The 80 new firefighters Columbus plans to hire next year could be among the first to really understand the risk of cancer they face on the job. For the 50 city firefighters who are expected to retire in 2018 and thousands of others, it could be too late.
For years, firefighters have shed their masks and other gear after flames were knocked down, not knowing they were breathing carcinogens and exposing their skin to chemicals that could lead to cancer. - PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
PHOTOS - St. Louis firefighters are battling a huge, five-alarm fire in a warehouse that sent a plume of thick black smoke up from the Botanical Heights neighborhood.
A fire truck was smashed when a wall of the building collapsed about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fire started small in the basement of the warehouse near 39th Street and Park Avenue about 10:15. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post Dispatch
The Dallas City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $61.7 million settlement for four of six long-running back pay lawsuits filed by police and firefighters.
The sizable agreement avoids hundreds of millions in claims that would have been owed if a Collin County jury had ruled in favor of the public safety workers. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
Not many people have had Robert De Niro star as them in a blockbuster film, but that is the case for a former Sandwich Fire Chief who passed away, this week.
Donald Rimgale was 77 years old when he passed away peacefully in his Elmhurst home on Monday. WSPY reported in July of 2016 that Rimgale retired as Sandwich Fire Chief. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSPYNews.com
The volunteers who make up the Julian Fire Protection District have demanded their fire chief be dismissed and have served recall papers on the board president.
The move escalates an already volatile situation in the historic mountain town where the community and leaders of the fire district have been at odds with each other for years about whether to join the county's Fire Authority or remain independent despite ongoing financial problems. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune
Work within the fire service involves frequent encounters with occupational hazards. Many fire departments try to minimize accidents and injuries through after action reviews (AARs). A recent study1 explored what makes for a good or bad after action review, what makes a review satisfying to attendees, and its impact on group safety norms. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration
A retired FDNY lieutenant and father of five is the latest first responder to succumb to cancer, contracted during his time working the pile at Ground Zero, authorities said Tuesday.
Lt. Edward (Eddie) McDonagh died Sunday after a three-year battle against stage 4 colon cancer, relatives said. He was 49. - PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
An Alameda County Superior Court judge has ruled that Oakland officials have a duty to act when they come across unsafe conditions in buildings such as the Ghost Ship warehouse, which burned a year ago, allowing a lawsuit against the city stemming from the fire to proceed.
In his ruling, Judge Brad Seligman permitted some allegations — such as the mandatory duty claims — to stand, while tossing others. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com)
Medway Fire Chief Jon Buckingham has resigned in response to the town’s failure to replace a firetruck that he says is unsafe.
The fire department’s front-line pumper-tanker, a 1988 Pierce, has had repairs to its electrical and steering systems, has body rust and and lost its transmission during pump tests. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News
A Marion County grand jury has handed down indictments against the Marion fire chief and the city administrator, alleging they knew the Marion Fire Department building contained asbestos and allowed staff, volunteers and community members to come inside. According to court documents filed earlier this month, city administrator and building inspector Alan Thomas Ammons and fire chief Ralph Walton Cooper III were each indicted on charges of misconduct in office, conspiracy to violate the Pollution Control Act and violation of the Pollution Control Act. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBF-TV NBC Myrtle Beach
A Mason City councilman acknowledged Monday to leaking a confidential memo on the fire chief's employment status.
Mason City Fire Chief Al Dyer Jr. was placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 2 pending an administrative investigation. Dyer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from the Globe Gazette Monday afternoon. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mason City Globe-Gazette
Omaha Fire Chief Dan Olsen has put the kibosh on plans for a steamy 2018 charity calendar.
Last year’s calendar of shirtless local firefighters was a hot seller.
But Olsen said the calendar isn’t in line with the department’s mission statement that calls for its members to act with integrity, professionalism and compassion. - PUB DATE: 11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald
A former Greater Naples Fire Rescue District officer who sued the district and its fire chief last year, alleging she was subjected to years of "repeated sexual harassment" by colleagues, could receive $82,500 from the fire district, according to a draft settlement agreement.
The district's board of commissioners is scheduled to vote on authorizing a payment of $17,500 from its reserves at its Tuesday meeting, according to the meeting's agenda. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Naples Daily News
When every second counts, a fire sprinkler system can be a live saver but most homes in North Texas do not have them.
The Texas State Fire Marshal says every home in Texas should have fire sprinklers but state lawmakers have refused to make it a requirement for new homes.
In fact, state lawmakers have made it illegal for Texas cities to mandate sprinklers be installed in all new single-family homes. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Dallas Fort Worth
The firefighters’ union is seeking an injunction in state Supreme Court to block the city from a new policy that prohibits firefighters from being called into work when their colleagues call in sick.
The City Council last week decided in executive session to establish a new policy that will not allow firefighters to be brought into work when others call in sick, a move that City Manager Sharon A. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times
The Charlottesville Fire Department is in the process of purchasing its first ambulance in more than 50 years.
The addition to the department's fleet will help meet a growing demand to provide around-the-clock medical services in the city.
The last time the CFD had its own ambulance was in the 1950s. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVIR-TV NBC29
It was a routine call for the Springfield Fire Company: a T-bone accident with minor injuries.
In the early afternoon of Nov. 6, six firefighters arrived at the Sproul Road entrance to the Target store at Springfield Mall and met the Blackburn family.
Mother Krista, father Kevin, 5-year-old Isaiah, and 2-year-old Aria, of Kannapolis, N. - PUB DATE: 11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com
A volunteer firefighter was killed at the scene of a crash Friday night after being "run over" by another responding firefighter who was allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
Colby Blake, 26, of Cannelburg was arrested Friday and preliminarily charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death, and reckless driving. - PUB DATE: 11/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Courier & Press
A Fairborn firefighter-paramedic driving a suspected overdose patient to the hospital Thursday night began showing symptoms of an overdose himself, prompting his partner to jump into action and stop the ambulance in the middle of the road.
This is the latest — and perhaps most dramatic — case of a public safety employee exposed to an opioid. - PUB DATE: 11/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: mydaytondailynews.com
Federal authorities knew technology used to broadcast official emergency warnings from cell towers was outdated years before deadly fires ignited last month in Sonoma County and throughout Northern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee for their lives, many with no warning.
Messages were too short, didn’t support web links and had the potential to be broadcast too widely, according to Federal Communication Commission members charged with regulating how cellphone companies issue government warnings. - PUB DATE: 11/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat
