Friends, family and colleagues are mourning the unexpected death of a wildland fire expert who died while attending the IAFC Wildland-Urban Interface conference Sunday.
Christina Randall, who gave an insightful interview for the latest Fire Chief Digital edition, was an expert in mitigating wildland and WUI fires and a member of IAFC’s Wildland Fire Policy Committee, IAFC stated in a press release. - PUB DATE: 3/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
The fire chief who has been on paid administrative leave for more than two months has been reinstated.
In a 3-0 vote Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen reinstated Fire Chief Peter Martell and took him off paid administrative leave, which he has been on since Jan. 10. On Jan. 10, Chief Martell was chastised by Stephen J. - PUB DATE: 3/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram
Dressed in full gear and carrying an American flag, Ventura County firefighter Rudy Marin completed the Los Angeles Marathon Sunday as he raised money for a memorial honoring his fallen colleagues. Marin was one of thousands who made the 26.2-mile trek from Dodger Stadium near downtown L.A. to the Santa Monica shoreline. - PUB DATE: 3/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles
A former Branford firefighter convicted of federal embezzlement charges has filed a state complaint alleging the city illegally rescinded a conditional employment offer after learning about his past criminal charges.
A Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities complaint dated March 2 and filed by Andrew Konspore said the City of New Haven violated state statute when it withdrew its conditional offer of employment in September. - PUB DATE: 3/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Haven Register
VIDEO/PHOTOS - An eight-alarm fire that began at an unoccupied apartment complex in Kansas on Monday injured three firefighters and destroyed multiple homes, according to emergency officials.
The fire broke out at an apartment complex under construction in Overland Park, Kansas at around 3:30 p.m. Monday before quickly spreading to several homes nearby, Fire Department Chief Bryan Dehner said Monday evening. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News
Wanted: Self-starters who can take high stress with low pay, handle a daily grind coupled with bouts of life-and-death intensity and deal compassionately with all types of personalities — plus complete state-required training.
An average day for a city EMT or paramedic includes all of the above — and never have the dangers of the job been as visible as they were in the death last week of Yadira Arroyo. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
Emmaus Borough Council has decided to take its three-and-a-half-year legal battle with organized firefighters to the state's court of last resort. Borough Council voted unanimously Monday to authorize its solicitor to appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania a lower court ruling that Emmaus firefighters have an unusual employment relationship with the borough allowing them to form a union and negotiate contracts. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call
It was nearly 100 degrees outside when the emergency call reached Engine Company 39. A triple-decker in Savin Hill had erupted in flames, and a haze of thick black smoke was all but blanketing the sky. Firefighter Glenn Preston, a burly father of four who had only recently returned to action after breaking his neck on the job, was among the first to arrive. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Magazine
New video shows Highland Park firefighters battling intense flames inside their own fire truck.
It happened last week near Woodward and 6 Mile in Detroit.
Highland Park Fire Chief Kevin Coney said fire officials were responding to numerous calls due to last week's wild wind storm.
Coney said their engine caught fire as they were returning from a scene assisting with downed power lines. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ-TV ABC Detroit
An 18-year-old from Harrisburg is facing charges for causing the crash that killed Lt. Dennis DeVoe of the Harrisburg Harrisburg Bureau of Fire.
Khanyae S. Kendall, of the 1900 block of Bellevue Road, faces more than a dozen charges, including six felonies and one count each of homicide by vehicle and homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, according to charging documents. - PUB DATE: 3/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: York Dispatch
A veteran of the Watertown fire department died today during a two-alarm blaze while helping rescue an elderly man, the man's niece and their dogs as flames shot out an upstairs window, city officials and a neighbor said. Joseph A. Toscano, 54, a firefighter with the department since Sept. 26, 1996 and a married father of five children, succumbed to injuries after rushing into the single-family home on Merrifield Avenue, the city's deputy fire chief said. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald
Two Snohomish County fire commissioners apologized Friday night for making racially insensitive comments when they joked about hiring “cheaper” Mexican laborers for a paramedic position. But an attempt to impose disciplinary action failed on a 2-2 tie vote by the commissioners for Fire District 1. Commissioner Jim Kenny asked that the two board members, David Chan and Bob Meador, receive a written reprimand. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times
A federal judge today ruled against Rivada Mercury’s protest against the FirstNet procurement protest, a move that is expected to set the stage for AT&T to be awarded the 25-year contract to build and maintain the much-anticipated nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan issued rulings denying Rivada Mercury’s motion to have the proposal from its bidding consortium considered in the “competitive range” stage of the procurement process for the FirstNet contract. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications
PHOTO - Two firefighters from the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department were injured Saturday morning after their tanker overturned while responding to a house fire in Huntingtown. The fire department reports both men have since been released from the hospital.
At about 8:10 a.m. March 18, deputies from the Calvert County Sheriff’s Office responded to Robinson Road in Huntingtown for an overturned tanker. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Southern Maryland Newspapers Online
Two Gibson County firefighters had a gun pulled on them after responding to a two car wreck in Kenton Saturday afternoon, police said.
Gibson County Fire Chief Bryan Cathey said a station chief was the first to respond to the wreck near Baseline Road and Morilla Road. The chief checked on a woman in a vehicle that had rolled over to make sure she wasn't trapped inside. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Jackson Sun
In an escalating legal feud over the investigation into the Ghost Ship tragedy, Alameda County prosecutors have tried without success in recent weeks to pry the completed draft report of the deadly fire from the city’s hands.
The District Attorney’s Office has been seeking the critical report for the past month from the Oakland Fire Department and City Attorney’s Office, and legal experts contacted for this story say the city’s delay in handing it over may violate the law. - PUB DATE: 3/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times
An FDNY paramedic was run over and killed with her own ambulance in The Bronx Thursday — when a man who had been joyriding on the rear bumper commandeered the vehicle.
EMT Yadira Arroyo, a mom of five, was crushed under the wheels after she and her partner tried to shoo the man off of the back of the ambulance on White Plains Road at about 7 p. - PUB DATE: 3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
Karen Brack, Charleston's first female fire chief, is stepping down after almost five years of work to modernize one of the nation's oldest departments.
"It is with very mixed feelings that I have made a personal decision to resign my position as Fire Chief effective April 7, 2017," Brack said in an email to firefighters Friday morning. - PUB DATE: 3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Post Courier
State lawmakers passed a bill Thursday to give firefighters special insurance in case they get cancer from the job.
Currently, firefighters who get sick may lose their jobs and health insurance.
"When we run into these houses to try and put out the fire to save lives, we're being exposed to very toxic carcinogens," said Capt. - PUB DATE: 3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wsbtv.com
A former Leander firefighter who refused to get a vaccination because of his religious beliefs has sued the city for firing him.
The termination came in March 2016, after firefighter Brett Horvath refused to get the vaccination or wear a surgical mask for his entire 24-hour shift or transfer to a “less desirable” position, said his lawyer, Matt Bachop. - PUB DATE: 3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My Statesman
