As the flames roared from ridgetop to ridgetop Monday night, a crew of Oak Ridge and Maryville firefighters battled blocked roads and downed power lines in a late-night rescue of a dozen visitors staying in rental cabins behind Dollywood.
Huddled in three cars with their four dogs for at least two hours on Mitchell Road, one of the victims told firefighters they were trapped by fires roaring on both sides of the road and debris blocking the road. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel
A Redmond smokejumper is fighting for his life after being critically injured in a fall while fighting a wildfire in Alabama.
Ray Rubio, a smokejumper with the Deschutes National Forest, was one of many from the area who were sent to an assignment in Birmingham, Alabama, as more than 30 wildfires are burning in the South. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVZ.com
This may be a first — an auto mechanic that saves people money.
A city-employed mechanic with the heart of an inventor is being hailed by the FDNY for doing more with less — and saving the city a bundle in the process.
Jomar Pichardo, 31, who’s responsible for keeping the city’s fleet of EMS ambulances running 24 hours a day, has saved the department more than $700,000 by engineering ways to refurbish ambulance batteries and car parts that the city would normally toss away and repurchase. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
When an ambulance driver using her phone’s GPS got distracted and crashed through a guardrail, rolling off an embankment in north-central Ohio in August 2014, the consequences were dire: A 56-year-old patient was ejected and killed, and an EMS worker was injured.
The emergency medical service worker was not strapped in, and the patient was only partially restrained, a situation that is all too common in ambulances across the nation. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stateline.org
Researchers from the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health will create the framework for a project to study cancer in firefighters.
Cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters who are exposed to toxic chemicals while on the job, according to a news release. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVOA-TV NBC 4 Tucson
One person was transported from the scene after a car rammed into a fire truck near the Coastal Carolina University campus multiple times Tuesday afternoon, according to officials and witnesses at the scene.
Lt. Brian VanAernem with Horry County Fire Rescue said no firefighters were injured in the crash, which happened on Highway 544 and Founders Drive, just outside the university campus. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCSC-TV Charleston Live 5 News
Flames tore through the Great Smoky Mountains, killing at least three people, scorching hundreds of homes and businesses and sending more than 14,000 fleeing from the resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Tourists and residents scrambled Monday night and early Tuesday to outrun the blaze, which was pushed from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park into the towns by wind gusts of almost 90 mph. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today
Georgia firefighters still hoppin’ mad over Gov. Nathan Deal’s veto earlier this year of cancer legislation related to their work have vowed an even stronger comeback for the coming legislative session that begins Jan. 9 — including a push to override the veto.
Jim Daws, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Georgia, sent a notice Monday calling on colleagues to contact their state lawmakers to back the effort. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two Wilmington City Council members say if the city's Fire Department needs more funds to keep stations open, all it needs to do is ask.
Council members Bob Williams, who has been a vocal supporter of the Fire Department, and Sherry Dorsey-Walker joined members of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1590 on Tuesday afternoon across from Station 6 on North Union Street. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilmington News Journal (Delaware Online)
When Miguel Rivas woke up before dawn Monday and went for a drink of water, he noticed a burglar taking some of his firefighter equipment from his car in the driveway. He grabbed his shotgun, ran outside with his two terrier- and pit bull-mixed dogs and held the suspect at gunpoint until police arrived, according to a police report. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The New Mexican
Merle L. Nell. For 51 years, he dedicated his time and service to his community as a proud member of the Vernon Fire Department, responding to hundreds upon hundreds of calls. Merle joined the department in 1965, when members were required to live within one mile of the station in order to hear the fire whistle from their homes. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oneida Dispatch
Hundreds of structures have been destroyed by wildfires in Tennessee and more than 14,000 people have been evacuated from the Gatlinburg area, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reported Tuesday morning.
About 100 homes have been damaged or destroyed by flames from spreading wildfires, state emergency officials said. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today
Two former firefighters are accusing the Harmony Fire District and its chief of firing them from their volunteer posts after they voiced concern that women were not being treated as equals. Linda Ferragamo and Kimberly Perreault filed suit in federal court against the Glocester-based fire district and its chief, Stuart D. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal
Although the firefighting profession is among the most stressful jobs, and it is widely believed that firefighters are at greater risk for suicide, few studies have looked at the reasons why some firefighters consider suicide as an option. With so many fires, line-of-duty deaths and other critical incidents, the wear and tear of daily life may become unbearable for some. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
A New York City firefighter’s helmet went missing from a Bronx fire truck, and wound up listed hours later on eBay.
The auction ended before anyone put in a single bid, though, and the seller, who claims to be a teenager, says the helmet is now in the hands of police.
“(I’m) just 15 just wanted to make money out of it,” eBay user “sellinhelmetsasa0” told the Daily News in a message Sunday night. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
A man has been charged with homicide after a 16-year-old junior firefighter was shot and killed inside the Republic Volunteer Fire Company in Fayette County on Sunday afternoon. State police said Parker Hess was found by Redstone Township police after they received a report of a person with a gunshot wound inside the fire station on Republic Road at about 4 p. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh
A Spokane firefighter is contesting a three-shift suspension he received after being charged with assaulting a patient on a medical call.
Capt. Greg Borg, who has been working for the department since 1979, threw a patient to the ground during a June 25 call after the patient spat and swore at him, according to an Oct. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Spokesman-Review
While hospital and emergency response officials praised the actions of paramedics, firefighters, police officers and emergency room staffers in responding to Monday's school bus crash that left five children dead, there was general agreement that the horrific accident left many emotionally scarred.
"I've never seen a more upset group of ambulance workers," said one emergency room staffer, who asked to remain anonymous. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1.com
Raw video from an apartment fire Tuesday at the Village Shores Apartments in Flint, Michigan that left three firefighters injured. Shortly after the 2:00 mark in the video above you can hear the evacuation order. This is followed by firefighters rushing to get a ladder to a balcony where two firefighters are trapped. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: STATter911.com
Battalion Chief David Dangerfield's nickname was "Super Dave," a moniker the veteran firefighter had earned over the years for his cheerful, get-things-done personality. The leader of a fire department dive team in a quiet Florida beach community of 15,000 volunteered for charities helping kids and families and was the 2013 Treasure Coast Emergency Service Provider of the Year. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
