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National Fire News

Probe deepens into embattled Louisiana fire chief

A litany of complaints levied against St. Tammany Parish District 12 Fire Chief Stephen Krentel, whose wife was killed in a mysterious, high-profile slaying in July, will be the subject of a full scale investigation by the district's board of commissioners, a civil service panel determined Monday (Nov.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Orleans Times-Picayune & Nola.com

On this 2018 calendar, California firefighters on a new kind of cat call

No firefighters were harmed in the making of this calendar. Worth noting because, well ... bare skin ... razor-sharp claws ... things can go wrong. "The cats were all well-behaved — pretty mellow and chill," said Burbank Paradise Fire Department firefighter Chris Parnell, one of the men featured in the Firefighters & Felines 2018 calendar from Cat Network of Stanislaus.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Modesto Bee

How rising home values in Denver are crippling small rural Colorado fire departments

In a mobile home park where the Eastern Plains meet the Denver suburbs, the Sable Altura fire station sticks out like a sore thumb from its modest surroundings. Its fire engines are state-of-the-art — shiny trucks you’d find at one of the big metro fire departments 20 miles west. The trouble is: Years after replacing its run-down vehicles with the help of grant dollars, the ever-shrinking district can’t afford to hire firefighters to operate them.
- PUB DATE: 11/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Denver Post

New York fire chief vs. city: Who pays fire chief’s medical costs?

As an enrollee the World Trade Center Health Program, Utica fire Chief Russell Brooks says medical costs associated with illnesses certified as related to his time responding during the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City are covered by the federal government. But would that remain the case if he is granted workers compensation benefits? The question has been an undertone in the ongoing dispute between him and the City of Utica for benefits pertaining to his diagnosis for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
- PUB DATE: 11/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

Arizona fire department allowing private businesses to sponsor trucks

The Mesa Fire and Medical Department will allow private businesses to sponsor health and safety messages on its fire trucks. "We're going to be very particular about who we work with," said Deputy Chief Forrest Smith. ABC15 got a first look at how the messaging will appear. Each truck will feature two small decals with bold text over a logo.
- PUB DATE: 11/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNXV-TV Channel 15 ABC

Florida Firefighter of the Year award winner fired, accused of violating policy

An Orlando Fire Department paramedic who was one of the first to respond to the Pulse massacre is now out of a job. Detectives said Joshua Granada recorded a medical call and then played it to co-workers who weren't on the call. Orlando fire officials said Granada, who worked out of Station 10 on Vineland Road, responded to the Doubletree Hotel across from Universal in August.
- PUB DATE: 11/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WESH-TV NBC 2 Orlando

Boston's Cocoanut Grove fire still vivid 75 years on

Survivors and family members of victims joined local officials and historians yesterday as the city commemorated the 75th anniversary of the deadly Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, which killed nearly 500 people and led to sweeping changes to U.S. building and fire codes. Marshall Cole, who was a 16-year-old tap dancer when the popular nightspot went up in flames, told those gathered that the tragic events of Nov.
- PUB DATE: 11/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald

Ohio jury: 2 men guilty of arson, murder in death of firefighter

A homeowner and his nephew were found guilty Wednesday of aggravated arson and murder in the death of a 28-year-old Hamilton firefighter. Lester Parker, 66, and William Tucker, 49, of Richmond, Kentucky, face 15 years to life in prison when they are sentenced. The jury reached the verdict shortly after resuming deliberations about 9 a.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIX-TV FOX 19 Cincinnati

Washington fire department selects first woman assistant chief

For the first time in city history, the Spokane Fire Department will be led in part by a woman. “Since 1884,” said Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. “It’s exciting. It’s progressive.” On Monday, city officials announced Trisha Wolford would work as the department’s assistant fire chief. The position was previously held by Schaeffer, who was promoted to fire chief in May following the retirement of Bobby Williams, who worked as fire chief for 28 years.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokesman-Review

