NFPA has issued a firefighter protective hood safety bulletin as the fire service grapples with PPE contaminants and increases in job-related cancer.
Firefighters and their PPE are exposed to a wide range of toxins. According to a study by the CDC and NIOSH, firefighters have a higher chance of developing more than a dozen different cancers than the general population. - PUB DATE: 1/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association
VIDEO - A lame-brained FDNY emergency medical technician drove without his hands as he goofed around inside a city ambulance — and his partner was dumb enough to record the dangerous shenanigans.
The 25-second clip shows medic Eric Stone bopping and singing to the rock band Bowling For Soup’s song “1985,” as his partner, Sebastian Vazquez, shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head in mock disgust. - PUB DATE: 1/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
Hours after the son of San Bernardino County’s fire chief was found dead in Lake Arrowhead early Sunday morning, a hashtag emerged to remember the 20-year-old’s love of the outdoors, adventure and his family and friends.
“Dawson was a man among men. His love of others made the world a better place. Family loved him deeply & will miss him dearly #LoveLikeDawson,” tweeted his father Mark Hartwig late Sunday night. - PUB DATE: 1/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
When you join the ranks of the Houston Fire Department, you also know the dangers.
"We fear the red car," Melanie Willingham said. "That red car that pulls up to tell you bad news."
Sometimes it's the most unexpected calls that change lives forever.
"You always think it's going to be the big fires that are going to get you or do the most damage, but we tend to forget it's the little ones that can sneak up and get us," Cpt. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 13 Houston
A Henrico County firefighter has been reassigned after she was arrested for rioting in Washington DC on Inauguration Day.
Court documents stated Rosa Roncales was a part of an anarchist group that disrupted inauguration events by smashing windows and setting things on fire.
Roncales was charged with felony rioting in connection to the incidents that caused in excess of $100,000, according to court documents. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVR-TV CBS 6
PHOTO - A Grand Rapids man is jailed awaiting arraignment on Thursday after police said he sets fires, tried to break into a pharmacy and rammed an Emmett Township fire engine just before midnight Monday.
Court records show Kenneth H. Smith Jr., 30, is being held and should be arraigned in Calhoun County District Court on Thursday afternoon. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WZZM-TV Grand Rapids 13
While firefighters were busy rescuing a man from a burning building in Jersey City Thursday, a shameless burglar saw an opportunity.
Firefighters returned to their firehouse at 468 Ocean Ave. Thursday night after responding to a two-alarm blaze and discovered electronics and wallets were missing, according to ABC New York. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com
Investigators used the data from a Middletown man’s pacemaker to help get an indictment in a fire that caused about $400,000 in damages.
Ross Compton, 59, has been indicted on felony charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud for allegedly starting the fire on Sept. 19 at his Court Donegal house. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dayton Daily News
Hearts were heavy across the Wichita firefighter community on Wednesday as news of the death of one of their own began to settle in.
Collis Grisby, a graduate of Northwest High School and a longtime member of the Wichita Fire Department, died unexpectedly this week, according to the department.
According to several of his colleagues, Grisby, 53, was not only a fearless and selfless firefighter, he was also one of the most popular people in the department. - PUB DATE: 1/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wichita Eagle
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to sponsor state legislation to change a law that bars paramedics from taking patients to mental health urgent care and sobering centers.
Under the law, which was branded as “outdated” by one county official, paramedics are required to take patients with psychiatric needs only to hospital emergency departments or 9-1-1 receiving units. - PUB DATE: 1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
VIDEO - Firefighters battled a massive, 3-alarm fire in Lynnwood Wednesday night.
The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. near 19800 Scribes Lake Road, between 196th St. SW and 200th St. SW. Crews said the apartment complex was under construction and was unoccupied.
"Right now they're using defensing methods to keep the fire isolated to the construction site," said Julie Moore, Lynnwood Fire PIO. - PUB DATE: 1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000
Mountain View Fire Rescue's Board of Directors on Monday night unanimously approved a separation agreement with fire Chief Mark Lawley a year before his contract was set to expire and appointed David Beebe as the interim chief.
The decisions were made almost simultaneously following an hour-long executive session at the board's monthly meeting. - PUB DATE: 1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse
A rookie Los Angeles firefighter's attempt to connect with a man proved to be life-saving when the man safely surrendered after threatening to jump off a freeway overpass.
Kenneth Fraser was driving home Tuesday night from training as a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter when he noticed people crowded around a man on the 101 Freeway overpass in Hollywood. - PUB DATE: 1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles
The St. Louis Fire Department has launched an internal investigation into one of its employees after FOX25 Investigates uncovered inconsistencies in the first responder's story that he rushed to the scene of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Investigative Reporter Eric Rasmussen traveled to St. Louis to get answers after paramedics in Boston and Missouri contacted FOX25 about Shawn Daniel, who was recently honored at a St. - PUB DATE: 1/26/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV Fox 25 Boston
A former employee with the state's Fire Training Safety Bureau was arrested Tuesday after investigators determined that more than 2,000 fire safety certifications had been improperly issued between 2012 and 2016, according to a news release by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
John McPhee was charged with felonious misconduct in office, a Class D felony, and tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Des Moines Register
Federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint Monday naming EMSA and its director, Stephen Williamson, in an alleged kickback scheme regarding a lucrative ambulance services provider contract.
The complaint, filed in federal court in the eastern district of Texas, claims that a Texas hospital and ambulance provider, Paramedics Plus LLC, entered into a kickback scheme to obtain and retain a lucrative public ambulance services contract awarded by Williamson and the Emergency Medical Services Authority, a public trust that administers the ambulance service in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tulsa World
Murrieta Fire Department engineer Mike Macalinao and captains Sean DeGrave and Todd Bradstreet are certified swiftwater rescue technicians who each have trained for the risky missions for more than 10 years.
They all have performed water rescues. But none, they said, matched the situation they encountered Sunday, Jan. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Bernardino County Sun
One person was killed during a crash involving a fire truck and a van on I-90 in Rocky River, which also ultimately resulted in the hit-skip death of a Cleveland police officer.
The fire truck was on scene assisting in a single-vehicle accident when a white van crashed into the back of the truck. The driver of the van, 29-year-old Artem Vytiegov of San Francisco, was pronounced dead on scene. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland CBS 19
Federal workers scrambled on Tuesday to interpret how President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze of civilian employees might affect seasonal firefighters and other part-time employees.
Trump’s order, issued Monday, stated “no vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Billings Gazette
Portsmouth will give police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers $1,000 apiece to keep working in the city.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to give the one-time stipend next month to those employees, as well as paramedics and dispatchers. The proposal, submitted to the council by human resources director Elizabeth Gooden, says Portsmouth will spend about $860,000 on the incentive without adding to its operating budget. - PUB DATE: 1/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot/HamptonRoads.com
