Joshua Granada, the 2017 fire fighter of the year, filed a wrongful termination civil lawsuit against the city of Orlando Thursday, arguing the reason cited for his dismissal was just an excuse to remove him from the job. Granada, a 10-year veteran of the Orlando Fire Department, was recognized for his response to the Pulse nightclub massacre during a ceremony in Tallahassee with Gov.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: clickorlando.com

Four Virginia Beach firefighters are suing the city over what they call a tainted promotion process. The suit filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court is on behalf of David Scherrer, Richard Ivrving, Alexander Wazlak and Mark Bayly. The master firefighters were all looking to become captains. The promotions process began in May 2017.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wavy.com

California's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. will start switching off power to minimize sparks in vulnerable areas during times of extreme fire danger, it said Thursday, as state investigators examine whether the utility's equipment set off deadly Northern California wildfires. The move for pre-emptive power cutoffs is one that some local officials and fire survivors have urged after recent wildfires.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nbcbayarea.com

The city has tapped Greg Benson, a former fire chief with more than 35 years of public safety experience, to serve as the head of the Victorville Fire Department, officials said Wednesday. Benson will oversee the city’s underway transition from San Bernardino County Fire to its own agency. He is expected to begin April 23.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Victorville Daily Press

Maplewood and its Fire Relief Association have been engaged in a money squabble ever since the city announced a staffing change that would eliminate part-time firefighters. That battle could end with a city victory if recently proposed legislation is passed this session at the state Capitol. At the center of the feud is a $1.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TwinCities.com

When Sara Errinton joined the Syracuse Fire Department, she was shown a list of fire stations where she couldn't work. She was a woman, and those stations didn't have coed facilities. Soon after, when she asked to be part of the hazardous materials team, she was again told no. A woman of child-bearing age shouldn't be around hazardous materials, officials told her.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse Post-Standard & Syracuse.com

Nearly half a million smoke alarms nationwide are being recalled due to a risk of failure to alert consumers to a fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. About 452,000 Kidde dual-sensor (photoelectric and ionization) smoke alarms sold in the U.S. and another 40,000 sold in Canada may be defective, the warning states.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNEP.com

Limington town officials say a “stand-down” order for the fire department has been lifted after it was determined that its firefighting gear meets Maine standards. Selectmen in the York County town on Saturday ordered volunteer firefighters not to respond to fires because it appeared their gear was out of compliance with national standards that say the equipment should be retired 10 years after it is manufactured.
- PUB DATE: 3/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

Supervisor Aaron Peskin had harsh words about the Fire Department response to Saturday’s fire in North Beach. Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle IMAGE 1 OF 16 Supervisor Aaron Peskin had harsh words about the Fire Department response to Saturday’s fire in North Beach.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com)

A state district judge on Tuesday ordered Houston's city secretary to finish reviewing firefighters' petition asking for pay parity with police, giving her until April 27 to validate the eight-month-old signatures. Firefighters submitted a petition last July asking for a ballot referendum that would grant firefighters the same pay as police officers of equal rank, but City Secretary Anna Russell did not validate it in time for the November election.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Deputy Fire Chief of Operations John F. Sullivan announced Tuesday that he is leaving the department after more than 30 years to lead the Brookline Fire Department. The deputy chief, who will start as chief in Brookline March 26, has served for eight years in his current post, and been present at some of the seminal moments in department history.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Fire Chief Thomas Jenkins, IAFC president and chairman of the board, testified today before a Congressional panel that the IAFC is concerned about the escalating costs and damages caused by wildland fires. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there were approximately 71,500 wildland fires reported last year, which burned almost 10 million acres.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: About the International Association of Fire Chiefs

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones has agreed to submit to random drug tests as he seeks to require the same of rank and file firefighters and paramedics. The fire union is voting this week on a new contract that for the first time requires random drug testing of the county's first responders.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com

Mayor Joseph M. Butler on Monday night received no support for hiring the same consultant that completed a study on the operations of the city’s fire department three years ago. City Council members Cody J. Horbacz. Mark C. Walczyk and Ryan Henry-Wilkinson voted against paying $24,000 to Center for Public Safety Management, a Washington, D.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

President Donald Trump told the city’s first responders they are saving lives — and “the whole country is talking about it” — during a brief visit Monday afternoon to Manchester Central Station, the birthplace of the city’s Safe Station program. First lady Melania Trump, Mayor Joyce Craig and Gov. Chris Sununu joined the President when the presidential motorcade stopped at Central Fire Station en route to Manchester Community College, where Trump gave a speech detailing his “Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Manchester Union Leader

Volunteers in Lycoming County aren't sure how long it will take for a firefighter to recover after she was critically injured Sunday on the job. The 62-year-old woman was helping to put out a fire when a truck ran over her. The injured firefighter asked that we not use her name in the story but tells Newswatch 16 she's doing well.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNEP-TV Newswatch 16

Expected subsidization from AT&T could mean that FirstNet subscribers will pay little or no upfront money to purchase new Sonim Technologies devices—a development that is just part of the economics “sea change” happening within the industry, Sonim Technologies CEO Bob Plaschke said last week during IWCE 2018.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications

KD. Katie. Zombie. A common street name for a variety of drugs, KD has taken on a frightening form on the city's east side. Users writhing on the ground, wide-eyed and struggling to breathe. Standing but moving in slow motion. Sweating. Convulsing. Indianapolis firefighter Scott Lebherz told IndyStar this variation of KD can take many forms — marijuana, spice, tobacco, even banana leaves — but shares a common trait: all laced with a heavy-duty bug spray, like Raid.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Indianapolis Star

A firefighter accidentally shot himself in the groin while battling a grass fire off westbound 1-94, authorities said. The Athens firefighter had a concealed-pistol license, police told WWMT Newschannel 3. Emmett Township on Monday, March 19, called for an ambulance to the 100 mile marker of I-94 to a report that a firefighter had been shot in the groin area.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLive

With Springfield Fire Chief Barry Helmerichs retiring at the end of the month, Mayor Jim Langfelder is interviewing Springfield Fire Department members to find a replacement. Langfelder is mandated to limit his search to the existing force because of a clause in the firefighters’ contract that stipulates the hire must be internal.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: State Journal-Register