Lack of training, command presence and a failure to appreciate an extremely hazardous situation severely sickened and almost killed a firefighter trying to save three utility workers who were overcome by toxic fumes in a drainage hole 15 feet beneath a Key Largo street in January. Those workers died, and Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department firefighter Leonardo Moreno almost became the fourth fatality as he, too, was immediately hit with a deadly mixture of high levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide as he entered the manhole on Long Key Road in the Lake Surprise Estates subdivision the morning of Jan.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FlKeysnews.com

A compass that would direct firefighters through unfamiliar and treacherous burning buildings started as a seed of an idea thought up by veteran firefighter Jeff Dykes. In three years, the Eau Claire fire captain’s idea turned into his own business, Northern Star Fire, which gained international interest and propelled Dykes to the national stage, where today he is one of 100 small-business owners who will participate in a roundtable with President Donald Trump at the White House.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

The chief of the Hopkins Airport fire department was a no-show Monday at a pre-disciplinary hearing that could have led to his firing. For now, Chief Roosevelt Davis remains in charge of the department while an investigation into his conduct and bogus overtime payments to firefighters continues. The findings of overtime abuse were uncovered in an internal audit and it was Davis who signed off on the payments.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland

Firefighters in Bethesda, Maryland, are in court after an argument over one firefighter's Confederate flag license plate. A Montgomery County firefighter with 10 years service says he spoke out against racism after seeing a fellow firefighter had the flag affixed to the front of his pickup truck. Fellow firefighters say in court documents requesting protective orders that the firefighter, Idris Debruhl, threatened them.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington

Frank Doolittle leans against the rack of helmets, coats, coveralls and boots along the wall in the Summitville firehouse. The simple building sits along a flat stretch of Route 209 about eight miles south of Ellenville. Doolittle’s bald pate is offset by a bristly, brown beard that juts from his chin.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Middletown Times Herald-Record

He enjoyed coming to work every day, loved the comradery of the fire house, and preferred to stay with a busy company even as his seniority might have allowed him to go elsewhere. Detroit Firefighter Kevin Ramsey, a 20-year veteran, was a Detroit boy, raised on the east side, and had a sense pride, a feeling of obligation to contribute to his community.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLive.com

Cops versus firefighters is one of the oldest rivalries in the books. When it comes to overtime between the two public safety agencies in Trenton, that’s a feud that’s been brewing the past few years. For the city’s fiscal year 2017 that ended on June 30, the fire department spent $1.04 million more than police in overtime, according to budget documents obtained by The Trentonian through a public records request.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trentonian

A four-vehicle accident in Hood County Saturday afternoon left seven people injured including three firefighters. Hood County Fire Marshal Ray Wilson confirmed the injuries in the accident along Highway 51, and he says they are all doing okay. Two people including a female firefighter from the North Hood County Fire Department were transported hospitals via air ambulance.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Dallas/Fort Worth

If you’re in need of immediate medical attention in New York state and a less qualified first responder appears on your doorstep, you may have to wait for someone more qualified to transport you to the hospital. But there are some people in Niagara County — and elsewhere in the state — who are trying to change that.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lockport Journal

Both men were aspiring law enforcement officers, studying criminal justice at Palomar College. Then their career paths diverged. One was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of setting an Encinitas church and school on fire, and the other lauded for working undercover to help catch him. Tyler Carender, 20, is charged with causing more than a half-million dollars in damage to St.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Chief Tom Jenkins, Rogers (Ark.) Fire Department, was installed July 27 as president and chairman of the board of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). Chief Jenkins will lead the association’s 18-member board of directors. He will serve as the association’s primary spokesman on national and international issues, testify on behalf of the organization at Congressional hearings and serve as the association’s representative dignitary.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

The chief of the Honolulu Fire Department filed a police report to try and find out who leaked a confidential HFD document related to the massive Marco Polo blaze, Hawaii News Now has learned. The document, a log of dispatch calls during the fire response, included confidential access codes to the Kapiolani Boulevard building.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHNL/KGMB-TV Hawaii News Now

A New Hampshire fire chief who died in the line of duty more than 63 years ago will finally be honored this year for making the ultimate sacrifice. Winnisquam fire Chief Chester Brickett will receive posthumously the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a firefighter. Just this year, State Fire Marshal J.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Concord Monitor

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District has an overtime problem. The district has two firefighters who last year received more in overtime pay than regular pay. And in the same year, three firefighters made more than the fire chief, two battalion chiefs, a deputy fire chief and division chief of operations, who do not get overtime, according to district records.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mercury News

A group of four New York firefighters were recorded lifting a small car out of the way of their truck so they could reach a nearby emergency. J.D. Closser posted a video to YouTube on Thursday showing four New York City Fire Department firefighters from lifting a parked Car2Go vehicle up onto the curb so their truck could get around it en route to an emergency.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: UPI

An Akron man is accused of killing nine people in two deadly house fires in his neighborhood. Now, prosecutors say, Stanley Ford should pay with his life. Summit County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Ford, they announced Thursday during a press conference. “Never before in Summit County history has one man been charged for the murders of nine people,” said Chief Prosecutor Margaret Scott, who was flanked by enlarged images of the two fire-ravaged houses.
- PUB DATE: 7/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal

Firefighters responding to a crash in the South Shore neighborhood found themselves under fire early Thursday, and their fire truck was struck by a bullet. Neighbors near 79th and Yates were drawn out of their homes by intense arguing around 2:30 a.m., and then they became witnesses to a crime. Police said the incident began with a two-car crash.
- PUB DATE: 7/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Chicago

The city's fire commissioner blasted construction workers for taking 90 minutes to report a fire that destroyed a six-story building in Dorchester last month and said city officials are working on new safety standards for buildings under construction -- particularly those with highly flammable wood frames.
- PUB DATE: 7/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald

On the stormy evening of Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016, multiple lightning strikes ignited the roof of the Mount Pleasant Place retirement complex in Monroe, Ohio. Monroe Fire Department’s first responding crew acted with courage and expertise to save the lives of senior citizens trapped on the top floor, directly under the burning roof.
- PUB DATE: 7/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

Richmond firefighters and police officers anticipating that long-promised raises would appear in their paychecks this week were told Tuesday that they may have to wait until September. They will still receive the additional money as back pay, but union officials say they’re worried that some employees may have been counting on receiving the raises as planned.
- PUB DATE: 7/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Richmond Times-Dispatch