A Lawrence Fire Department (LFD) firefighter passed away Monday after the department’s annual physical assessment training. Jeff Holt, 60, had been with the department since 1996. He was previously a Lafayette firefighter. The department says the physical assessment includes turnout in full gear. Shortly after 10 a.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

It was just after 10 a.m. on Monday when dispatch said the words many people in Howard County did not want to hear, “End of watch for Tommy Sullivan.” Tommy served as a volunteer firefighter for Howard County for 35 years, but he was much more than that to many that worked alongside of him. Sullivan was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer back in March and had been dealing with health issues after having part of his right leg amputated in 2017.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXXV-TV ABC 25 Waco

The book is officially closed on a years-long dispute between the city of Providence and its firefighters now that the city paid $6.1 million to settle state and federal lawsuits regarding overtime payments in recent years. Victor Morente, a spokesperson for the Elorza administration, confirmed more than 450 current or former firefighters received payments ranging from $10.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12

More than 100 people filled the St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in York City on Sunday, April 29, to honor the York City firefighters who died during the past year. The event is in its 142nd year, and for the first time in nearly 50 years, attendees honored firefighters killed in the line of duty. "It's different this year — it's different," the Rev.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: York Dispatch

For Emily Switalski, graduating from Western Michigan University was bittersweet. Her father Comstock Township Fire Chief Ed Switalski was killed in the line of duty in June. He was hit by a vehicle while responding to an accident call on I-94. “You know, after these things happen, life keeps moving on and you have to kind of just roll with the punches,” Emily Switalski told 24 Hour News 8 Monday.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOOD-TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids

The leader of the Alameda firefighters union wants at least $200,000 from the city in damages over what he describes as “false” and “malicious” accusations against him as a result of the city manager’s allegations she was put under political pressure to pick a union-backed candidate as fire chief. Jeff DelBono cites Vice Mayor Malia Vella and City Councilman Jim Oddie as witnesses — the same elected representatives that City Manager Jill Keimach secretly audio-recorded for evidence that they were possibly violating the City Charter by weighing in on whom she picked as a fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

William “Billy” Goldfeder was awarded the 2018 FDIC Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement award at this morning’s General Session. Making the presentation were Chief Bobby Halton, editor in chief of Fire Engineering/FDIC International education director, and Eileen Cress, daughter of Tom Brennan. In his introduction remarks, Halton noted: “Today we recognize someone who, not to sound cliché, truly needs no introduction.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Egineering

Polk County Deputy Manager Joe Halman on Friday cleared Fire Rescue Capt. Jay Schwartz of any wrongdoing after the captain helped to fight a fire while he was off duty and without proper equipment, saying Schwartz’ actions were, in fact, “heroic, commendable and consistent with expectations of Polk County Fire Rescue employees.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News Chief

Part I and Part II - A newly obtained collection of police body camera footage offers exclusive insight into what Oakland police knew about the dangerous warehouse where 36 people died — and what happened that fateful night. A year before the Ghost Ship blaze killed 36 partygoers, an Oakland police officer could sense the fire danger as he and a colleague wandered through the cluttered Fruitvale district warehouse, called there for a tenant dispute.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

City Secretary Anna Russell has one week to finish verifying a petition Houston firefighters submitted last summer seeking pay parity with police or risk being hauled into court, a state district judge said Friday. Judge Dan Hinde had given Russell until Friday at 5 p.m. to verify whether the firefighters had reached the minimum threshold of 20,000 signatures needed for the item to appear before voters.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

It's been nearly 16 years since cleanup work officially ended at New York City's ground zero, but the health effects for rescue and recovery workers are still making themselves known. Two studies published Thursday in the journal JAMA Oncology suggest that the firefighters who came to lower Manhattan after the Sept.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Fires and twisted wreckage do not intentionally create harm, but a man with a gun lying in wait is an entirely new and different menace to the fire service. In the early morning hours of April 24, members of the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported fire south of downtown LA. While extinguishment was an expected knockdown inside a two-story home, gunshots ringing out during overhaul were not.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1.com

CORRECTION - Yesterday's headline on this story mistakenly said Chief Scott was taking a position in Albany, New York when it should have read Albany, GEORGIA - Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan announced at Tuesday’s Albany City Commission meeting that Cedric Scott has been named the city’s new fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albany Herald

A Muncie firefighter had a close call after a driver hit him and took off. First responders were on the scene of a gas leak near McGalliard and Reserve Street Thursday morning. Police officers and firefighters were helping direct traffic due to road closures. Surveillance video from a nearby business shows a firefighter motioning a vehicle and then seconds later he tries jumping out of the way to avoid a driver hitting him from behind.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX59.com

New York City will add the name of a firefighter who died in 1935 to the Fire Department of New York's memorial wall, the city's law department said Wednesday, ending a year-long struggle by his descendants who insisted his death was due to an injury he suffered while battling a blaze. The grandson of firefighter Tom O'Brien went to court in October to get him added to the wall that honors those firefighters who died as a result of a fire.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Post Star

Fires and twisted wreckage do not intentionally create harm, but a man with a gun lying in wait is an entirely new and different menace to the fire service. In the early morning hours of April 24, members of the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported fire south of downtown LA. While extinguishment was an expected knockdown inside a two-story home, gunshots ringing out during overhaul were not.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1.com

Austin Freidt, a 19-year-old Mocksville firefighter, was born deaf. He had his first ear surgery at 2 years old, and then got his first cochlear implant on his left ear when he was 3. In 2012, he got one in his right ear, which allowed him to hear just like anyone else. He’s wanted to become a firefighter since he was 5 years old.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMY News

Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan announced at Tuesday’s Albany City Commission meeting that Cedric Scott has been named the city’s new fire chief. Scott, who currently is serving as fire chief for the city of Suffolk, Va., and has served in that position in Waycross, College Park and Rockdale County in Georgia, is expected to take over the Albany Fire Department in June.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albany Herald

A veteran firefighter in a small community in northwestern Wisconsin has died following a response. The U.S. Fire Administration on Thursday announced the line-of-duty death of 69-year-old Spooner volunteer firefighter Philip H. Neubich, who was a 38-year veteran of the fire service. Late on Tuesday evening, Neubich responded to his fire station when the department was paged out for a reported gas leak inside a residence.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan announced at Tuesday’s Albany City Commission meeting that Cedric Scott has been named the city’s new fire chief. Scott, who currently is serving as fire chief for the city of Suffolk, Va., and has served in that position in Waycross, College Park and Rockdale County in Georgia, is expected to take over the Albany Fire Department in June.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albany Herald