Brandon Visyak used a stolen state firefighter badge in a ploy to rob a woman the first time he got caught impersonating a public safety officer.
Two years later, he again claimed to be a Cal Fire firefighter while he tried to get out of a traffic arrest.
Both incidents led to criminal convictions on charges that he illegally impersonated a California public safety officer. - PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
A St. Louis fire captain who sustained injuries while fighting a fire during the Fourth of July holiday has died.
Capt. John Kemper, 59, died Wednesday after he was injured while battling a structural fire in the 3600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue early the morning of July 5, the department said.
Kemper didn’t suffer any burns. - PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Houston firefighters are in search of higher pay.
It's part of a "firefighter pay initiative" launched by the firefighters' union. As we first told you last week, Houston firefighters want pay parity with the city's police.
They're circulating petitions to try to get the parity issue on the November ballot so voters can decide. - PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston
Fire Chief John Sinclair, IAFC president and chairman of the board, testified today before a Congressional panel that the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, including the Fire Prevention and Safety grant, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs provide valued assistance to local fire departments across the country and help them protect their communities. - PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs
A city firefighter has been fired following an internal investigation into alleged workers' compensation fraud, Hartford's fire chief said Tuesday. Lt. John Moree, a 21-year veteran of the department who city records show has been unable to perform firefighting duties since July 2015, was seen on surveillance video loading building materials onto a vehicle at a home improvement store, according to sources familiar with the investigation. - PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant
An accounting firm’s new report confirms what Kansas City officials already knew through the budgeting process — firefighter overtime is a huge expense, and a few individuals rake in an oversized share of those wages.
But the report from BKD, released publicly on Wednesday, doesn’t offer a magic cure for the millions of dollars in overtime that Kansas City government shells out annually to the Fire Department. - PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star
When writing about the management of emergency incidents, I find myself – as well as other writers – including this verbiage, “Develop an incident action plan.”
Why? Because developing this plan, successful communicating their part to fire officers and monitoring progress towards its completion are three of the key responsibilities for the incident commander. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
Four L.A County supervisors donned Wonder Woman headbands Tuesday in support of a motion that would upgrade a Marina del Rey fire station with bathrooms and sleeping quarters for female firefighters.
The supervisors’ action also cast a spotlight on a broader issue of why so few women work as firefighters in the county fire department, and why fewer than half of all stations offer separate bathrooms and sleeping quarters for women. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
Dan Eggleston, IAFC director-at-large and fire chief of the Albemarle County (Va.) Fire and Rescue, Kevin McGee, chair of the IAFC Terrorism & Homeland Security Committee and chief of Prince William County (Va.) Fire Rescue, and Mark Light, IAFC CEO/executive director, today joined Gov. Terence R. McAuliffe at a ceremonial letter signing declaring that the Commonwealth of Virginia will allow the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to proceed with the deployment of the of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network in Virginia. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs
The Southern California firefighters tab at Denny's: $400.
Public generosity: Priceless.
A team of firefighters from Colton got a pleasant surprise Saturday when someone paid their $405.22 food tab at a Denny's.
The 25 hungry firefighters just got off the line battling the La Cadena Fire in La Loma Hills that burned 70 acres when they grabbed a meal at a nearby Denny's. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind to use data from a beating heart as evidence, a Butler County judge ruled Tuesday that evidence from a pacemaker used to get a Middletown man indicted for arson can be presented at trial.
Ross Compton, 59, was indicted in January on felony charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud for allegedly starting a fire in September 2016 at his Court Donegal house. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal-News
The formal retirement of Gloucester’s assistant fire chief on Sunday and the retirement of five other senior Fire Department members over the last 2 1/2 weeks have created a six-person void in the city’s firefighting force, Fire Chief Eric Smith said Monday.
Aiello’s official departure on Sunday came just two weeks after the retirements of Deputy Chief Miles Schlichte and firefighter Joseph Misuraca, both of whom also served with the department for more than 30 years. - PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Gloucester Times
Governor McAuliffe today signed a letter of intent declaring that the Commonwealth of Virginia will allow the First Responder Network Authority and AT&T to proceed with the deployment of the of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network in Virginia. Following today’s letter signing, Governor McAuliffe will hold a ceremonial letter signing tomorrow at FirstNet Headquarters, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, Va. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AlexandriaNews.org
An overwhelming percentage of calls to St. Paul firefighters are for medical emergencies, and the fire department needs “a paradigm shift” to best handle the workload, according to an outside study of the fire department.
Fires account for less than 5 percent of the emergency calls in St. Paul, and about half of 1 percent are structure fires. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pioneer Press
A US Marine Corps transport plane crashed in rural western Mississippi on Monday afternoon, killing all 16 service members who were on board, officials said.
The KC-130, an aircraft that the Marines can use to refuel planes in the air as well as carry cargo, crashed in Leflore County at about 4 p.m. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN
A Dayville firefighter appeared in Danielson Superior Court today as two of his cases moved forward, though fire officials are still declining to comment on Todd Wakefield’s status with the department.
During his first appearance on evading and unsafe passage charges, Wakefield’s lawyer, Christian Sarantopoulos, said his client had “made restitution” to the owner of a vehicle which he said sustained damage to its mirror. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norwich Bulletin
Firefighters rescued a man from the side of a downtown high-rise building Monday morning after he spent nearly an hour on a scaffolding platform that malfunctioned and tilted sideways.
The 49-year-old employee of BCBE Construction became stuck on the scaffolding stage when one of the motors failed and swung one side of the platform far above the other. - PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Herald Tribune.com
The city’s fire chief will have the final determination on whether the department’s new state-ordered 56-hour workweek compromises public safety, according to a ruling by Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez.
According to the Thursday ruling, the state’s creation of the new work schedule was not done in retaliation against the union. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City
State firefighter and police union leaders on Thursday hailed a new state law that provides first responders with workers’ compensation coverage for mental illnesses.
Vermont is the first state to pass such a law, according to the International Association of Firefighters. Bradley Reed, president of Professional Firefighters of Vermont, thanked lawmakers for helping the bill reach the finish line. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: VTDigger.com
PHOTOS - Davidson Fire Department Engine 1 rolled over on June Washam Road on the way to a fire alarm call Saturday morning in Davidson, North Carolina according to Davidson officials, injuring two firefighters. The two firefighters were transported to the hospital by Medic with non life threatening injuries. - PUB DATE: 7/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMY-TV CBS 2 Greensboro
