Changes in the past two years have improved Bloomington Fire Department's response times, but Fire Chief Brian Mohr said the changes also have increased the use of other vehicles and crews on medical runs that is taxing the understaffed department.
"Our benchmark is the six-minute response time. Our goal is to be doing that at 90 percent of the time," said Mohr. - PUB DATE: 12/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Pantagraph
The union representing Atlantic City firefighters says a Gov. Christie-appointed state overseer has hired a private investigator to track firefighters who are out on leave at their homes.
The allegation was contained in a filing that asked Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez to block “drastic” pay cuts the state sought to impose Dec. - PUB DATE: 12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com
Miami's firefighters union agreed Tuesday to help six members -- fired after they were accused of "sexually explicit and racially offensive conduct" -- get their jobs back.
The men had filed grievances with the union contesting their terminations. The matter will now go to the city and then, most likely, to arbitration. - PUB DATE: 12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPLG-TV ABC Local10.com - Miami & Fort Lauderdale
Four people allegedly involved in an attempted sexual assault and harassment of a 17-year-old at Fallston Volunteer Fire Company have been arrested, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. Andrew Burkins, 21, of the 900 block of Winters Court in Bel Air, John Hefner, 20, of the 2400 block of Burham Drive in Fallston, and Colby Ogrysko, 19, of the 1900 block of Pleasantville Road in Forest Hill, are each charged with attempted first- and second-degree rape, third- and fourth-degree sex offense, second-degree assault, harassment and two counts of conspiracy to commit third-degree sex offense, according to online court records. - PUB DATE: 12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun
Four Oakland firefighters walked through the Ghost Ship warehouse two years before a fire there killed 36 people, one of them testified Tuesday.
Oakland Fire Captain George Freelen said he became concerned during the informal 20-minute survey about the “high fire load” of material stocked inside the artist collective. - PUB DATE: 12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com
Laying on the floor of his home Tuesday afternoon, 6-year-old Junior was unresponsive after suffering a heart attack. A crew from Springfield’s Fire Station No. 6 rushed in, took their positions and started chest compressions.
A tube was put in his airway. A defibrillator sent a shock to his heart. Because Junior’s vessels were limp from a lack of blood, a firefighter drilled a hole into Junior’s knee and injected cardiac medication into his bone marrow. - PUB DATE: 12/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Springfield State Journal-Register
Toledo's fire chief and the president of Firefighters Local 92 are looking toward the new year with a strengthened working relationship.
Chief Luis Santiago and Pvt. Jeff Koenigseker recently sat down for a joint interview with The Blade at Toledo Fire and Rescue Department head“I think the thrust of this relationship is that both the chief and I realize that the resolution is more important than the argument,” Private Koenigseker said. - PUB DATE: 12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade
Six Miami firefighters who lost their jobs after a black colleague found lewd images drawn on his family photos and a noose in his fire station dorm room are fighting to be reinstated.
Captain William W. Bryson, Lt. Alejandro Sese, and firefighters Kevin Meizoso, David Rivera, Justin Rumbaugh and Harold Santana have filed grievances contesting their terminations, according to Miami’s firefighter union, which will decide Tuesday whether to support their claims. - PUB DATE: 12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald
During the third day of testimony during a critical hearing for two former Ghost Ship tenants facing criminal charges related to last year’s deadly fire, witnesses called the warehouse a “death trap” and one of the defendants “emotionally manipulative.” Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner will determine after the preliminary hearing if there’s enough evidence to send former warehouse tenants Derick Almena and Max Harris to trial. - PUB DATE: 12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times
A former Janesville Fire Department employee alleges the fire chief and other fire department employees lied to police that he "might be mentally unstable and dangerous," according to complaints filed with the Janesville Police and Fire Commission.
The former employee, Donald "Jeff" Bowen, has filed three charges of malfeasance in public office against Fire Chief Randy Banker and one each against Lt. - PUB DATE: 12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released the latest edition of its “U.S. Firefighter Injuries” report, which highlights data on injuries sustained by firefighters on duty in 2016. The statistics were collected from fire departments responding to NFPA’s annual U.S. Fire Experience survey. - PUB DATE: 12/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association
Authorities say an FBI agent and a state fire marshal were struck and killed while standing on the shoulder of I-270 in Montgomery County.
At about 10 p.m. Friday, one of the officers was at the scene of a single-vehicle traffic crash on southbound I-270. Police say he requested assistance and used his car to block the damaged vehicle from oncoming traffic. - PUB DATE: 12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJZ-TV CBS 13 Baltimore
Charles Patterson, a firefighter with the Bowie Rural Volunteer Fire Department since its inception in 2007, died on Thursday after experiencing a cardiac event on Dec. 1 while fighting a house fire.
A graveside service for the 60-year-old is planned for 2 p.m. on Dec. 9 at Lindale Cemetery north of Bowie. - PUB DATE: 12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Record News
Kokomo’s fire union is taking the city to court in the latest development of what’s become a months-long battle over the two sides’ collective bargaining efforts.
The Professional Firefighters of Kokomo Local 396, in a civil suit filed this week in Howard Superior Court 4, is requesting that Judge George Hopkins prohibit the city from terminating the existing fire contract at the end of this year and "until such time that the matter can be arbitrated. - PUB DATE: 12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News and Tribune
The sun had set Tuesday when Tim Hurley and his strike crew from the U.S. Forest Service’s Kernville station first made it to the front lines of the Creek fire above Sylmar.
Flames were shooting sideways as they tore through the dry brush, fueled by erratic Santa Ana winds.
Hurley immediately got to work manning an engine with one goal: to keep the fire from jumping Oro Vista Avenue into the dense tract of homes below. - PUB DATE: 12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
A New York firefighter who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer will fulfill his lifelong wish to attend the Super Bowl, his fire department says.
In a Facebook post Sunday, the Tarrytown Fire Department said the NFL made Bill Duggan’s dream come true with tickets to the big game.
“A couple of weeks ago, he was given earth shattering news that he had terminal brain cancer and only had a brief time to live,” the post reads. - PUB DATE: 12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC New York
Tucson Fire Department Chief Jim Critchley announced his retirement Thursday after six years as head of the department.
Critchley sent out a memo to Tucson Fire Department personnel Thursday saying he loved his job, but decided to retire and focus on his family, department spokesman Julian Herrera said. - PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson Arizona Daily Star
A jury awarded a former firefighter $245,000 in damages Thursday, deciding she had proved two allegations in her federal lawsuit against the city of Tampa: That she was discriminated against because she was pregnant and the city retaliated against her when she complained.
But on the third allegation, the seven-person jury did not find that the city discriminated against Tanja Vidovic because of her gender. - PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com
Firefighters across Southern California are battling six major wildfires with brutal Santa Ana winds expected to continue fanning the flames through Saturday. The newest blazes, the Lilac fire in San Diego County and the Liberty fire in Riverside County, are now being fueled by continued Santa Ana winds and low humidity, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. - PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
A Milwaukee Fire Department acting lieutenant repeatedly groped a co-worker and gave her low marks on her work evaluation after she complained, according to a criminal complaint charging him with a felony.
Michael Peden, 35, was charged Thursday with second-degree sexual assault after his arrest last weekend. - PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
