During a brief 10 minute meeting on May 16, the Mesquite City Council cast a split vote to terminate Fire Chief Kash Christopher “without cause.” Three councilmen, David Ballweg, George Rapson and Brian Wursten, voted in favor of the action. Councilman Rich Green voted no and Councilman Geno Withelder voted to abstain from the proposal.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mesquite Local News

Mandy Gould has spent nearly 13 years as a volunteer firefighter in Caledon, Ont. – a sprawling municipality northwest of Toronto – following her father into a vocation that she aspired to since high school. For the past 11 years, Ms. Gould has also been a full-time firefighter in nearby Brampton, a suburban city of more than half a million.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Globe and Mail

For most, a mid-life crisis consists of buying a sports car, or burying yourself in some expensive new hobby. For Jeffrey Williams, his involved a change of career into the fire service. And moving into the fire service presents some unique challenges for him, seeing as he was born with only one hand.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona City Independent

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., introduced legislation today that could help local fire departments promote part-time personnel with federal grant funding rather than being forced to hire new employees and train them. Peters introduced the legislation along with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as a way to help save money and hire and promote first responders who have already been trained.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

All 11 members of Newburgh’s volunteer fire department quit their jobs after the town selectmen refused to reinstate the former chief, officials said. The selectmen met Monday to vote whether to reinstate former Chief Glen Williamson, who officially resigned in August. He worked for the department for more than 20 years, the last 10 as chief earning $4,000 a year, he said.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News

In this, the second episode of After Action Video, we explore the Berkeley Fire’s mayday event on September 30th 2016. The event occurred at a commercial fire while crews were engaged in transitioning from offensive to defensive in their approach. This episode looks at the firefighters' mindset both before and during the event as well as highlighting the “chain” of events that contributed to the need for a mayday.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cahill Multimedia

A Seattle firefighter who says he was knocked out by the force of the Greenwood natural-gas explosion last year is suing Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and its contractor over the blast. In the lawsuit filed Friday, Jeff Markoff said he was about 90 feet from the epicenter of the alleyway explosion that leveled two buildings and damaged dozens more.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

Jones County Volunteer Fire Department (JCVFD) battled a Mother's Day duplex fire Sunday, where the fire completely destroyed the building. During Sunday's call JCVFD requested back-up from Laurel city firefighters, but they did not get the response it needed. The fire happened on Redbud Drive off Highway 11 around 11 a.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My Fox 23 Hattiesburg

Three years after Kansas City settled claims that it had failed to pay certain overtime wages, Fire Department medical staff are back in court saying the city is circumventing the court’s ruling. A lawsuit filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court on behalf of certain emergency medical technicians and paramedics says the city has lowered some pay scales — so that the plaintiffs continue to work overtime hours but haven’t seen higher wages.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

A federal judge has found that the town of Sandwich was within the law when it terminated former firefighter Andrew Davison, but has left open the question of whether his immediate superiors intended to restrict his free speech when reprimanding him for other misconduct. Davison alleges the town fired him in April 2014 in retaliation for a sign he posted on his Quaker Meetinghouse Road property objecting to a proposal for a public safety complex.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The Houston Fire Department has resorted to shuttling firefighters to emergencies in SUVs because reliable fire trucks are increasingly becoming a rarity. The fire department internal memo, describing the policy, was first released in 2013, but highlights a growing problem that poses a threat to public safety: not enough reliable equipment to outfit the city's fire department.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

An effort by the union representing Fairfax County firefighters to reassure the community that bullying and workplace harassment aren’t commonplace struck a painful nerve for Steve Mittendorff — the husband of a former county firefighter who was the victim of online bullying and who died by suicide last year.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

An East Liverpool patrolman was recently rushed to the hospital after becoming exposed to fentanyl and carfentanil. Chris Greene was obtaining evidence during a traffic stop when fentanyl attached to his shirt. Police say driver Justin Buckle and passenger Cortez Collins had tried to get rid of evidence in the car.
- PUB DATE: 5/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ToledoNewsNow

For years, Tucson-area fire departments have been working with a local health-care program to create a comprehensive medical plan that addresses stress and mental health in first responders. April was a difficult month for the Tucson Fire Department, with a murder-suicide perpetrated by one of its own taking place days before the sentencing of a former captain for three murders.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson Arizona Daily Star

The former city manager wanted to fire Charlotte Fire Department Chief Jon Hannan last year, but the City Council blocked the move, according to a deposition from this week’s whistleblower trial that ended with a $1.5 million verdict against the city. Ron Carlee wanted to fire Hannan because of the chief’s “lying” to him over leaking part of a personnel file to retaliate against a firefighter union leader, according to his deposition.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

A volunteer fireman is facing driving under the influence charges in connection with an incident that ended with a damaged fire truck, a crash into a telephone pole and a small geyser of water from a fire hydrant. At 11:51 a.m. Saturday, Sharon police officers M. Paul Lehman and Adam Zazado were dispatched to South Dock and Budd streets in response to a call regarding a disabled West Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department fire truck.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sharon Herald

Five weeks after Ohio made it easier for Ohio firefighters diagnosed with cancer to qualify for workers’ compensation and pension benefits, House Republicans are proposing more restrictions. Firefighters, trial attorneys and Democrats oppose the amendment added this week to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation budget bill.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch

Competitive tension between volunteer and career firefighters, which boiled over at the scene of a fire and landed inside a Prince George’s County courtroom, has been resolved. Two Maryland firefighters charged with attacking two colleagues at a house fire in 2015 have been acquitted by a jury of all charges.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

Utica fire Chief Russell Brooks says he was “blindsided” when he was placed on paid, indeterminate, nondisciplinary leave by the city of Utica Friday morning. Brooks, who has been chief for 13 out of the 41 years he has been with the Utica Fire Department, said he was told of the decision during a meeting with Mayor Robert Palmeri and two city legal representatives.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

In an embarrassing verdict for the city of Charlotte, a jury Thursday found the Fire Department retaliated against former fire investigator Crystal Eschert for raising questions about the safety of construction work at a new office building, awarding her $1.5 million. The jury rejected Charlotte’s claims that Eschert’s firing wasn’t retaliation.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer