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National Fire News

Misbehavior, leadership issues cloud South Carolina fire department

Firefighters in a firetruck pick up a drunken, off-duty fellow fireman who was walking from Columbia’s St. Pat’s Festival. They ferry him to a nearby fire station that has a frat house reputation, where he causes trouble. A fire captain gooses a young firefighter and dismisses it as typical horseplay.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The State

3-year-old hurt in Texas crash overlooked until wreck was towed to junk yard

Officials in West Texas are investigating whether procedures were followed after a 3-year-old girl was found in the back of a smashed vehicle hours after she was injured in a car accident. A tow truck driver found the girl Monday while taking the vehicle to a wrecking yard after the accident in Odessa, KOSA-TV (CBS 7) reported.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News

FDNY hires nine ex-felons amid effort to boost diversity

The newly-minted class of FDNY probationary firefighters includes an unprecedented nine rookie Bravest with felony convictions, including one who did jail time for gun possession, insiders told The Post. The nine ex-felons, all minorities, were among 295 probies who graduated from the Fire Academy on Nov.
- PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Houston Fire Department names new chief

El Paso Fire Chief Samuel Peña has been tapped as Houston's new fire chief, replacing Interim Fire Chief Rodney West, sources said Thursday. Peña, 45, has led El Paso's fire department for three years. If approved by City Council, he would come to Houston in the midst of a contentious fire pension negotiation and as firefighters continue to voice concern about aging facilities and calls for new equipment.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Phoenix firefighters avoid injury when crane strikes ladder truck at fire scene

Phoenix Fire Department crews were on the scene of a large debris fire at a metal recycling plant near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road Thursday afternoon. Capt. Rob McDade said this was a defensive fire. McDade said crews were able to set up ladder trucks on two sides of the fire to get water on it. The scrapyard crane operators moved large pieces of metal so firefighters could reach the core of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 5 AZ KPHO

Residents of Pennsylvania town call for reinstating fire chief

It was standing room only Monday night as Slatington Borough residents and fire department supporters spilled into the borough council’s meeting room’s hallway. Over three quarters of the Slatington Volunteer Fire Department showed up to the council meeting to request former chief Keith Weaver be reinstatedafter being removed last month.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times News

Off-duty California firefighter carjacked while helping crash victims

A good deed goes wrong after an off-duty firefighter was held at gunpoint and had his car stolen while helping car crash victims. "I was kind of awestruck that someone would actually pull a gun or a weapon on our person," said Mark Lawson, Merced Co. Fire Division Chief. The Merced County Sheriff's Department said the collision occurred a little after 8 a.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFSN-TV ABC 30 Frenso/Visalia

Photo: New Jersey firefighters pose with bride after evacuating wedding reception

When a couple got married last week, they had the most unexpected wedding crashers: firefighters. Newlyweds Allison Russoniello and Kevin Duffy were celebrating their wedding last Friday when they were told the building had to be evacuated due to a strange burning smell. It was later discovered the smell was from a faulty refrigerator compressor.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

North Carolina fire department fined in firefighter line of duty death

The N.C. Department of Labor has cited the Pineville Volunteer Fire Department after investigating the April 30 death of firefighter Richard Sheltra. Sheltra, who was 20 years old and the department’s Rookie of the Year at the time, died fighting a blaze at the Edwin Watts Golf Store off Pineville-Matthews Road.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

Ohio firefighters under investigation for handing out Halloween candy

The FOX 8 I-Team is asking new questions about a story that has Northeast Ohio talking. Brook Park leaders are investigating some of the town’s firefighters for handing out candy while on duty Halloween night. The I-Team was rolling Wednesday afternoon as Brook Park fire officials came out of a meeting with the mayor considering punishment.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJW-TV MyFox Cleveland

Georgia first responders fulfill firefighter's dying wish to see new squad apparatus

PHOTOS - Dozens of first responders in Georgia helped fulfill an Atlanta firefighter's dying wish as they escorted him from the hospital to his home in Forsyth County, where he will receive hospice care. Frank Martinez, 45, has battled Stage 4 cancer for several years and doesn't have much longer to live, his co-worker, Cortez R.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAGA-TV Atlanta MyFox 5 News

Florida Sheriff's Office firefighters took 13 minutes to arrive at fatal fire

When a fire in a nearby mobile home awakened them, several residents of the Broadview Park neighborhood off Peters Road anxiously called 911, urging dispatchers to get help there quick. They knew that 12-year-old Ana Hernandez Marrero and her 51-year-old father, Armando Hernandez Valdez, were inside the small trailer as the flames grew.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPLG-TV ABC Local10.com - Miami & Fort Lauderdale

Media Investigation: Houston firefighters reportedly selling shifts on Facebook

When a fire truck leaves a Houston fire station, every firefighter on that apparatus is being paid a salary by Houston taxpayers. However, at any given time, there may be a firefighter on a truck who is making hundreds of dollars in cash, on top of his salary. "The way it is, you're getting paid, on top of getting paid," says a veteran Houston firefighter.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 13 Houston

FDNY forbids firefighters from hanging pictures of Trump

The FDNY has ordered firefighters to not hang pictures of President-elect Donald Trump in firehouses or on their trucks, angering some members of the department. “Only [the] FDNY wouldn’t want the democratically elected president of America hanging in a firehouse,” said one firefighter, who asked to remain anonymous.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Three Detroit fire chiefs resign for role in firefighter's injuries

FOX 2 has exclusively learned that three Detroit fire chiefs have resigned for their role in the injury of a firefighter two months ago. On October 13, Detroit Fire Engine 40 responded to a mutual aid call at a house in Highland Park. According to department officials, Lt. David Webster was signed in as the officer in charge of the crew - but it was an inexperienced firefighter in his place.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox2detroit.com

Pennsylvania town swears in first new fire chief since 1953

There were three standing ovations in the unusually crowded chambers at Greensburg City Hall during Monday night's council meeting. The first came as Thomas Bell took the oath of office to become the city's first new fire chief since 1953. “Every kid, growing up, wants to be a firefighter,” Bell said.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

North Carolina State lab uses ‘fire chamber’ to test protection for firefighters

Researchers at N.C. State are working to find better ways to protect firefighters fighting wildfires. They received a grant from FEMA after a group of firefighters was killed three years ago. In 2013, 19 wildland firefighters died after becoming trapped by flames in Arizona. Some of those who died had deployed fire shelters.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wncn.com

Pennsylvania firefighters rescue worker after 40-foot fall into empty water tank

Talk about narrow escapes. Rescuers managed to squeeze a fall victim out of an O'Hara Township water tower through what amounts to a large wire and tubing conduit. The man, who was part of a cleaning crew preparing the tower for painting, tumbled 35 to 40 feet into the tank when his scaffolding failed, according to officials.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Fire service leaders talk President Trump

To better understand what impacts the fire service may see from a Trump administration and Republican controlled Congress, we reached out to several key fire service leaders for their perspectives. We asked them to identify what they saw as the biggest opportunities and threats the coming year will bring.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireChief.com

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