The hoverboard was plugged into an outlet by the front door next to an overstuffed chair, where a child sat. The child's father was nearby, relaxing on a couch. That's when both of them heard crackling noises and, saw smoke. Within moments, the hoverboard had "exploded fiercely," blocking their way out of the front door, said Fire Chief Brian Enterline.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

VIDEO - One volunteer was suspended and five paid part-time firefighters with the Westfield Fire Department were fired Monday after a video surfaced on Snapchat and showed a firefighter strapped to a backboard and being doused with water and covered with several condiments. KPRC then showed the video to Westfield Fire Chief Stephen Whitehead, who said it appears the incident took place at the department’s main fire station on Lauder Road.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

The last three days had two Pike County EMS employees on pins and needles as they awaited answers regarding their suspension last week for helping a dog injured in a fatal wreck. Nick Farmer and Tyler Wessel were placed on paid administrative leave after taking a seriously injured dog to a Portsmouth animal clinic for treatment after a Wednesday crash.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Huber Heights Marion Star

Emmaus residents could pay 10 times more for firefighters' salaries if the latest court decision in a three-and-half-year legal battle proves to be the final word. The unique relationship between Emmaus and the borough's paid firefighters gives the latterthe ability to unionize under state law, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Monday.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Morning Call

The firefighter struck by a driver charged with DUI on his way to Friday's deadly fire in Harrisburg has died. Chief Brian Enterline said Dennis DeVoe, a 21-year member of Harrisburg fire service, passed away this evening from injuries suffered Friday night while responding to the fire in the 2500 block of Lexington Street.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

Portland Fire & Rescue Chief Mike Myers, responding to citizen complaints, has suspended operations of an emergency medical team deployed with police at protests since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Myers acted because of complaints that emergency medical technicians were dressed identically to Portland police riot officers with whom they were embedded - though the Fire Bureau employees were unarmed.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Oregonian, Hillsboro Argus, Oregon Live.com

In the 1970s, firefighters called it "firehouse roulette." Now, some 40 years later, some municipal leaders continue to gamble as they close down engine companies for budgetary reasons or during staffing shortages. The process, called "browning out," refers to the temporary closing, usually on a shift-by-shift basis, of one fire station or piece of apparatus.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram

After her home north of Hutchinson escaped destruction by only a few narrow feet in Monday’s wildfire, Danielle Tajchman joked that her pet cows had saved it. After all, Scott and Danielle Tajchman had been heavily watering their lawn before the fire because their two pet cows had developed a taste for lawn grass.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Wichita Eagle

The Hartford released its ranking of the 100 U.S. cities with the highest home fire risk this week. According to The Hartford Home Fire Index, the top five cities are: Detroit, Michigan; Shreveport, Louisiana; Boston, Massachusetts; Flint, Michigan and Richmond, Virginia. The index is based on an analysis of the U.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A specialized team is credited with rescuing a DeKalb firefighter after he fell through the floor while battling a two alarm blaze in Panthersville. The fire happened at Hidden Villas apartments in the 2900 block of Panthersville Road late Thursday night. Fire crews at the scene initially attempted an "offensive attack" of the flames but backed off as the fire grew.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

Stationing firefighters and medics 24 hours a day at Trump Tower costs New York City taxpayers $4.5 million a year — none of which has been reimbursed to the FDNY, agency officials said Thursday at the City Council. A pair of firefighters constantly monitors the alarm panel of President Donald Trump’s namesake building and investigates alerts, said FDNY chief of department James E.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NewsDay

The widow of a volunteer fire chief has won another shot at securing workers compensation benefits on a claim that her husband contracted fatal cancer from the smoke and diesel fumes he inhaled during decades on duty. Cheryl Steele got that second chance Wednesday when a state Commonwealth Court panel ordered the state Workers Compensation Appeals Board to reconsider its refusal to award her benefits for the August 2011 death of her husband, Roy.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLIve

Mass-casualty training at Keesler Air Force Base two months ago gave Biloxi firefighters and police the chance to practice responding to a train crash. The first-responders couldn’t know they would soon be responding to an actual train-charter bus crash that killed four people and critically injured eight of the 49 passengers.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Herald

Nearly a year after the village cut all eight of its paid firefighters, officials finally released documentation that drove that controversial decision — kind of. When the village voted to go to an all-volunteer department last May, it claimed to have 300 volunteer firefighters, a number that was cited to justify the change.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

The two areas of greatest impact on the fire service are going to come in personnel management and professional development. We are about to face the biggest transition in personnel in the past 25 years. As we all know, firefighters retire in bunches; the difference now is in the type of employees our officers will be tasked with managing.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A Miami defense lawyer’s pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case. Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire, had been fiddling in his pocket as he was about to address jurors when smoke began billowing out his right pocket, witnesses told the Miami Herald.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

Dramatic footage released by a Florida fire department shows the moment a backdraft injured two firefighters. The fire happened Monday morning in a West Palm Beach neighborhood. According to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the fire started in the garage of the home. When firefighters arrived they were told the family’s cats may still be inside.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC4i.com

Mayor Scott Eisenhauer proposed laying off 16 firefighters at a Tuesday night budget meeting as a result of a contract arbitration decision. Eisenhauer, who described the cuts as a "harsh" plan, proposed reducing fire department personnel from 42 to 26 after learning earlier in the day that the city lost an arbitration decision on the firefighters' contract regarding minimum manning and salaries.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Champaign News-Gazette

A new analysis says San Diego needs to build at least 10 additional fire stations and embrace new emergency response methods to adequately serve the sprawling and increasingly congested city. The new emergency response methods, primarily two-man “fast response” squads and additional engine companies during peak hours, can help meet response time goals in many areas, but won’t eliminate the need for the new stations.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

A Miami defense lawyer’s pants burst into flames Wednesday afternoon as he began his closing arguments in front of a jury — in an arson case. Stephen Gutierrez, who was arguing that his client’s car spontaneously combusted and was not intentionally set on fire, had been fiddling in his pocket as he was about to address jurors when smoke began billowing out his right pocket, witnesses told the Miami Herald.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald