New disciplinary actions issued at the Austin Fire Department last week have brought the total of fire personnel who were suspended over traffic incidents this month to 16, a number the union president described as part of an “over-punishing environment” at the department.
Each suspension has been for only a matter of hours. - PUB DATE: 10/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin American-Statesman
VIDEO - Riding in a ladder truck bucket 67 feet in the air, Newberry Township volunteer firefighter Cody Zinn kept repeating the same thing.
"Holy crap," said the 21-year-old as smoke from the home below reached high above his head.
Zinn, who has cerebral palsy, was surprised with the ride in the ladder truck by Don Young, the assistant chief of the department. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today
A black Boston Fire Department inspector filed a lawsuit against the Boston Red Sox on Friday, six months after a black co-worker sued the team over an incident in which both men allege they were denied entry to Fenway Park to perform a safety inspection because of their race.
Rhoan Dalmar, a city fire marshal, filed the civil complaint in Suffolk Superior Court. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Globe
A trail that will lead visitors to the site where 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots died fighting the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire is now nearly complete.
Arizona State Parks officials reported this week that the Yarnell park that will honor the fallen Hotshots is expected to be finished and open to the public by late November. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Courier
An investigative team with the Nebraska State Fire Marshal's Office says a living room fireplace is what started a fire that killed all six members of the Speer family on October 20th. Mike and Michelle Speer, with their four children all died in the blaze. A family member said firefighters found each of their bodies in beds. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KETV-TV ABC 7 Omaha
A heartbroken dad whose son was killed in a fiery head-on collision on Interstate 495 in Middleboro said "I love them all" as he spoke of his boy and three college buddies who died in a midnight crash police said was caused by a wrong-way driver. State police said the Sable was struck head-on by a 31-year-old woman behind the wheel of a 2011 Infiniti G37 headed southbound on northbound I-495 just after midnight yesterday. - PUB DATE: 10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
A body recovered Saturday in western Grant County was identified as the King County firefighter missing since last Saturday, authorities said.
There were no signs of foul play, sheriff’s deputies said.
Ken Ward, 43, was last seen October 15 in Roslyn, Wash. Dozens of people joined the statewide search. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7
A tour bus returning from a casino crashed into the rear of a semi-tractor trailer on Sunday near Palm Springs, California, killing 13 people and injuring 31 others, according to state police.
The bus driver was among those killed and the truck driver was injured, California Highway Patrol division Chief Jim Abele said at a press conference. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN
The call woke Jess McLean about 2:30 a.m.
His boss wanted to know whether he could help with a fire, even though it was his day off.
It’s a big one, Capt. Mark Loutzenhiser told McLean, Engine 57’s fire engine operator.
McLean, always eager to help, turned to his wife, Karen.
“Can I go?” he asked. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Redlands Daily Facts
A Boston firefighter is diagnosed with cancer every three weeks, the city’s fire commissioner, Joseph E. Finn, said in a keynote address at a conference in Nashville.
Speaking at the annual Firehouse Expo on Thursday, Finn said the Fire Department is working hard to reduce cancer risks among firefighters, according to Firehouse. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Globe
Seven Midtown firefighters have been disciplined for violating the FDNY’s “zero tolerance” hazing policy, The Post has learned.
Five firefighters and two officers at Engine 40-Ladder 35 near Lincoln Center — a firehouse that goes by the nickname “The Cavemen” — allegedly ridiculed an African-American member, sources said. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
Will the real, um, no, the fake Chief Don Bock please stand up?
Commissioners on the Key Largo Fire-Rescue and Emergency Medical Services District want to know who has been calling the U.S. Department of Labor pretending to be the chief and telling the feds that the handful of paid members on the volunteer fire department are breaking the law by covering some volunteer shifts. - PUB DATE: 10/24/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Keys Reporter
Thomas Graydon says he must have fought back for his firefighters one too many times.
The South Weber fire chief was forced out Monday night by Mayor Tammy Long after a conflict between Graydon and City Manager Tom Smith over the handling of a firefighter disciplinary case.
In an interview Wednesday evening, Graydon unleashed a series of complaints about Long, Smith and city council member Marlene Poore and described the South Weber City work environment as “toxic” under its current leadership. - PUB DATE: 10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ogden Standard-Examiner
As a member of the volunteer fire department in the tiny northwestern Minnesota town of Ada, Randy Peterson has a routine when his pager goes off. He checks to see if his kids are at home.
At 10 p.m. Sunday, when he was called to a two-vehicle crash with one car on fire in the neighboring town of Borup, Peterson had a sinking feeling. - PUB DATE: 10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star Tribune
Edward Hutchinson wants to make a fitting exit after more than six decades as fire chief.
“I want to get on a horse and ride off like John Wayne into the sunset, and wave,” said Hutchinson, who will turn 95 in November. “I want a little humor.”
The man popularly known as “Hutch” will not run for a 22nd term, leaving the fire department to find another leader for the first time since 1953. - PUB DATE: 10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Casper Fire Chief Kenneth King announced his retirement Wednesday, hours after apologizing for sending an email asking an investigator to delete “bad parts” from video evidence of the Cole Creek Fire.
King will step down Jan. 2, 2018, the city announced. City Manager V.H. McDonald received and accepted his retirement letter Wednesday. - PUB DATE: 10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Casper Star-Tribune
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has received a significant grant award as part of the Motorola Solutions Foundation’s public safety grant award program. The grant will make it possible for the IAFC to provide a fifth year of the highly successful Fire Service Executive Development Institute (FSEDI). - PUB DATE: 10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs
A brand new lieutenant in the Portland Fire Bureau acted heroically and put his life at risk Wednesday morning to save lives when an explosion destroyed a building and injured several people, the bureau’s fire chief said.
Chief Mike Myers said during an afternoon news conference that Lt. Peter St. John was injured in the explosion and had been taken to a hospital. - PUB DATE: 10/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KATU-TV ABC 2 Portland
A brand new lieutenant in the Portland Fire Bureau acted heroically and put his life at risk Wednesday morning to save lives when an explosion destroyed a building and injured several people, the bureau’s fire chief said.
Chief Mike Myers said during an afternoon news conference that Lt. Peter St. John was injured in the explosion and had been taken to a hospital. - PUB DATE: 10/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KATU-TV ABC 2 Portland
Active duty Yonkers Fire Lt. John "J-Rod" Rodriguez died Tuesday night from a 9/11-related cancer. He was 53 years old.
Rodriguez leaves behind a wife and two children.
"John Rodriguez was first and foremost a family man, a loving and devoted husband and proud father," said Yonkers Fire Union President Barry McGoey, who joined the department with Rodriguez in October 2000. - PUB DATE: 10/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)
