The state's plan to cutback on the number of firefighters that worked in the Atlantic City Fire Department hit a setback Friday. In a ruling released Friday, Judge Julio Mendez blocked the state's efforts to reduce the number of firefighters from 198 to 148. The state, who took over control of Atlantic City in November, has been trying to find ways to cut costs in the resort town.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Jersey Times

The Tulsa Fire Department is replacing five of its most expensive ladder trucks after years of malfunctions and mounting maintenance costs rendered the $1.4 million assets unusable for firefighting operations. The E-One truck and Bronto Skylift ladder combos, purchased under the previous Fire Department administration, were a major expense.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tulsa World

The “Safe Stations” initiative in Anne Arundel County has taken off over the past month, offering opioid addiction help to 45 people over the last three weeks. At 15 people a week, according to Anne Arundel police, its popularity is well beyond what county officials expected. The program — which turned police and fire departments into veritable safe havens for those addicted to drugs looking for help — originally launched with the expectation that its capacity would be about five people per week.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Capital Gazette

The man police say intentionally struck and killed a firefighter who was collecting donations for charity pleaded guilty Thursday as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Grant Taylor, 24, of Lansing, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder and other charges in a plea deal in the death of firefighter Dennis Rodeman.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lansing State Journal

Kansas City firefighters now take two simple safety steps that might have saved the lives of two colleagues in a 2015 building collapse. The steps were among the recommendations in a federal report released Thursday. Emergency tones are sounded, as they were two years ago, when firefighters are ordered out of a collapse zone.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the IAFC Company Officers Section (COS) have released a new publication exploring the importance of succession management in the fire service and offers simple steps fire chiefs can take to prepare their fire department for the future. “Succession Management for the Fire-Rescue Service – Understanding and Applying the Process” is a user-friendly 34-page guide providing steps for departments to start their own plans and includes a history of succession management in the fire-rescue service.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

Seventy retired and active firefighters from Scranton, Dunmore and Wilkes-Barre suing a siren manufacturer claim its devices caused hearing loss. In five separate but similar lawsuits filed Tuesday in Lackawanna County Court, the firefighters — most of whom are retired — claim they suffered hearing losses from firetruck sirens manufactured by Federal Signal Corp.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Scranton Times & Tribune

A new study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows scientifically for the first time that an individual’s ability to respond quickly to a residential fire determines who dies and who gets injured. Home fire deaths, the NIST researchers state, are more likely among those they define as frail populations—persons who are not in robust health and primarily age 65 and older—while nonfatal injuries occur more often in adults ages 20 to 49.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NIST.gov

A fire chief died in his home Saturday after attending live fire training the night before. Great Falls Tribune reported that Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Martin, 65, died. He was a 20-year veteran of the department. "It's a tough loss," Assistant Chief Mike Deshayes said. "He was a huge mentor to a lot of us and he was a pillar to the community of Cascade County.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

The city of San Antonio has lost — again — in its lawsuit against the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association over a long-standing contract clause, which the city has argued is unconstitutional. The Fourth Court of Appeals eviscerated the city’s arguments in its opinion on the city’s appeal, released early Wednesday morning.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My San Antonio.com

The Fire Commission Tuesday demoted the firefighters' union president from lieutenant to firefighter and suspended him five days without pay for his actions at a Jan. 1 fire after a hearing that lasted over five hours at Fire Department headquarters. Chad Cunningham, a 10-year veteran, also must undergo 40 hours of training if he wants to be restored as a lieutenant, the commission said.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Republican

Enabling interoperability between the FirstNet public-safety LTE core being built by AT&T and the LTE cores of Verizon or other carriers is feasible technically, but doing so would be a departure from the FirstNet request for proposals (RFP) and could introduce security issues for public safety, according to an AT&T executive.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications

A five-alarm fire at a College Park, Maryland, apartment building burned much longer than it should have, putting firefighters and the public at unnecessary risk, according to College Park Fire Chief Bill Corrigan. The Fuse 47 building on Berwyn House Road was still under construction at the time of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington

VIDEO - A Petersburg firefighter was almost crushed on the job on Monday morning after part of a home collapsed while he battled flames. "There was so much fire you couldn't see where the door was,” said Cody Edlin, one of two firefighters injured. In no time, the front porch of the home on South Dunlop Street collapsed, falling on the firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond

A criminal charge was filed Tuesday against a driver in connection to the death of the Comstock Township fire chief, who was killed in the line of duty in June. Brandon Clevenger, 24, of Springfield faces a charge of reckless driving causing death, court records show. The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the charge is connected to the death of Chief Ed Switalski.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOOD-TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids

The Macungie Volunteer Fire Department will not lose state funding after it issued a nearly $25,000 repayment to the association that handles its state-allocated fire insurance funding. The Macungie Firemen’s Relief Association wrongly spent $24,939 on insurance payments for vehicle insurance from 2014 to 2016, according to a July email from a state auditor reviewed by The Morning Call.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call

VIDEO - Stunning video captured the moment an Indianapolis firefighter rescued a kitten from a house fire. IFD tweeted that its crews were called to the blaze in the 3300 block of Houston St. at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Fire officials say the home was unoccupied except for the cat and no injuries were reported.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

VIDEO- Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22nd, emergency crews responded to reports of a fire truck that had crashed into the river bank. Upon arrival, it was discovered that a man stole an East Moline fire truck, crashed it into the bank of the Mississippi River, and then jumped into the river "and tried to elude officers," said East Moline Police Captain Tom Reagan.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WQAD-TV 8 (Davenport/Rock Island/Moline)

PHOTO - Three Downey firefighters suffered injuries when their fire truck caught fire at the scene of a wildfire south of this Bannock County town. The fire was reported along South Marsh Valley Road around 11 a.m. Monday and initially threatened multiple houses that were about 100 yards from the flames.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Idaho State Journal

Houston voters will face $1.5 billion in city bonds and nine community college or school board races this November, but will not be asked whether to give firefighters a raise. Monday was the last day on which a candidate can file for the November ballot, and on which local governments can call an election.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle