Six wildfire hotshots working a low-intensity fire suddenly found themselves in a whirl of flame and debris Tuesday, forcing them to deploy their emergency fire shelters and trapping them for 15 minutes, according to an investigative report the Bureau of Indian Affairs released Sunday. The six, who have not yet been identified, remained in radio contact even as a small tornado of fire swirled around them.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

A Memphis firefighter died in an off-duty incident Monday, marking the third such fatality in the department in recent weeks. According to an official of the firefighters union, Tina Mathenia, 46, was a 15-year veteran of the department. She appeared to have health issues, firefighters union head Thomas Malone said, that led to her death.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

It comes down to a lack of continuing training for firefighters and a complicated radio system they used on calls like the one on Dalhgren Street in Madisonville 15 months ago. A 350-page report, released Thursday, lays out how a fire combined with human error resulted in firefighter Daryl Gordon's death.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCPO-TV ABC 9 Cincinnati

A massive backyard party in Freetown that drew around 1,000 people prompted a local firefighter to rant on Facebook. Police broke up the bash and a few days later, the fire chief said, firefighter Kyle Grenier posted a racially charged message that said, "I can see the next fire call will be this house on fire and I'll make sure I can't find the hydrant lol.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

A suburban woman slapped a Chicago firefighter when he wouldn't let her ride a Divvy bike past a reversing fire truck, prosecutors said Wednesday. The 56-year-old fireman had stopped traffic near Wells and Van Buren streets about 4 p.m. Monday to accommodate a fire truck that was backing into the Chicago Fire Department station at 419 S.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: dnainfo.com

Longtime firefighter Mike Soltwisch says he is a lot more tired after doing CPR today than he was several years ago. He is not complaining. Soltwisch is now doing high-performance CPR, which, experts say, is saving more lives than the CPR protocols of the past. "It's more labor intensive," Soltwisch said.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Greensboro City Councilwoman Sharon Hightower boycotted a graduation ceremony last week for new firefighters. The reason? Not enough minority recruits in the class. Hightower, who represents District 1 in mostly black East Greensboro, said she skipped the graduation ceremony June 23 on purpose. She said Thursday that she was “very disappointed” to learn that only one of the 18 new firefighters is black.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: greensboro.com

An Irvington fire chief who stopped a man's vicious knife attack on his girlfriend last April has received national recognition for his heroism. Christopher T. DePaoli is one of 23 recipients of a medal for heroism from the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. DePaoli was with his two daughters near the Irvington train platform when he saw a man repeatedly stab a woman in the back and near area.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

They can't shake the images from their minds. Bodies and blood in a sea of chaos. Off-duty Orlando police Officer James Hyland was working private security the morning of June 12 when he heard the call over his radio. He drove his pickup truck into the parking lot as terrified patrons spilled out of Pulse nightclub about 2 a.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: cnn

An EMT and former military police officer videotaped himself swallowing a bullet with a beer chaser before prosecutors say he fatally shot a rookie Stoneham firefighter at point-blank range during a drunken game of dare between friends. When first responders found David Atherton, 24, dead on his back and drenched in blood late Tuesday night on the kitchen floor of his Congress Street apartment in Stoneham, authorities said his childhood pal Patrick Riccardi-O’Connor told them through tears Atherton had killed himself after asking him, “Do you trust me?” “They were drinking in the deceased’s home.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston herald

VIDEO - It was a ride at least a dozen passengers on board the Silver Bullet say they'll never forgot. Just as the Frontier City roller coaster reached the top, something went wrong. Frontier City told News 9 a malfunction was the result of the lift stalling Wednesday afternoon. The car simply didn't have enough momentum to make it over the first hill.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KWTV-TV Oklahoma City

A woman walking around Beaver Creek Reservoir Tuesday evening died after being struck by a Green Springs Volunteer Fire Department truck. The Seneca County Sheriff’s office, who is handling the investigation into the death, has not released her identity pending positive identification by the woman's husband.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sandusky register

A member of the Dakota City Fire Department has died after suffering a heart attack while in the line of duty. Capt. Eric Speck, 38, died Monday after suffering from a heart attack on Thursday after responding to a medical call. Dakota City Fire Chief Clint Rasmussen said Speck had been complaining of chest pains during the call and traveled to the hospital afterward, where it was found he had suffered a heart attack.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sioux city journal

A member of the Dakota City Fire Department has died after suffering a heart attack while in the line of duty. Capt. Eric Speck, 38, died Monday after suffering from a heart attack on Thursday after responding to a medical call. Dakota City Fire Chief Clint Rasmussen said Speck had been complaining of chest pains during the call and traveled to the hospital afterward, where it was found he had suffered a heart attack.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sioux city journal

Akron will no longer use a test for fire department promotions. The city will instead rely on education and seniority. A three-year contract recently approved by the fire union includes a new promotional process that is aimed at avoiding a repeat of years of legal challenges over promotional tests that caused a depletion of the department’s ranks.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: akron beacon journal

Six firefighters were transported to the hospital after deploying their fire shelters while battling the Cedar Fire near Show Low on Tuesday. There was a sudden and unexpected change in the fire, according to Candy Lupe with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Fire Management. A group of fire crews had to deploy their fire shelters.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KASW-CW6 & KTVK-3TV

The absence of volunteers at the Colonial Volunteer Fire Co. has led to fire apparatus being unable to respond to emergency calls during the evening and overnight hours recently, officials say and documents show. The turnout has been so low in the past few months that the company's volunteer fire chief, Joseph Scharnitz Jr.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

Donald Farley, leader of the Bristol Fire Department’s Swift Water Rescue team, had barely made it into Rainelle when he ran out of road. Little Sewell Creek had already enveloped the small town in Greenbrier County with four to eight feet of muddy, turbulent water, leaving the few local emergency officials that were available nearly helpless.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Gazette-Mail

A veteran Austintown firefighter died while on duty Monday morning. John Fritz, a member of the Austintown Fire Department since 1992, is believed to have died in his sleep at Austintown Fire Station #1. Fritz was working a 24 hour shift which started at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Fire Chief Andrew Frost.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMJ-TV Youngstown NBC 21

VIDEO - A 27-year-old man broke into a firehouse, crashed through the bay doors and took a stolen fire truck speeding through Paulding County. Firefighters at Station #3 were participating in a training session a few blocks from the firehouse Monday morning when Paulding County Fire Dispatch started receiving unauthorized distress transmissions over the department's secure radio network.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta