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National Fire News

New Wisconsin mobile clinic treats firefighters on scene

A new mobile rehabilitation clinic in Rock County is helping emergency responders stay safe and healthy while on the job. “We have about 100 fire service-related deaths on duty in the country,” Mercy Health Associate EMS Medical Director Christopher Wistrom said. “That’s unacceptable.” Town of Beloit Fire Chief Gene Wright said more than half of those deaths are from overexertion or heart attack.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

Denver Fire Department sued by former captain on gender discrimination allegations

A former Denver fire captain is suing the city with allegations of gender discrimination. In her federal lawsuit, Colley Fisher said she worked for the Denver Fire Department for 23 years. During her tenure, she said she became one of the department’s first female engineers before eventually being promoted to captain.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMGH-TV ABC 7 Denver

VIDEO: California fire, police depts. dance to raise funds for girl with cerebral palsy

Fire and police departments are dancing to raise surgery funds for a 2-year-old girl with cerebral palsy. Finley Smallwood, 2, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being born nine weeks premature. Her parents, Christina and Josh Smallwood, adopted Finley at birth when they learned pregnancy could be difficult and risky.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

California firefighters ordered to remove 'blue line' police flag from engine

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department firefighters at a Moreno Valley station were ordered Monday, July 18, to take down a pro-law enforcement flag from one of the engines. The flag - which was black and white with a blue stripe through the middle - features the "thin blue line," which is commonly used to commemorate fallen police officers.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the press enterprise

Pennsylvania Court: Fire chief's cancer death unrelated to firefighting, denies workers comp to widow

A Commonwealth Court panel has ruled the widow of a Williamsport fire chief who died from gastric cancer is not entitled workers' compensation benefits that would amount to about $40,000 a year. The panel Monday in a 2-1 decision found the October 2011 death of Platoon Chief Jeffrey Cole was not related to cancers suffered by firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pennlive.com

Board upholds Georgia firefighters' terminations

Augusta’s personnel board has upheld the terminations of two firefighters who admitted picking up items from a Columbia County wreck scene. After a two-hour hearing Wednesday, the board quickly voted 8-0 to affirm. Member J.R. Riles said the board wanted to send a message. “The fire department and the police department, you’ve got to be able to trust them to take care of your personal stuff when you’re in a difficult situation,” Riles said.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: augusta chronicle

New York firefighters’ union claims members were ordered to work on community garden

In the latest volley involving a two-year contract dispute, the city and the firefighters’ union are squabbling over whether firefighters were forced to work on a new community garden located behind the South Massey Street fire station. The Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191 filed an improper practice charge with the state Public Employees Relation Board against the city, claiming firefighters were told by the city that they must work on the vegetable garden behind the city’s Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: watertown daily times

Nashville district chief in trouble for Facebook comments

A Nashville district fire chief is in trouble after several of his Facebook posts were published on a local blog. District Chief Tim Lankford has been pulled from the field and is now doing administrative work while the Nashville Fire Department continues its investigation. In a letter to Lankford from Deputy Director Steve Holt, the department began investigating when the posts were published on the blog EastNashville.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKRN-TV ABC 2 Nashville

Empty fire station upsets California desert town

A woman was seriously burned and a home was destroyed in the small desert community of Shelter Valley on Tuesday after it took firefighters roughly 30 minutes to respond because the local Cal Fire station was virtually unmanned. Residents say the Shelter Valley station has been mostly empty the past few weeks and they’ve been told the situation won’t change for a while because of staffing shortages.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the san diego union-tribune

New Dallas Fire-Rescue chief speaks about taking office days after ambush

A new fire chief took office last week just days after five police officers were killed in an ambush and the city was reeling from tragedy. “You don’t expect to get hired on a job and have five funerals to attend immediately, and that’s heart-wrenching,” said enw Chief David Coatney. Coatney was hired as chief of Dallas Fire-Rescue after serving as the chief for Round Rock near Austin.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth

Alaska fire chief who lost home in fire abruptly resigns

The small Susitna Valley city of Houston lost its top emergency official this month when Fire Chief Tom Hood abruptly resigned with just two days' notice. Houston, the only place in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough where marijuana businesses are currently allowed, is a city of more than 2,000 residents but no active police department.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: alaska dispatch news

Orlando fire chief defends crew's refusal to open station's doors for Pulse victims

The Orlando fire chief is defending his crew inside Station Five, after an Orlando officer wrote in an incident report that he saw several wounded Pulse victims not being let into the fire station. Chief Roderick Williams said that one of the ironies of having the station so close to Pulse, was the area was considered part of the crime scene.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Click Orlando

No action against New Jersey chief for music video shot at firehouse

VIDEO - Hightstown will not take any action against its fire chief in connection with a hip hop video shot at the borough's firehouse recently, the mayor said Tuesday. Mayor Lawrence Quattrone said the matter was settled at a borough council meeting Monday night. The mayor declined to offer any other comment, saying it was a non issue.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

Massachusetts homeowner who blocked firefighters gets probation

A Mendon man was placed on probation Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of obstructing firefighters' efforts to put out a blaze that leveled his home last year. David W. Cheschi, 51, formerly of 138 Blackstone St., Mendon, was placed on probation for three years after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to charges of interfering with firefighters, obstructing firefighting efforts and resisting arrest.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Michigan fire chief inspired firefighters; Longtime department veteran dies at 55

Ingham Township Fire Chief Tim Whipple, who died Saturday at 55, is being remembered as a dedicated community servant and a leader who inspired his fellow firefighters. “These guys would follow him to the ends of the Earth because of the amount of trust they had for him,” said Delhi Township Fire Chief Brian Ball, who knew Whipple for 20 years.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: lansing state journal

Florida town mourns death of firefighter, 32

City officials are mourning the loss of city firefighter Joseph DeMarinis, a Marine Corps veteran who died at age 32 last week. DeMarinis died Thursday of a "cardiac event" surrounded by his immediate relatives and members of his Clermont Fire Department family, according to the city. DeMarinis had been with the Clermont department since August 2014 and was assigned to Station 3.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: orlando sentinel

Historic Virginia fire station’s future hangs on question of response times

Arlington’s Fire Station 8 has stood along Lee Highway for nearly a century, founded by African American volunteers who feared that white emergency crews would not protect them or their homes. The county wants to replace the cramped, outdated facility with a modern one farther north, where response times lag well behind the county standard.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Washington Post - metered site

VIDEO: Idaho construction workers jump to safety from burning scissor lift basket

Two construction workers had to jump to safety after a welding blanket caught fire on a scissor lift basket at the new Simplot headquarters in downtown Boise. Boise Fire says the construction workers were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns, but were released on scene. "They were on the lift and it was a long ways for them to be able to make it over to the side of the building to jump off," Boise Fire safety spokesman Jason Lewis said.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KBCI-TV 2 Boise

New York firefighters union urges caution to members after social media threats

Buffalo firefighters are being urged by their union and the New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association (NYSPFFA) to be cautious, after the state association found threatening comments against firefighters on social media. The NYSPFFA says the threats come from a subject claiming to be from an extremist group, but the group has not been named.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBW-TV ABC 7 Buffalo

California fire chief is the Russian River’s indomitable force

Flames appeared out the front of Guerneville’s downtown medical clinic as the first fire engine arrived. Monte Rio Fire Chief Steve Baxman, in his pickup, pulled up just behind the Guerneville engine and as the highest-ranking fireman, took control. He sent firefighters inside and up ladders to the roof while others tried to salvage medical supplies.
- PUB DATE: 7/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the press democrat

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