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National Fire News

Veteran Seattle firefighter speaks out about PTSD

VIDEO - A veteran firefighter is doing his part to help first responders come to terms with post-traumatic stress. In a video by Starbucks, 29-year veteran firefighter Mike Washington, with the Seattle Fire Department, said keeping stress in after difficult calls is like holding a “ticking time bomb.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Appeals court upholds dismissal of Utah firefighters' suit over police access of their prescription records

An appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of separate lawsuits by two Unified Fire Authority firefighters who alleged their constitutional rights were violated when a Cottonwood Heights police detective accessed a state database containing their prescription drug records. Assistant Fire Chief Marlon Jones and firefighter Ryan Pyle sued after Detective James Woods ran queries in 2013 on all 480 UFA employees after prescription drugs disappeared from some ambulances.
- PUB DATE: 11/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Salt Lake Tribune

Ohio medic, patient stuck inside while suspect takes stolen ambulance for a joyride

VIDEO - Cruiser cam video just released by Dayton Police shows the chase with a stolen ambulance. A paramedic and a patient were in the back at the time police say 44-year-old Jeffrey Brown stole the vehicle. The paramedic called 911, frantic for help. FOX 45 talked with a veteran paramedic about how he would handle the situation should it arise.
- PUB DATE: 11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox 45 Now

Georgia city's effort to become EMS provider voted forward by regional council

Augusta Fire Department’s push to replace Gold Cross as city ambulance provider advanced Thursday with an unannounced presentation by Commissioner Sammie Sias at a Region 6 EMS Council meeting in Washington, Ga. Augusta Fire Chief Chris James, who in August defeated Gold Cross CEO Vince Brogdon by a single vote to become chairman of the 13-county council, added the presentation to the agenda at the meeting’s end.
- PUB DATE: 11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Augusta Chronicle

Fatal Overdose Prompts Hazmat Response in Massachusetts

A Chelsea man died Thursday following an apparent drug overdose inside a car that prompted a hazmat response. An unconscious man was found in a car in Cary Square on Thursday afternoon. Narcan was used and the 44-year-old man was transported to Whidden Hospital but did not survive. White powder was found in the car.
- PUB DATE: 11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Boston

With 'Angel's Night' over, Detroit Firefighters Focus on Kids

For decades, the sights and sounds in Detroit around Halloween were not those of costumed children frolicking in the streets as they went door-to-door seeking sweets from neighbors. The view in the Motor City consisted mainly of flames, the sounds were that of blaring fire apparatus sirens and the smells those of soot and ash.
- PUB DATE: 11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

In 1969, Alaska citizens saved coupons to buy firetruck

Homer residents turned to Betty Crocker when they needed a firetruck in the late 1960s after learning about a promotion offered by General Mills. The nationally known company offered a program where people could turn in their coupons for large househlold items. An $800 piano could be purchased with 160,000 coupons redeemed at one-half penny each, according to a Homer Tribune article, titled "Bringing home 'Betty," by Naomi Klouda.
- PUB DATE: 11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Senior Voice

Ohio firefighter loses leg to amputation after being struck at crash scene

The firefighter injured in a Springfield Twp. crash Wednesday night has been identified. David E. Noble, 72, of Springfield, is listed in critical but stable condition at Miami Valley Hospital. Sgt. Jason Cadle with the Ohio Highway Patrol Springfield Post said he had have a leg amputated. According to the officials, Noble was on the scene of a crash on U.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHIO-TV Dayton

FDNY veteran Tonya Boyd will become department's first black female deputy chief

An EMS captain with 21 years on the job will become the first African-American woman in the FDNY to achieve the rank of deputy chief on Thursday. Capt. Tonya Boyd, who joined the FDNY’s Emergency Medical Services while in college as a way to make money, said she never dreamed her career would reach such heights.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Six Miami firefighters terminated after noose, lewd drawings found

Six Miami firefighters have been fired after someone hung a noose over a black colleague’s family photo and drew lewd images on a picture of his wife. The terminations, handed down Wednesday, follow a police investigation into the Sept. 9 incident at a city fire station. More than 20 people were interviewed under oath and nearly a dozen firefighters were investigated, including five who remain employed by the department and under scrutiny.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