Containing factory blaze daunting task for New York firefighters

After the first of two explosions rocked the Verla International factory at 10:15 a.m. Monday, dozens of firefighters – some paid, most volunteers – raced to the scene on Temple Hill Road. They found chaos. Employees poured out of the burning building. They were using multiple exits, and many didn’t speak English, said Chris Sweeney, chief of the Vails Gate Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Herald-Record

New arson charge for woman accused in Missouri firefighters' deaths

New charges have been filed in connection with the October 2015 arson fire that killed two Kansas City firefighters. Thu Hong Nguyen, the 45-year-old woman accused of starting that fire, now faces a new arson charge for allegedly setting a 2013 Lee’s Summit blaze for which the cause previously had been ruled to be undetermined.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

Management vs. discipline: Know the difference

Have you ever struggled to defend yourself after a simple conversation or suggestion you have given as a manager to improve an operation or a process? Has that conversation taken on a life of its own? Has a conversation like that ever been perceived as discipline? I have found that in today’s environment, there is often confusion between the activity of management and the action of discipline.
- PUB DATE: 11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Cal Fire captain’s plan saved more than 2,500 homes from Sonoma fire

Fifty-foot flames flaring down Agua Caliente canyon in the earliest hours of Oct. 9 were about to devour the Mission Highlands neighborhood and race into the backyards of Boyes Hot Springs. That’s when Glen Ellen Cal Fire Capt. Sean Jerry studied the situation from a crest on High Road and said, “OK, this is what we’re going to do.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

1 dead, 33 injured after explosions, fire at cosmetics plant in New York

Emergency crews responded to the scene of an explosion and fire that killed one man and injured more than 30 people, including firefighters, at a manufacturing plant in New York's Hudson Valley. The explosion happened at around 10:15 a.m. Monday in the north section of Verla International -- a business that makes cosmetics, primarily nail polish.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV 7online.com

A third of Washington volunteer fire department resigns

In Onalaska, the volunteer fire department is dealing with an emergency of its own. Brothers Chris and Craig Franklin say small town politics are putting everyone in jeopardy. "Now I am standing here, watching everything fall apart," said Chris. "I'm worried for my safety, my family's safety, and the safety of all the citizens of Onalaska.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5

Two parents, four kids killed in rural house fire in Illinois

Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle says the six people killed overnight in a house fire in rural Dixon included two parents, four children, a cat and a dog. Sheriff VanVickle says at this time no names or ages are being released. The school district where the children attended has been notified. Neighbors tell 23 News the area in unincorporated Lost Nation is a very close community where everyone knows each other.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIFR-TV CBS 23 Rockford

Some Florida police, firefighters, engineers allegedly buy fake college diplomas

It takes years of study and a fortune in tuition to earn a college degree, unless you take the kind of shortcut former Tarpon Springs Fire Chief Rick Butcher did. Instead of cracking the books, Butcher simply went online and bought his BS degree from Almeda University, one of the world’s most notorious diploma mills.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFLA.com

Homeowner, nephew take stand in Ohio firefighter murder trial

Hamilton homeowner Lester Parker and his nephew William “Billy” Tucker, took the stand Monday in their own defense in the arson and murder trial for the 2015 death of Hamilton firefighter Patrick Wolterman. Parker, 68, and Tucker, 46, of Richmond, Ky., are charged with arson and murder in the fire at Parker’s Pater Avenue home that killed Wolterman on Dec.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal-News

Former Atlanta fire chief claims discrimination in civil rights suit

A federal judge on Friday had questions about why Mayor Kasim Reed dismissed Atlanta’s fire chief in 2015, asking attorneys representing the city if the decision was based primarily on the contents of the chief’s controversial book or his insubordination. Fire chief Kelvin Cochran was terminated after he wrote and distributed a book that some considered anti-gay.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Water dumped on woman by California sheriff’s helicopter pilot raises question about department’s readiness to fight fires using choppers

An Orange County sheriff’s helicopter practicing firefighting techniques in Huntington Beach last month inadvertently dumped water on a woman standing outside a plumbing business, generating questions about whether the department is as yet skilled enough to fight fires. The errant dumping occurred Oct.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

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