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
The Fire Department Instructors Conference also known as the FDIC, is happening downtown. It's back for another year at the Indiana Convention Center.
More than 33,000 firefighters from around the world are in downtown Indianapolis this week for the event. It's known as the world's largest firefighter conference. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISHTV.com Channel 8
Longtime Frankfort Fire Department Chief Charles Thompson is unsure if he wants to accept a demotion after city officials removed him from the helm of his own department.
City officials on Monday ousted Thompson — and offered him a position as a firefighter — following multiple policy violations stemming from his “on-call service” requirements, according to a press release sent this week from city Superintendent Josh Mills. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Traverse City Record-Eagle
A shocking federal investigation has uncovered that some employees of Naval Station Newport deliberately falsified training records for emergency personnel.
The report that was delivered to President Donald Trump Tuesday alleges that nearly all of the station's 29 fire and emergency services employees did not take part in all required training. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12
VIDEO - "I heard a call for help, scanned the building and saw a dad coming out with his baby," North St. Paul Assistant Fire Chief Dustin Kalis said.
The video captured what is hard to imagine doing, and that's dropping your three-month-old baby off a second-story balcony.
But a North St. Paul dad said it was his only option. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KAAL-TV ABC 6 Austin
