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National Fire News

Neighbors wake to screaming children in fatal Tennessee fire

Neighbors woke to the screams of children early Monday when a house fire that killed four children and injured two people in Springfield. The fire started at about 3 a.m. at 809 Poplar Ave. Ricardo Morales said his wife woke up hearing the screams. He said they called 911 and he rushed out with his sons and nephews.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Tennessean

Ghost Ship fire exposes war between Oakland fire chief, union

The disastrous Ghost Ship fire has intensified long-simmering tensions between Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed and the city’s firefighters union, which for years has been lobbying behind the scenes to get her fired. At the same time, however, African American community leaders are coming to the chief’s defense, complaining that Mayor Libby Schaaf’s administration may be setting her up to take the blame for the deadly fire.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

Chicago to pay $3.8 million as part of Fire Department gender bias case

The city is set to pay a group of African-American women $3.8 million as part of a settlement of a long-running federal lawsuit claiming that Chicago Fire Department tests were discriminatory. The City Council Finance Committee will consider the payment Monday. It's the latest payout from the city because of allegations of racial or gender bias in hiring practices at the Fire Department in lawsuits that have gone back decades and already have cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

EMS workers face forced OT shifts to cover nearly 50% of staff who are taking off for FDNY exam

Where’s the fire? EMS workers are in such a rush to get out of the ambulance and into the firehouse that nearly 50% of them signed up to take the city firefighter test next week — forcing the FDNY to call for mandatory overtime to cover all its 911 medical shifts. The entrance exam will be administered from Monday to Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Arizona firehouse overdue for replacement, may be toxic, officials say

Tucson’s oldest firehouse has become an example of how long-delayed capital projects can cost more than a spreadsheet can list. And in this case, officials say, it might be an actual pound of flesh. Fire Station No. 3 near Campbell Avenue and Broadway dates to the 1950s and has been retrofitted repeatedly in an attempt to extend its useful life.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson.com

Oakland fire chief says Ghost Ship may have fallen off radar

Oakland, California's fire chief acknowledged Thursday the department's prevention efforts, which include conducting safety inspections of sites such as the Ghost Ship warehouse where at least 36 people died last week, have been hampered by years of budget cuts and hiring freezes. "Was it the best?" Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said in an exclusive interview with CNN.
- PUB DATE: 12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

Maine firefighter who spoke out against former fire chief put on paid leave

One day after a fire chief resigns, amid controversy in his department, one of the firefighters is now on paid leave. Mark Blaquiere is under investigation by the town of Oxford. He declined to discuss the subject of that investigation. But he says he was handed a packet by Interim Town Manager Rebecca Lippencott, which he thinks has the reason why he’s been put on leave.
- PUB DATE: 12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGME-TV 13 Portland

Dallas Police and Fire Pension Board ends run on the bank, stops $154M in withdrawals

The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System's Board of Trustees suspended lump-sum withdrawals from the pension fund Thursday, staving off a possible restraining order and stopping $154 million in withdrawal requests. The system was set to pay out the weekly requests Friday. Pension officials said allowing the withdrawals would leave them without the liquid reserves required to sustain the $2.
- PUB DATE: 12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News

2016 National Fire Data System Survey - Deadline January 20, 2017

NFPA was recently awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to develop a national fire data system (NFDS) that meets the priority needs of the U.S. fire service for quality local and national data for both operational and community risk reduction decision making. NFPA’s focus is on helping local agencies in the collection, management and utilization of their data to make decisions where they count most—right in your community.
- PUB DATE: 12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association

Police arrest man accused of harassing Ohio firefighters before shooting

The man who Youngstown firefighters say was harassing them on the night their truck was shot up is in jail Thursday evening. Police say Cameron Dyer, 30, was at the fire scene at Halleck and Elm streets Monday night. He was picked up on a probation violation, and police say he could be charged with misconduct at the fire scene.
- PUB DATE: 12/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBN.com

New Jersey firefighter robbed at gunpoint while on duty

An armed robber stuck a handgun in a Trenton fire captain's face while he was on a call in the Chambersburg neighborhood Tuesday night, fire officials said. The fire captain, from Engine Co. 7 on Hamilton Avenue, was not injured during the 6:45 p.m. incident on Cummings Place, officials said. Trenton police detectives are investigating the crime.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

Authorities charge two teens in deadly Tennessee wildfires

Authorities have made two arrests -- both teenagers -- in last week's deadly wildfires. Authorities made the announcement Wednesday during an afternoon news conference at the Sevier County Courthouse. The teens remain in custody in Sevier County, charged with aggravated arson, said Jimmy Dunn, 4th Judicial District attorney general.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News-Sentinel

Oakland official: Ghost Ship building not inspected in 3 decades

Investigators were beginning to get a sense of the final chaotic moments for the 36 people killed in a fire at a converted Oakland warehouse, as they made progress on the search for the cause of the blaze. Oakland’s planning director, meanwhile, admitted that the building had not been inspected for three decades, despite what neighbors said were numerous complaints about accumulated trash, graffiti and other blight.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com

Ohio firefighters consider carrying guns and bullet proof vests after shooting

The union representing Youngstown's firefighters is taking action after Mondays' shooting that wounded one of their members. A representative of the Youngstown Professional Firefighter's union says the department will investigate the possibility of allowing captains to carry firearms during calls. They also say they'll look into buying bullet proof vests for firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMJ-TV Youngstown NBC 21

Retired Dallas police, firefighters withdraw pension funds as fears continue

One by one, retired Dallas police and firefighters came to the pension fund to get their money. “I think instead of filing a lawsuit … it would have been a lot cheaper (for the mayor) just to get a billboard that said make a run on the bank,” retired firefighter George Snowden told News 8 outside the pension office.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth

Virginia firefighters quit job over pay cuts

More city employees in Petersburg are quitting their jobs over budget cuts. Chief T.C. Hairston says the Petersburg Fire Department has lost 14 firefighters since the city implemented a mandatory 10 percent pay cut for all city employees. Some people who live in Petersburg are now concerned about safety.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRIC.com

Honolulu firefighters were among those killed, injured in Pearl Harbor attack

A date which will live in infamy was also a day the Honolulu Fire Department unexpectedly went to war. On Dec. 7, 1941, Engine 6 was the first to respond to Hickam Airfield. “They were used to seeing practice anti-aircraft artillery and they knew that to be white smoke, white puffs in the sky,” said Capt.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHON2

Oakland: “Ghost Ship” fire search finished; investigators eye refrigerator as cause

The recovery effort from the aftermath of a devastating Fruitvale District warehouse fire that killed 36 people has been completed, authorities announced Wednsday morning. The death total did not rise as crews combed through the final 10 percent of the building known as the “Ghost Ship.” Authorities did not say what time they finished the search.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Mercury News

2 Maryland volunteer firefighters indicted after fighting with female career firefighter on scene

Last December an unlikely confrontation unfolded during a fire at a home in Hyattsville. Prosecutors allege two volunteer firefighters fought a career female firefighter over who got to enter the home first and be in charge of the scene. Authorities claim Chris Kelly, out of the West Lanham Hills station, hit the career female firefighter knocking her off the front porch.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA-TV ABC 7 Washington

Michigan chief says manpower was issue in apartment blaze that injured firefighters

A Flint apartment complex fire that left three firefighters injured last month pushed the Flint Fire Department to its limits that day. Not only did it require every firefighter on duty that day -- 14 in all -- the fire at Village Shores Apartments also forced the city to call in mutual aid because the department's two ladder trucks were both in the repair shop.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: mlive.com

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