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National Fire News

Retired New Jersey fire chief dies after responding to blaze

Retired Elizabeth fire chief Lou Kelly died early Friday after he fell ill while responding to a fire in Clark last week and was rushed to a hospital. The Elizabeth Firefighters FMBA Local 9 announced Kelly's death on its Facebook page on Friday morning. Kelly, 70, was serving as a Union County Mutual Aid Coordinator while at the Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

Pennsylvania fire training facility catches fire

PHOTO - After firefighters completed a controlled burn training session and left the area, the facility went up in flames. Smoke and flames engulfed the Crawford Venango Fire School at the corner of Ridge Road and Center Street in Cambridge Springs. The building caught fire around 3 p.m. This is a facility where firefighters hold training sessions with live fires mimicking realistic situations.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJET/WFXP YourErie.com

Missouri Ladder Truck Totaled in Crash, Two Firefighters Injured

PHOTO - Two firefighters were injured and a Sunrise Fire truck was totaled when the truck crashed on slick roads Friday morning. The crash occurred on State Road MM, and Sunrise Fire Chief Dennis Reilly said the two firefighters sustained only minor injuries, with the most serious being a fracture. Both firefighters are at the hospital.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: LakeExpo.com

Former California fire captain accused of embezzling over $200,000 from union

former Lodi fire captain is facing felony charges after allegedly embezzling over $200,000 from the Lodi Professional Firefighters Union he was once the treasurer of, according to court records. San Joaquin County Court records show Oscar Picazo is facing charges of grand theft, theft of more than $100,000 and take, damage of destroying property over $200,000.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXTV-TV ABC 10 Sacramento

VIDEO: Drone Catches Connecticut Fire Department's 'Santa's Sleigh'

The Long Hill Volunteer Fire Department's Santa Fire Truck is a holiday tradition in two. The truck decorated with thousands of holiday lights makes its rounds around town bringing good will -- and gifts -- to Trumbull children. Now there's a new view of the fire truck. It surfaced recently on YouTube.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

Kansas City firefighters injured after being trapped in burning house

Two Kansas City firefighters were taken to the hospital and treated at the scene after being trapped while battling a house fire. It happened while firefighters were responding to a house fire in the 700 block of Agnes Avenue. Officials say fire crews were at the tail-end of fighting the fire when a partial roof collapse happened, leaving three firefighters trapped inside the home with burning debris on them.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCTV.com

Emergency trainees mistakenly exposed to deadly ricin at Alabama training center

Because of yet another mix-up with bioterror pathogens, a federal terrorism response training center in Alabama says it mistakenly exposed more than 9,600 firefighters, paramedics and other students to a deadly toxin over the past five years. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Center for Domestic Preparedness blames an outside laboratory for a series of shipping errors since 2011 that resulted in the first-responder training center using in its classes a potentially lethal form of ricin powder.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

Oakland firefighters didn’t assume burning Ghost Ship was vacant

As Oakland firefighters pulled up to the burning Ghost Ship warehouse the night of Dec. 2, they weren’t exactly sure what they were dealing with — whether anyone was trapped or what they would encounter inside — but they didn’t assume it was a vacant building. Public safety officials in Oakland have long been aware that people live and party in warehouses — some firefighters say they can tell whether one is inhabited just by looking at its exterior.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

South Carolina Fire, two others charged in fraud and kickback scheme

Acting United States Attorney Beth Drake today announced that a Charleston Grand Jury has returned a two-count indictment charging St. Paul’s Fire District Chief Doc McNeil Matthews, 47, of Hollywood; Assistant Chief Charles Riddle, 44, of Goose Creek; and Mary Jo Thomas-Delaney, 67, of Summerville, with fraud and embezzlement from a federally funded organization.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCBD-TV Charleston 2

NFPA announces 68,085 U.S. firefighter injuries in latest report, reflecting third lowest injury rate since 1981

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released the latest edition of its “U.S. Firefighter Injuries” report, which highlights data on injuries sustained by firefighters on duty in 2015. The statistics were collected from fire departments responding to NFPA’s annual U.S. Fire Experience survey.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association

