Perception is a process by which we use our senses to gather information about what is happening in the environment around us. To do this, we must be paying attention, be mindful and be all-in. I wasn’t. I was focused heavily on my educational endeavors, which was completely understandable. Trying to balance a demanding full-time job with home life and the activities of four kids while dedicating 20-plus hours a week to school created many competing demands for my attention.
- PUB DATE: 4/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

A stopped train stopped emergency workers in their tracks in New Boston on Wednesday. The train was stopped for more than 20 minutes while firefighters from multiple agencies attempted to reach a burning home. The home in the Winding Creek neighborhood of New Boston was not occupied when the fire started and no one was injured at the time, but neighbors tell 7 Action News they are worried about next time.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ-TV ABC Detroit

A stopped train stopped emergency workers in their tracks in New Boston on Wednesday. The train was stopped for more than 20 minutes while firefighters from multiple agencies attempted to reach a burning home. The home in the Winding Creek neighborhood of New Boston was not occupied when the fire started and no one was injured at the time, but neighbors tell 7 Action News they are worried about next time.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXYZ-TV ABC Detroit

Richard Stirts has now officially regained his position as fire chief, this time with a full-time title. Chief Richard Stirts told KOLR 10 that a tax increase passed in August 2015 included a stipulation that the Fire Chief position be moved from a part-time to a full-time position. On his Facebook page today, Stirts said the board held a special meeting Sunday where they voted to name him the full-time chief.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSFX/KOLR-TV FOX 27 Ozarks First

Phosphoric acid found along the shoreline at Biltmore Lake exploded Tuesday night, injuring two firemen, officials say. Two residents reported seeing a canister, about 1 liter or 1 quart in size, smoldering along the shoreline of the lake near the Biltmore Lake club house and Lake Drive, said Bill McMannis, on-site manager for Biltmore Lake.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Asheville Citizen Times

The U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) today released the 2016 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2016), providing first responders with an updated go-to manual to help respond to hazardous materials transportation accidents during the critical first minutes.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Some Detroit firefighters come forward believing that one of their own is cheating the system. They say a firefighter collected paychecks and overtime, while sitting in jail. A Detroit firefighter is the subject of an internal investigation after concerns were raised about his work hours and the possibility of Steven Cooley may have been in two places at once.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBJK-TV MyFox Detroit 2

The Justice Department is processing just over half of death, disability and education benefit claims from police and firefighters within its one-year goal — despite an infusion of cash meant to resolve backlogs and a series of reports issued over the last decade documenting inefficiencies in the process.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: washington times

The township’s veteran fire chief has been placed on paid administrative leave while officials consider the future of its fire department, Supervisor Donald Green said Tuesday. Lawrence Waligora, who has been chief for nearly 15 years, has been temporarily removed from his $75,000-a-year job, Green said.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: detroit news

Sault Ste. Marie’s fire chief said the local firefighter union asked for 24 hour shifts and they will be expected to work them — without sleep. The Sault Ste. Marie Professional Fire Fighters Association (SSMPFFA) was recently awarded the ability to work 24 hour shifts by an interest arbitration — the final result of the union’s 2014 contract negotiations with the city — presented during tonight’s city council meeting.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sootoday.com

In 2009, I hung up my turnout gear and left my position as a fire chief after serving 30-plus years. Shortly thereafter I wrote an article for Firehouse.com about the challenges first responders can face as we transition from being a public safety provider to civilian life. The feedback to that article was so overwhelmingly positive that I developed a program that I presented at a national conference bearing the same title as the article.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

A Snohomish County firefighter is battling both cancer and his insurance company. Dave Alberts has answered the call to save lives for 25 years and now finds himself in need of help. In January, Alberts got the news every man dreads. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5

The Tulsa Fire Department launched an investigation into the possible failure of a breathing mask after a firefighter took in smoke at an east Tulsa business fire Friday. Fire Captain John Smith left the scene on a stretcher as a precaution, but the department said he's fine now. He left the building immediately after smelling smoke inside the mask - a sign his air supply in compromised.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOTV-TV CBS 6 Tulsa

John "Darrell" Hamilton was pronounced dead at 5:36 a.m. May 3, 2014, with reported signs of lividity and rigor mortis. Those conditions take at least an hour after death to set in. Yet Hamilton is heard on a 911 call about 5:25 a.m. – just 11 minutes before he was pronounced dead. And a Winter Haven crime scene technician said rigor mortis had not set in when she examined the body at 6:13 a.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the ledger

In their service to others, firefighters are compelled to conduct themselves under the incessant pressure to be error free. This pressure is tremendous. This is reflected every month in fire-related publication. It is preached by fire instructors and constantly drilled into us during trainings. It hovers around the firehouse reflected in stories and myth.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

PHOTO - She said yes, but for a while, this marriage proposal was really up in the air. That’s because Ziyad Santana, a probationary firefighter, popped the question while hanging in full gear from the side of a building at the Fire Academy on Randalls Island. Santana took advantage of the FDNY’s Family Day to begin pursuing one of his own, asking for his girlfriend’s hand in marriage in true dramatic fashion.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news

9 Investigates has learned that the city of Orlando and the Fire Department could face tens of thousands of dollars in fines after firefighters were exposed to dangerous asbestos while prepping an apartment building for live fire training in February. On Wednesday, Channel 9 reported about a lab report that s howed high levels of asbestos were present on gear at the site on Mercy Drive.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFTV-TV ABC 9 Orlando

One firefighter and three police officers were injured as they tried to contain an inferno at an unfinished Arizona apartment complex Saturday night. Gilbert fire officials told 12 News that the firefighter suffered burns on his hands and the Gilbert police officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
- PUB DATE: 4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: fox news

Fairfax County’s fire and rescue chief says his department is investigating accusations of bullying and harassment following the suicide of firefighter Nicole Mittendorff. The Woodbridge resident’s body was found in a remote area of Shenandoah National Park on Thursday afternoon. The state medical examiner’s office ruled the death a suicide but released no other details.
- PUB DATE: 4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Inside NoVA

A man who stabbed two San Diego firefighters as they tried to render aid to an intoxicated person at a downtown trolley station was sentenced today to nearly 24 years in state prison. Ryan Allen Jones, 35, was convicted last month of two counts each of attempted voluntary manslaughter, assault with a deadly weapon and battery for the attack last June 24.
- PUB DATE: 4/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGTV ABC San Diego