On July 13 the U.S. House of Representatives adopted an amendment increasing funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program from $13 million to $15 million.
The amendment was offered by Reps Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) to the FY2017 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1
The first national system intended to prevent hobby drones from interfering with planes and helicopters fighting wildfires has launched, federal authorities say.
The U.S. Interior Department announced the kickoff of the pilot project Monday that uses a smartphone app and real-time wildfire information to create virtual boundaries, or geofences, that drones can't cross. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPVI-TV NBC 6
One city firefighter has been fired and two others have been suspended from their jobs.
City officials said the termination of firefighter Scott Graham stemmed from an arrest last fall. Firefighters Todd Guertin and Daniel Goudreault have been placed on unpaid leave while the city investigates alleged improprieties. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: eagle-tribune
The city of Woodbury has filed a lawsuit against a former firefighter to get him to stop using pictures allegedly identifying himself as a Woodbury firefighter on the website of a nonprofit company that he started. The lawsuit, filed in Washington County District Court against William Braun and EdQuest Inc. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press
The death of Sonia Bray and the Columbus Fire Division's subsequent investigation of paramedics’ role have exposed weaknesses in the division’s ability to hold its employees accountable when they make mistakes.
The Dispatch found that the division’s investigation into why Bray died in early 2011 went dormant for nearly a year, that internal investigators were unwilling to ask necessary questions and that a turnover in investigators led to light punishments for two paramedics and a lieutenant. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: columbus dispatch
VIDEO - For Kim Bonney, becoming a firefighter was always the plan.
At age 16 she started working as a call firefighter in Ashburnham, though she'll point out that it wasn't until she was 18 that she was allowed to go into any burning buildings.
Originally, it had just been a way to fight off the boredom that inevitably comes with growing up in a small town, but it quickly developed into a passion for helping others. - PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise
Don Ishman, the former chief of the Hilltop Volunteer Fire Department, was killed Saturday afternoon when he was accidentally struck by a tanker apparatus at the firehall on Saturday afternoon.
Kane-based state police said Ishman, 60, of Cyclone, was one of several firefighters assisting with a public service detail on Saturday. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bradford Era
An Orford firefighter died in the line of duty, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office. Charles Waterbury was an active member of the Orford Fire Department for about 10 years.
While fighting a brush fire in Lyme, Waterbury suffered a medical emergency and was taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMUR-TV ABC 9 Manchester
Police, firefighters and other first responders sign up for inherently dangerous work, but that doesn't give citizens or businesses a blank check to harm them without financial consequences, a federal judge has ruled in the case of a Maryville train derailment.
Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan has turned aside a bid by CSX Transportation Inc. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: knoxville news sentinel
Firefighter Gabriel Lee, who died during a night shift in North Philadelphia Saturday, was a kind and soft-spoken father of three who had worked in the department for more than 20 years, his family said Sunday.
Lee, 42, of East Germantown, was also an accomplished amateur boxer, said his mother-in-law Faustine Myers, and he was recently baptized at Second Baptist Church of Germantown, the same church where his son sings in a choir. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: philly.com
The Missouri Fire Service is reporting a death in the line of duty for a firefighter responding to a call Sunday morning in rural Livingston County.
The fire service reported the death of Ed Cosgrove of the Green Township Fire Protection District, five miles west of Chillicothe. Cosgrove is described as a 15 year veteran of the fire department. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: kttn.com
The city’s fire chief considered firing or demoting an Austin Fire Department lieutenant based on his attitude toward Austin-Travis County EMS medics and dispatchers, according to a memo she wrote to the civil service director.
Austin fire Lt. James Crowther was ultimately suspended from duty for 60 days, a time period that ends Sept. - PUB DATE: 7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: statesman
The top fire official in Tioga County was killed Wednesday when a county pickup truck struck him while backing up, officials said.
Tioga County Fire Coordinator John Scott, 71, of Campville, was one of several employees who were performing maintenance at a county radio tower on Carmichael Road in the Town of Owego when he was struck around 3 p. - PUB DATE: 7/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: press connects
In the wake of killings of police officers in Baton Rouge and Dallas, the New Orleans firefighters union is pushing back against sending its members door-to-door to install smoke detectors, arguing that the practice could put them at risk of being targeted.
Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell said Thursday, however, that the policy has put no one in danger and will not be changed. - PUB DATE: 7/22/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The New Orleans advocate
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
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
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
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
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
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
