The day after a Canby Park blaze killed two firefighters, the Wilmington Fire Department suspended a controversial program in which a fire truck was taken out of service on a particular day to save on overtime costs.
Although no link was found, a fire engine nearest to the Sept. 24 deadly blaze had been placed out of service that day. - PUB DATE: 11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilmington News Journal
Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow is preparing to replace the city's fire department chief after a contentious year between the two that included battles over layoffs and overtime expenses.
Barlow said he has no ill will toward Oswego Fire Department Chief Jeff McCrobie, just the culture he's created. Barlow is referring to the chief's former policy of prioritizing senior firefighters when offering overtime shifts, which is pricier for taxpayers in the long run. - PUB DATE: 11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRVO Public Media
Facebook messages posted by a member of Sacramento Metro Fire have been widely received as offensive and racist.
Don Martin, a Sac Metro Engineer, posted a message in August that said in part:
"Integrate the border with prisons…and shooting ranges…allowing American citizens to hone their skills…our tag line: illegal immigrants welcome. - PUB DATE: 11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTXL-TV Fox 40 Sacramento
When Pete Andrews became an Omaha firefighter in 1995, he says he was one of 42 black firefighters.
In 2016 that number has dwindled to 34, which is a little more than 5 percent of the force. And there are no black firefighters ranked above captain.
Andrews, who leads the Omaha Association of Black Professional Firefighters, says that’s a problem. - PUB DATE: 11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald
The former chief of the Sterling Fire Department pleaded guilty last week to theft over $20,000 — a felony — and first-degree official misconduct following accusations he stole more than $120,000 over several years while leading the force.
Kurt Vogel, who was fired from his most recent job as head of the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District following his August arrest in the case, also agreed to pay back all of the money and give back the items he stole, prosecutors say. - PUB DATE: 11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Denver Post
Five children were killed and more than 30 others injured, some critically, in a school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Monday afternoon, officials said.
Twenty-three of the 37 students on-board the bus were transported to area hospitals, according to Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher. The immediate cause of the crash was unknown, but no other vehicles were involved, police said. - PUB DATE: 11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News
The city of Bloomington has discovered that its firefighters have been paid on the wrong overtime system, leading many to be underpaid by thousands of dollars.
The men and women who put their lives on the line every day thought they were being paid incorrectly, and they were right. Chief Jason Moore said it was one of the first things his employees told him about when he took over this year, and he worked with the city to confirm their suspicions. - PUB DATE: 11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis
The FDNY is unveiling a new way to resolve problematic workplace disputes — let members handle some issues themselves.
Under the new equal employment opportunity policy, the FDNY is training some 35 volunteers from all its ranks — including EMS, fire marshals, firefighters and its high-ranking officers — to be a resource for those needing help with on-the-job problems. - PUB DATE: 11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News
The burn boss scanned the snaking trail of the Swasey Recreation Area through thick black sunglasses.
She saw firefighters scurrying on a hill above in a smoky blue haze. They were setting dozens of fires to burn away piles of sticks and shrubs that a lightning strike or cigarette butt could use to grow into a wildfire. - PUB DATE: 11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Marin Independent Journal
Picture the next major American city to go bankrupt. What springs to mind? Probably not the swagger and sprawl of Dallas. Indeed. Dallas has the fastest economic growth of the nation’s 13 largest cities. Its streets hum with supersize cars and its skyline bristles with cranes. Its mayor is a former chief executive of Pizza Hut. - PUB DATE: 11/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Times
A firefighter has died after attempting to save several people who fell from a collapsed ramp into the Savannah River on Saturday.
The incident happened off of River Street where, WSAV reports, a ramp collapsed into the water.
As many as 55 people were involved and 30 injuries reported. Of those 13 were hospitalized. - PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta
An air-ambulance plane taking a heart-disease patient to a Utah hospital crashed in a parking lot in northern Nevada, killing all four people aboard and sending up explosions and flames.
Three crew members and a patient were killed in the Friday night crash in Elko, American Medflight said Saturday in a statement. - PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News
Firefighters in a firetruck pick up a drunken, off-duty fellow fireman who was walking from Columbia’s St. Pat’s Festival. They ferry him to a nearby fire station that has a frat house reputation, where he causes trouble.
A fire captain gooses a young firefighter and dismisses it as typical horseplay. - PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The State
Officials in West Texas are investigating whether procedures were followed after a 3-year-old girl was found in the back of a smashed vehicle hours after she was injured in a car accident.
A tow truck driver found the girl Monday while taking the vehicle to a wrecking yard after the accident in Odessa, KOSA-TV (CBS 7) reported. - PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News
The newly-minted class of FDNY probationary firefighters includes an unprecedented nine rookie Bravest with felony convictions, including one who did jail time for gun possession, insiders told The Post.
The nine ex-felons, all minorities, were among 295 probies who graduated from the Fire Academy on Nov. - PUB DATE: 11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
El Paso Fire Chief Samuel Peña has been tapped as Houston's new fire chief, replacing Interim Fire Chief Rodney West, sources said Thursday.
Peña, 45, has led El Paso's fire department for three years.
If approved by City Council, he would come to Houston in the midst of a contentious fire pension negotiation and as firefighters continue to voice concern about aging facilities and calls for new equipment. - PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle
Phoenix Fire Department crews were on the scene of a large debris fire at a metal recycling plant near 35th Avenue and Broadway Road Thursday afternoon.
Capt. Rob McDade said this was a defensive fire.
McDade said crews were able to set up ladder trucks on two sides of the fire to get water on it.
The scrapyard crane operators moved large pieces of metal so firefighters could reach the core of the fire. - PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 5 AZ KPHO
It was standing room only Monday night as Slatington Borough residents and fire department supporters spilled into the borough council’s meeting room’s hallway.
Over three quarters of the Slatington Volunteer Fire Department showed up to the council meeting to request former chief Keith Weaver be reinstatedafter being removed last month. - PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times News
A good deed goes wrong after an off-duty firefighter was held at gunpoint and had his car stolen while helping car crash victims.
"I was kind of awestruck that someone would actually pull a gun or a weapon on our person," said Mark Lawson, Merced Co. Fire Division Chief.
The Merced County Sheriff's Department said the collision occurred a little after 8 a. - PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFSN-TV ABC 30 Frenso/Visalia
When a couple got married last week, they had the most unexpected wedding crashers: firefighters.
Newlyweds Allison Russoniello and Kevin Duffy were celebrating their wedding last Friday when they were told the building had to be evacuated due to a strange burning smell. It was later discovered the smell was from a faulty refrigerator compressor. - PUB DATE: 11/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1
