo Jr., submitted earlier this summer, asking the city for $450,000 in damages related to the injury. City spokesman Randy Beehler says the city doesn’t comment on pending claims or litigation.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Yakima Herald

The ongoing dispute involving Utica fire Chief Russell Brooks and his health started more than a year ago with an application. Citing his diagnosis for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which he says resulted from responding to New York City to support 9/11 recovery efforts, Brooks applied for benefits outlined under General Municipal Law 207-a.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Observer-Dispatch

Cincinnati police and firefighter recruits are asked to describe their "most unusual sex act" in a questionnaire that can later become accessible to the public. The questions are part of the Fire and Police departments' pre-employment process. They raise concerns for some that new recruits are being asked to divulge private, probing details about their sexual history.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cincinnati Enquirer & Cincinnati.com

An architectural firm commissioned by the city to assess the conditions at eight Pueblo Fire Department buildings is recommending the department build new facilities at three stations that are in poor shape. The stations that need replacing, according to that architectural firm, are at 425 W. Seventh St.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pueblo Chieftain

The city's fire department is no longer using lights and sirens on all of its runs, prompting the fire union to warn that the new policy could endanger lives. But Detroit's fire commissioner says he has no plans to back down on a strategy that gives discretion to dispatchers, firefighters and EMTs to alert those en route to "go easy," which means they can switch off their lights and sirens to arrive safely.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News

As Hurricane Florence approaches the U.S. continental east coast, the IAFC reminds fire and emergency service leaders to discourage the practice of self-dispatching to emergency response and recovery locations. In major disasters, the fire service needs to be disciplined in its response. First responders must be ready and available to the local communities and—when requested—be ready and available to respond should a call for assistance be received from affected jurisdictions.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

A young woman who was sexually abused in a mentor program at Cascade Township Fire Department has filed a federal lawsuit against the township and Boy Scouts of America. Two now-former Cascade Township firefighters - Clem Bell, 53, and Steven Drake, 34 - had relationships with the then-16-year-old girl and exchanged sexually explicit photographs and videos with her.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive.com

The International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) has released a white paper that covers best practices related to health and safety, particularly as it concerns cancer prevention. The white paper was put together by the IAAI Health and Safety Committee after it was re-established in 2016 when it was deemed that health and safety practices and protocols for investigators had not been keeping pace with those of firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

Aurora Fire Capt. Brandon Matson said firefighters and paramedics go on hundreds of emergency calls a year, but rarely do they hear back from the people they’ve taken to the hospital. So firefighters at Aurora Station 8 were surprised when they received a request from Aurora residents Lisa and Ted Yee, who wanted to bring them dinner Monday to celebrate Lisa’s recovery from a crash a decade ago that left her with traumatic brain injury.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Aurora Beacon-News

VIDEO - A Midtown firehouse that lost more members in the September 11th terror attacks than any other in New York City held a somber memorial Tuesday to honor all 15 firefighters who died. "All the new fellows who have joined since September 11th, who, you know, probies and new firefighters, treat us with respect, with love, with great affection," said Maureen Santora, the mother of firefighter Christopher Santora.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY1-TV

VIDEO - A remarkable sight was recorded by a Twin Cities fire department on Tuesday as the nation marked the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In a viral video posted by the Andover Fire Department, a bald eagle landed at the top of an aerial fire truck’s extended ladder and basket as firefighters observed the anniversary at the Main Street overpass at U.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TwinCities.com

Two city councilmen raised concerns Tuesday about the effects mandated fire patrols are having on equipment and firefighters and urged Mayor Tony George to reconsider the idea. The fire watches involve firefighters driving the engines and aerial ladder truck throughout the city and parking them in highly visible locations as a way to prevent fires, according to the mayor.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Leader

Since the early days of the fire service, bells have been used as a way to summon firefighters to a station, communicate the type of emergency, or announce the end of a shift. When a firefighter died in the line of duty, a special sequence of five bells was tapped. The tolling of bells is still a tradition to honor the fallen during funerals and memorial services for firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The type of incident is common enough — someone with Alzheimer’s has gone missing. A 911 call is made. The fire department responds. It happened recently to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. “A gentleman was lost. He wandered off from the building he was at,” EMS Capt. Tim Lookabaugh said. “(Crews) spent an hour and a half trying to get a hold of his family, finding the right place for him to go.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The News Tribune

The death toll for FDNY members who worked at Ground Zero continues to climb, 17 years after 9/11. The FDNY Battalion Chief and Uniformed Fire Officers Association said Monday that 182 members have died due to work at the World Trade Center. Over 1,000 firefighters and members of the FDNY have been diagnosed with forms of cancer, respiratory problems or other 9/11-related illnesses.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Fire Chief Henry E. Kydd Jr. says he considers New London to be the best fire department in southeastern Connecticut, if not all of eastern Connecticut. Kydd, in his fifth year as fire chief, would like to think he had some small part to play in that. Kydd, 66, will work his last day Tuesday. He is retiring after 40 years of service to the city and plans to spend more time with family – which includes six grandchildren.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New London Day

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood offered his interpretation of a federal report to be released this week that examines the circumstances surrounding the death of firefighter Scott Deem. He has seen a preliminary copy of the review that was conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an institute within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News

The first draft of the 2020 ed. of NFPA 950 – Standard for Data Development and Exchange in the Fire Service is now open for public comment. If you develop and sell software for fire departments, if you help fire departments specify and procure software, or are a firefighter who uses software (yes, that means just about everyone) it is essential that you check out the proposed changes and additions for the 2020 edition.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association

The Julian Cuyamaca Fire Protection District, the last volunteer fire department in the county whose members respond to medical emergencies and structure fires in the area, on Monday got a step closer to being dissolved. The members of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) unanimously agreed to move forward with plans to eliminate the volunteer department and absorb it into the San Diego Fire Authority.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

A deep gouge in a gravel driveway and a smashed well house speak to the force of a propane tank explosion that took the life of a Sturgis firefighter, who perished along with another man in a raging residential fire in this quiet bedroom community Friday evening. At a somber Saturday morning news conference in Sturgis, authorities identified the firefighter as David Fischer, 43, of Sturgis.
- PUB DATE: 9/10/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rapid City Journal