Chance meeting at coffee shop has dad thanking California firefighter for saving family's lives

A chance meeting while waiting in line at a coffee shop allowed one family to thank a firefighter they claim saved their lives. Cal Fire firefighter Brian Borba says he was waiting in line at Peet's Coffee when he started noticing a guy in front of him who kept turning around. "I could tell he wanted to strike up a conversation with me.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVU-TV Oakland, San Francisco, Bay Area

Connecticut town mourns death of deputy chief

City residents are mourning the death and celebrating the life of Deputy Fire Chief Christopher Pepler. Pepler, 43, was a Torrington native and came to his vocation at an early age, he told The Register Citizen in a 2013 interview when he was promoted to deputy fire chief. He died Wednesday morning of cardiac arrest, and had also been battling cancer.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

Retired Georgia fire chief rescued woman from car crash, then arrested

A retired Georgia fire chief was arrested for failing to remove his car while he rescued a woman from a crash, according to a traffic incident report from the Georgia State Patrol. Retired Griffin Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Rick Rickerson parked his Toyota Tundra on the shoulder of a highway in Pike County on Oct.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSB AM-750 & FM-95.5

California county to investigate wildfire response, missteps

Orange County supervisors said Tuesday they plan to launch an independent investigation of the Fire Authority’s response to the Canyon 2 Fire, suggesting the initial reaction by first responders might have allowed the blaze to grow big enough to consume 9,200 acres and destroy 78 structures. “(The response) took something that very well may have been limited, to a total catastrophe,” said Supervisor Shawn Nelson.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

Proposed cuts at Illinois fire department raise safety concerns

The Peoria Department could be down a truck and 11 firefighters as a way to ease the city’s budget woes. Union leaders say that would compromise the safety of both residents within the River City and the 195 firefighters employed by the city. Instead of cutting, Ryan Brady, the head of the local union, wants the city to maintain the status quo: no additional money but no permanent cuts.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Peoria Journal Star

PPE manufacturer refutes 'false' claims about turnout gear hazards

In a letter to the editor, the president of an Ohio-based PPE manufacturer is refuting claims that firefighter turnout gear may be hazardous for those donning it for protection. LION president Stephen Schwartz sent the letter to the editor of the Columbus Dispatch, which published an article entitled "Firefighters' gear may be hazardous" on Oct.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

New York firefighter platoon to skip awards ceremony, citing mayor’s criticism of union

A group of city firefighters will skip a ceremony for their colleagues this week, claiming that it’s hypocritical for the mayor to want to congratulate them after expressing such critical views of their union. In an email, Battalion Chief Tucker Wiley wrote that the 16 members of the D platoon have decided not to attend the fire department’s annual awards ceremony on Thursday because of the stance that Mayor Joseph M.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

New York Volunteer Fire Chief Killed in House Fire Remembered as Hard Worker

Frank Fowlston was known to work as many as 100 hours a week. That may be why his son, Frank Fowlston Jr., remembers his father as one of the "hardest working men" in his life. Fowlston, 60, died Monday morning in a fire at his home on 108 County Route 21 in Plymouth, according to Fowlston Jr. Fowlston was the Chief of the Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

Arizona Supreme Court: Yarnell homeowners can't sue state for wildfire losses

The state's highest court won't let homeowners burned out by the Yarnell Hill fire sue the state for negligence. And that, according to an attorney for those affected, has bad implications for others who own property throughout the state. Without comment, the Arizona Supreme Court has spurned a request by the lawyers for those who lost buildings in the 2013 blaze that they should be able to make their case to a jury that the state, which was trying to contain the wildfire that started on public lands, also had a duty to protect their property.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Daily Sun

Laws protecting Arkansas firefighters face uphill battles

Thirty-four states in the U.S. have passed legislation recognizing that firefighters face an elevated risk for some types of cancers and offering varying levels of death benefits to surviving family, with a few even providing for disability payments to affected members who become too ill to continue working.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Smith Southwest Times Record

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