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
The firefighters union in New Orleans confirmed Wednesday that a handful of its members played a role in the removal of the Liberty Place monument early Monday. Nick Felton, New Orleans Fire Fighters Association president, said the union has concerns over firefighters who were seen wearing masks and bulletproof vests during the removal of the Confederate-era monument. - PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDSU-TV NBC 6 New Orleans
A veteran paramedic and fire chief says he worries that people with health emergencies might start calling for an Uber ride rather than an ambulance due to high costs.
That aversion to an ambulance bill can cost lives, said Mark Becraft, chief of the North Davis Fire District. “It puts the community at risk,” Becraft said. - PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ogden Standard-Examiner/StandardNET
An Eagan firefighter is suing the city and its fire chief, claiming he was demoted from a battalion chief position because he is gay.
In a civil lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, firefighter Dan Benson alleges discrimination based on his sexual orientation and violation of his constitutional rights by Eagan Fire Chief Mike Scott and the city. - PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pioneer Press
Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan and others reacted with anger and concern after a Milwaukee Fire Department station near Teutonia and Locust was shot at on Sunday, April 23rd. A bullet penetrated the window of Station 30 during the shots fired incident.
It happened around 6:45 p.m. as the firefighters at Station 30 were getting dispatched to a car fire. - PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6
A Lake Wales man is accused of biting a chunk of skin out of an firefighter who was helping a deputy restrain him, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
According to an affidavit, on Tuesday night deputies responded to a crash in the area of Thornhill Road and Moonlite Pass. When a deputy asked Breonski Gardner, 26, for his license, Gardner threw the keys at him and told him to get it himself. - PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHOU.com
VIDEO - An off-duty Milwaukee firefighter heading home from work helped saved the life of a young woman threatening to jump off the Hoan bridge. Deputy chief John Litchford was heading south down the Hoan bridge Tuesday night when he saw the young woman outside of her car on at the highest point of the bridge. - PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee
Some Detroit firefighters are under fire tonight for wrecking a rig and then trying to cover it up.
Last month when two Detroit firefighters out of Engine 55 decided to use a rig for their personal ride - it did not end well.
Sources say on March 30, two Detroit firefighters who work out of Engine 55 on Joy Road wanted to go out for a bit of a joy ride. - PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBJK-TV MyFox Detroit 2
The ongoing legal battle between the city and the firefighters union has cost the city at least $315,000 in attorney fees, according to documents obtained by the Watertown Daily Times.
The city’s legal bills hit $315,225.60 as of Jan. 1, according to invoices and bills obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Times. - PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times
A former Iowa fire academy administrator has pleaded guilty to falsifying test scores that were used to improperly certify thousands of firefighters.
Former Fire Services Training Bureau certification manager John McPhee pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony misconduct in office. Judge James Malloy scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 24. - PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Des Moines Register
A rookie Fresno firefighter received a hug from a woman he rescued from a burning car last October as he was awarded a Medal of Bravery from Fresno Fire officials Wednesday.
Rene Gonzales was only two months on the job last Oct. 21 and was off-duty and driving home on Highway 180 when he spotted a burning car. - PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fresno Bee
A divided Walton County Commission voted 3-2 Tuesday to place Walton County Fire and Rescue under the command of the Sheriff’s Office.
The consolidation of the two public safety divisions was to take effect at 7 a.m. Wednesday, said Louis Svehla, the county’s public information manager. Commission Chairwoman Cecilia Jones sided with commissioners Melanie Nipper and Tony Anderson in favor of the merger, Svehla said. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Florida Daily News.
The City of Petersburg has a new fire chief to replace now retired chief TC Hairston.
And while there isn’t much that everyone agrees on right now in the cash-strapped city, it seems everyone is praising the hiring of new Chief Dennis Rubin.
“We’re excited with Chief Rubin,” Dan Macaluso, spokesperson for the Petersburg Professional Fire Association, told 8News. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRIC-TV Richmond
A decorated veteran firefighter is contemplating his next move after City Council members Monday upheld a disciplinary action he received regarding a message he posted on social media during the September flood.
After two hours of testimony, council members voted 6-0 with one member absent to uphold the action against firefighter Shane Farmer. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
On Monday morning, 32 men and a woman were sworn in as Akron’s newest firefighters.
Each firefighter had chosen someone special in their life to join them on stage at the Akron-Summit Main Library auditorium to pin their badge on their jacket, including significant others, spouses and parents. Three firefighters were pinned by their fathers, who are fellow Akron police and firefighters. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com
The cost for training and certifying firefighters can be expensive for fire departments across the state, especially for those that deploy volunteers to the field.
That's why a piece of legislation was presented in the Texas House Committee on Licensing & Administration by Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, to put in place a rule that would prevent the state from regulating the more than 1,400 all-volunteer fire departments. - PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Record News
San Diego’s efforts to boost emergency response times in the sprawling and increasingly congested city would take a big step forward under a new compromise proposal. The proposal, created by the city’s independent budget analyst and endorsed by leaders of the Fire-Rescue Department, would boost response times in “gap areas” more quickly and cheaply than building all of the additional fire stations recommended last month by a consultant. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune
Suspended Canandaigua Fire Chief Mark Marentette was fired as of Friday because of insubordination and mismanagement of public funds, according to City Manager Ted Andrzejewski. The manager suspended Marentette for 30 days in January over what the city characterized as charges of misconduct, incompetence and insubordination. - PUB DATE: 4/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Messenger
