Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri’s office released another statement Wednesday in response to reports on the conduct of former temporary fire Chief John Kelly, who resigned from his position last week amid allegations of professional misconduct.
Kelly — appointed interim chief last July in place of Russell Brooks, who remains on administrative leave — stepped down to become a deputy chief after an investigation into text messages sent between Kelly and 23-year-old Carmen Ambrose, the son of Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose, that make references to watching pornography and other lewd acts that occurred on fire department property. - PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch
A fiery uproar in the town of Morris could have left residents without a volunteer Fire Department.
A statement from the department was released Tuesday announcing that its members had voted to “cease providing fire, rescue, and EMS services,” as of June 30.
The statement noted that the decision was not made lightly, but came after the department felt it could not come to a “reasonable working relationship with the town administrators. - PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post
Buffalo Grove officials announced Wednesday they are challenging a decision to award a full line-of-duty death pension to the widow of a 51-year-old Buffalo Grove firefighter, arguing not enough evidence exists that his fatal colon cancer was related to his work.
The full pension award for Kevin Hauber’s wife, Kim Hauber, and their four children represented an “unprecedented” claim and marked the first award of its kind in Illinois after the Buffalo Grove Fire Department Pension Board determined earlier this year that Kevin Hauber’s cancer was caused in the line of duty, village officials said in a statement. - PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
The City of Buffalo will pay a total of $1.2 million to a dozen white Buffalo firefighters who claimed they were passed over for promotion because of their race.
The $1.2 million settlement was approved Tuesday by the Buffalo Common Council and brings to a close a 2007 lawsuit that accused the city of illegally allowing two promotional lists to expire because minority firefighters had performed poorly on civil service exams. - PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News
Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern toured three of the city’s eight firehouses June 6, calling the conditions at Monday’s City Council meeting “extremely disturbing.”
Firefighters were sleeping on mattresses with holes. Floors were being held together by duct tape. Some stations didn’t have carbon monoxide detectors or Wi-Fi, McGovern said. - PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wicked Local Cambridge
A Lehigh Acres firefighter went into cardiac arrest, and fellow firefighters resuscitated him inside Station 105 to save his life.
Rick Pride, 47, was on the treadmill inside the firehouse workout room when the nearly 13-year firefighting veteran wound up unresponsive on the floor in the firehouse.
"Our firefighters reacted very quickly that day, immediately going into emergency mode and starting to help him," Chief Robert DiLallo said of his team at Station 105 of the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District. - PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WZVN-TV ABC 7 Naples/Ft. Myers
The Chicago Fire Department said Tuesday it was “not acceptable” for paramedics to leave a teen unattended after he was shot in the head and severely wounded as they treated others hit by gunfire at a party on the Near West Side this week. “It is not the policy of the Fire Department to leave people on the street, even if they are mortally wounded,” said department spokesman Larry Langford. - PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
Brownsville’s former fire chief, Carlos Elizondo, has appealed a ruling denying his claim that the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office has charged him twice for the same alleged crime to a higher court in Corpus Christi.
Authorities arrested Elizondo last October and accuse the former city official of stealing $8,000 from the Brownsville Firefighters Association Political Action Committee through unauthorized ATM withdrawals, according to a police report filed by the association’s president. - PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Brownsville Herald
Firefighters in Amelia County are mourning the loss of one of their own after he died during a recent training exercise.
Amelia County Volunteer Fire Department Company 1 Chief Justin Wargofcak said William Moore IV, 48, of Amelia County, suffered a medical emergency and went into cardiac arrest Thursday, June 14. - PUB DATE: 6/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond
The crowds hadn't yet arrived at Charleston 9 Memorial Park on Monday when Jacqueline Drayton introduced her son to the site where his grandfather died fighting a massive blaze 11 years ago.
They stopped at the memorial for Drayton's father, Charleston Firefighter James "Earl" Drayton. And one by one, they visited the plaques honoring the other eight Charleston firefighters who perished on June 18, 2007. - PUB DATE: 6/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Post and Courier
San Diego is paying seven helicopter rescue medics a total of $442,000 because they didn’t receive overtime pay despite regularly working 56-hour weeks.
Federal law requires overtime pay of one and a half times the regular wage for all hours worked over 40 in one workweek, but there is an exemption for government workers engaged in fire suppression. - PUB DATE: 6/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune
Two romantically involved Akron firefighters are on paid leave for possibly getting too hot in a firehouse.
City administrators have suspended Lt. Art Dean and Provisional Lt. Deann Eller after receiving a tip that the pair of officers allegedly produced pornographic videos on city property, then posted their flames of passion on the internet. - PUB DATE: 6/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal
The recently released NFPA report of 2017 firefighter fatalities is both encouraging and troubling. Clearly, the efforts of many of our industry partners have had an effect on reducing our mortality numbers – the 60 on-duty deaths reported reflect the lowest number reported in over 40 years. However, some of the unexpected shifts identify room for improvement. - PUB DATE: 6/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Documents from a five-month investigation of Steve Krentel, the former chief of St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 12, have been turned over to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, which issued a warrant for the more than 4,000 pages last month.
Krentel's wife, Nanette Krentel, was found dead of a gunshot wound in the couple's burned-down home nearly a year ago. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Orleans Advocate
Several firefighters were injured battling a five-alarm blaze Saturday on Staten Island.
The flames broke out shortly after 7 p.m. at a fire marshal’s house on Steinway Avenue in the New Springville section. “One of the houses is one of our fire marshals’. Fortunately, his family and his baby were down at the Jersey Shore for the weekend, but he was at work to come home and find that his house was destroyed,” Chief of Department James Leonard said. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS New York
Documents from a five-month investigation of Steve Krentel, the former chief of St. Tammany Fire Protection District No. 12, have been turned over to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, which issued a warrant for the more than 4,000 pages last month.
Krentel's wife, Nanette Krentel, was found dead of a gunshot wound in the couple's burned-down home nearly a year ago. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Orleans Advocate
A Knoxville Fire Department firefighter was hospitalized after suffering smoke inhalation while battling a warehouse fire in West Knox County Saturday evening.
According to KFD spokesperson Captain D.J. Corcoran, units were dispatched to 1737 Louisville Dr. at 8:27 p.m. Saturday amid reports of smoke showing from the Aquarium Life Support Systems building from a Knoxville Police Department officer. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel
Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Jeremy Finney was, by all accounts, a model firefighter — until he lost his cool. The outburst cost him two ranks.
Finney has served nearly 16 years in the department and was a member of the Tactical Medical Response Team, which accompanies SWAT teams on dangerous missions. He helped kids learn about firefighting through the department’s Explorer program. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com
Massachusetts firefighter Matt Parziale had a Father’s Day to remember as he completed his final round of the U.S. Open.
Parziale shot 5-over par Sunday in the final round, finishing with a score of 16-over par for the tournament. The score tied for the top amateur score at Shinnecock Hill in New York. - PUB DATE: 6/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston
It started with a hissing and then a pop. Four natural gas workers and a Tulsa firefighter were trying to turn off a ruptured gas line when it ignited.
The fire burned the four Oklahoma Natural Gas employees and the firefighter. Tulsa Fire Capt. Stan May said the firefighter’s injuries were among the worst. - PUB DATE: 6/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tulsa World