Florida county considers moving fire district to sheriff's control

During Melanie Nipper's campaign for her seat on the Walton County Commission, she called on a lot of agencies. One of those was the North Walton Fire District. She was appalled by the conditions she found at the fire stations and resolved that if elected she would try to help. Nipper made good on that resolve at Tuesday night's County Commission meeting when she proposed a feasibility study to investigate the transfer of North Walton Fire and EMS to the sheriff.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ft. Walton Beach: Northwest Florida News

Most Dallas cops and firefighters to receive 10 percent raises

Most Dallas police officers and firefighters are officially getting a 10 percent raise. Without much fanfare or discussion, the Dallas City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a three-year police and fire salary agreement. After months of back-and-forth, city leaders and the police and fire associations negotiated a three-year contract in November.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News

Family Of Connecticut Firefighter Killed In Blaze Settles Lawsuit Against City

The family of a Hartford firefighter killed in the line of duty has settled its wrongful death lawsuit against the city for $350,000. Kevin Bell, 48, died fighting a house fire in October 2014. The family filed suit in November 2015, saying that it wanted answers about why Bell, a six-year veteran of the department, was left behind for more than eight minutes even though a mayday call had been made by his lieutenant after losing contact with Bell in the house.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant

California fire department struck by gunfire

Vallejo firefighters staying overnight at Station 24 were in for a rude awakening last week after an unknown gunman fired a bullet into their building. The damage was discovered Tuesday morning, Dec. 6, at 1005 Oakwood Ave., leading investigators to believe the shot occurred either while firefighters slept in the back dorm area or while they were out on emergency calls.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vallejo Times-Herald

PHOTOS: Oklahoma fire department rocks all-baby holiday card

In any fire department, there are so many things that make up the dynamic of an engine crew, certain shift or even the department as a whole. Firefighters tend to say brotherhood and family defines their core being. So when this small paid department of 33 looked back on the year and saw that six of their brothers had newborn babies, it was time to show the public what was at the core of their department.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Ohio firefighter, department sued for wrongful-death in June accident

The husband of a woman struck and killed by a fire truck is suing the fire department and one of its firefighters. A lawsuit seeking at least $50,000 has been filed on behalf of Paul L. Riehm, administrator of the estate of Lorri J. Riehm, in Seneca County Common Pleas Court against Green Springs Rural Volunteer Fire Department and Seth T.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Advertiser-Tribune

California fire captain jumps onto I-5, dies after being hit by big-rig

A 41-year-old man, a fire captain from Orange, jumped off the Crown Valley Parkway I-5 overpass on Tuesday morning and was killed by a big-rig, officials said. The CHP got a call of a man scaling a the chain-link fence on the overpass about 11 a.m. Minutes later, he jumped and was hit. The Orange County Fire Authority identified the man as Capt.
- PUB DATE: 12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Orange County Register

10 FDNY EMS workers, 3 NYPD traffic agents surrender in health insurance scam

Ten active and retired EMS workers and three NYPD traffic enforcement agents surrendered to authorities early Tuesday, the first in a wave of disability fraud busts orchestrated by city and state law enforcement, the Daily News has learned. Seven of the accused — six men and one woman — surrendered at the 112th Precinct stationhouse, where they were patted down in the doorway, then handcuffed and lead inside.
- PUB DATE: 12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Connecticut man killed in crash involving car and fire truck

A man was killed in a crash involving a fire truck that happened on Route 9 south in Essex on Tuesday evening. State police identified the victim as 80-year-old William Spitzschuh of Deep River. The crash was reported at about 7 p.m. and shut down the highway for several hours. It involved an Essex fire truck.
- PUB DATE: 12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wfsb.com

Oakland Fire Officials: Fire station was just 500 feet from the Ghost Ship but no records on warehouse

The warehouse where 36 people died earlier this month is just 500 feet from Oakland Fire Station No. 13. Yet despite much community grumbling in recent years about the grim conditions of the building, Oakland fire officials said Tuesday that they had received no complaints in their records about the warehouse and that fire officials had never been dispatched there in the last 12 years.
- PUB DATE: 12/14/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

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