In zero visibility conditions, Toledo Fire Capt. Luke Harman described for a jury in Lucas County Common Pleas Court today how he crawled on his hands and knees, feeling with his hands every inch in front of him when he felt what would turn out to be a face mask. “My hand dipped into an opening in the debris and grabbed what was without a doubt a human leg,” he said. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade
A trio of Los Angeles city firefighters have earned the dubious distinction as the top public employee overtime earners in California, thanks to a generous overtime policy.
Transparent California found that Charles F. Ferrari, a Los Angeles City Fire Captain II, collected $334,655 in overtime, to earn a total of $483,770 in 2016. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCAL-TV Los Angeles
After a marathon mediation in the Matthew Badger lawsuit against the city, Legal Affairs Director Kathryn Emmett announced late Tuesday the parties have settled for an undisclosed amount, three weeks before a trial was to begin.
S. Campbell Badger, brother of Matthew — who died in February — the city, Operations Director Ernie Orgera and Chief Building Official Robert DeMarco have resolved the claims in the civil suit "without reflecting any liability or fault on the part of the defendants," Emmett said in an email. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stamford Advocate
A toddler laughing while firefighters worked to free him from a locked car has gone viral.
Today.com reported that 14-month-old Brandon Emery locked himself in his mother's car. His mother had put him in the back seat while she unloaded groceries into the trunk. After closing the trunk with the car keys still inside, the toddler pushed the power locks. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
A Gibbsboro firefighter died Friday from complications involving a leg injury he suffered during a mandatory training exercise nearly three weeks earlier.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Gibbsboro volunteer firefighter William "Bill" Gerace died because of a pulmonary embolism, which an autopsy found was directly attributed as a complication of a leg fracture he sustained during live burn training April 10. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
A Toledo firefighter who had been inside the Magnolia Street building where two of his fellow firefighters would die from the intense heat and smoke broke down on the witness stand today as he recounted the rescue efforts.
Lt. Aaron Hague told the jury hearing the trial of Ray Abou-Arab that the turnout gear of both Pvts. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade
An overdose victim tried to kill the first responders who had just saved his life Monday, according to the O’Fallon Fire Protection District.
Two O’Fallon, Mo., firefighters and a St. Charles County Ambulance District paramedic went to a man’s home about 10 a.m. Monday, O’Fallon Fire Chief Tom Vineyard said. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Amid questions why an ambulance driver passed two hospitals before taking a wounded officer to Beaumont Hospital, Oakwood, on Sunday, the city’s fire commissioner said the emergency technician did the right thing.
The officer, a 14-year veteran, was with his partner responding to a domestic violence call when he knocked on the door of Oakman Apartments on the city's west side. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News
A firefighter's kung-fu style video has gone viral.
The Decatur Fire Department posted the video on Facebook of the rookie firefighter dancing to Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" disco song.
"After a long day of closing roads and directing traffic, the rookie gets a little bored but knows how to boost the moods of all the firefighters," the post read. - PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Fairfield Fire Chief Kevin Sutton was killed in a Sunday afternoon crash with an 18-wheeler in Birmingham that injured his wife, and critically injured his daughter.
"It is a loss of a great man and a great leader that will be felt for years to come,'' said Fairfield Police Chief Nick Dyer. "This is truly an awful day. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AL.com
The gunman suspected of opening fire on and critically wounding a Dallas paramedic providing aid to a shooting victim Monday morning has been found dead inside a home along with another deceased person, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings confirmed Monday afternoon.
The injured Dallas Fire-Rescue paramedic is in critical but stable condition and has been moved to the ICU after undergoing surgery. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Dallas Fort Worth
A Providence Fire Department captain who was seriously injured in a huge blaze last March has filed a grievance after he was denied a promotion, despite scoring well on the written exam.
But Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré said it was a policy decision to deny a promotion to a firefighter who is expected to receive a disability pension. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12
At Inver Grove Heights Fire Department in the city of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Fire Chief Judy Thill has devised a 24-hour, year-round rotating schedule to make the workload more manageable for her on-call firefighters.
“We were receiving over 1,000 calls per year,” she said. “It got to be a lot on the volunteers. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Municipal
Fire departments around metro Atlanta are making drastic security changes after several break-ins of on-duty firefighters’ vehicles. One local fire chief’s proposal would allow firefighters to bring handguns into fire stations.
Morrow Fire Chief Roger Swint presented the policy to Morrow City Council on April 25. - PUB DATE: 5/2/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta
At least one firefighter was shot when a gunman opened fire on paramedics in East Dallas late Monday morning. Dallas Police are currently searching for an active shooter in the neighborhood east of the Dallas Fire Rescue Training Academy.
The shooting happened at about 11:30 a.m. at the facility which is near Dolphin Road near Interstate 30. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth
Cove Creek Pearson Volunteer Fire Chief Doug Deckard died after being struck by a car while checking water lines early Sunday during severe storms.
The Arkansas State Police says Deckard, 51, was working along Highway 25 just west of the Faulkner-Cleburne County line near Quitman.
He was outside of his vehicle checking doing work when he was hit. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNWA-TV & KFTA-TV NWAHomepage
An 83-year-old Austinburg firefighter died Friday evening from injuries he sustained when he was struck by a vehicle late Thursday, according to firefighters from around the area.
Austinburg firefighter Dave Lemponen was with the Austinburg department for about 60 years, said fire Chief William Wilms. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ashtabula Star Beacon
It's been the talk of the town for weeks: Three firefighters and a dispatcher in hot water for their alleged "sexual misconduct" in the fire station.
While shocking many in the community, it's not the first time that fire departments have been at the center of sex scandals.
For instance, seven Philadelphia firefighters faced discipline in 2015 for having sex with a paramedic on duty. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lowell Sun
When Joseph Ruhlin was supposed to be watching over the Akron fire union’s funds the past six years, detectives say he instead was stealing them.
And, detectives now say, the extent of this theft was much larger than the union originally thought — totaling more than $600,000.
“It’s a staggering amount,” said Russ Brode, president of the 322-member fire union. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal
Juvenile offenders shine the trucks, spiff up the hall, assist at bingo fundraisers and even help roll up the hoses sometimes when trucks pull back into one of Latrobe's five fire stations after a call.
A juvenile probation program that gives teens community service work at the stations has benefited the youths and the all-volunteer fire company over the past five years, said city fire Chief John Brasile. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
