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National Fire News

Boston Fire Department to file suit against maker of engine

Fire officials, hit with a scathing federal report criticizing the department in the deaths of two firefighters in 2014, said they are preparing to sue the manufacturer of a diesel engine now in more than a dozen problem-plagued city fire trucks in order to thwart future disasters. Fire Commissioner Joseph E.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston herald

Los Angeles Firefighters Battle Massive Blaze at Commercial Building

RAW VIDEO - Firefighters battled a greater-alarm structure fire at a commercial building in Boyle Heights on Thursday that sent huge flames and black smoke high into the air. The fire was reported around 7:45 p.m. at 1566 S. Rio Vista Ave., according to Erik Scott with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles

Seattle firefighter who survived Greenwood blast: 'I think the Lord was looking out for us'

VIDEO - One of the firefighters injured in Wednesday's devastating explosion in Greenwood called the situation "surreal." Lt. Ed Newell is one of the nine firefighters who suffered minor injuries in the blast. The 33-year veteran firefighter is a little bruised but in good spirits, which is remarkable considering how much damage was done.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4

NIOSH Report shows lack of training, staffing contributed to Boston firefighter deaths in 2014

A lack of training to fight a wind-driven fire, the lack of a sprinkler system, inadequate staffing, and an inadequate assessment of risk were factors in the deaths of two Boston firefighters in a 2014 blaze that tore through a Back Bay brownstone, according to a federal report. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released a 77-page report —and the Boston Fire Department released its own findings — detailing the events that led to Lt.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: boston herald

Commissioner: Rhode Island fire captain terminated for insubordination

A veteran Providence fire captain is out of a job for what Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare is calling a “failure to take responsibility for his subordinates.” Dennis Tucker, who worked for the city’s fire department since 1988, was terminated last week after a three-member city trial board unanimously voted to approve the dismissal recommendation made by Pare.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12

How Cal Fire Academy chief emerged from scandal unscathed

By his own admission, George Morris III’s two-year tenure as the top administrator of the Cal Fire Academy in Ione was pockmarked with mistakes. He trusted subordinates too much, he told California Highway Patrol investigators during a two-hour interview Oct. 3, 2014, as a scandal was washing over his facility.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sacramento bee

Firefighting foam may have contaminated groundwater

The military is beginning to check whether chemicals from its firefighting foam may have contaminated groundwater at hundreds of sites nationwide, according to the Defense Department. The Navy began sampling water at bases in December. At a naval landing field in Virginia, the U.S. Navy is now giving its personnel bottled water and testing wells in the nearby rural area after the discovery of perfluorinated chemicals in drinking water.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

Yarnell Hill Fire: Movie about Granite Mountain Hotshot tragedy ‘in development’

Preliminary development work reportedly is underway on a movie that would tell the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshot tragedy. Ellen Schwartz, vice president of production for Black Label Media, confirmed Monday, March 7, that the production company is working to develop “No Exit,” a film about the 19 young men who died while fighting the Yarnell Hill wildfire in June 2013.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lake Havasu City News-Herald

9 firefighters hurt as blast levels building in Seattle

Nine Seattle firefighters were injured in an apparent natural gas explosion that leveled at least three businesses in the Greenwood neighborhood early Wednesday morning. The explosion happened in the area of the Greenwood Quick Stop Market at N. 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue N. just before 1:45 a.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4

Detroit EMT injured in attack

A Detroit emergency medical technician was attacked on a run Tuesday evening, city officials said. The worker was in stable condition at St. John Hospital after the attack with a department radio, said Detroit Senior Firefighter James Plieth. Two EMTs were responding to a medical emergency in the 4600 block of Chatsworth on the city’s east side about 7:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the detroit news

Texas fire chief quits, mayor wants answers

Vernon's fire chief has resigned, and the city's mayor has accused administrators of encouraging secrecy within the ranks of the fire department. Meanwhile, Vernon's city manager told the Times Record News he has given the mayor and commissioners as much information about the former chief's resignation as privacy laws allow.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Record News

Seven Injured in Crash Between Van, DC Firetruck

Seven people were hurt in a crash between a D.C. firetruck and a van in Northeast D.C. Wednesday morning. The accident was reported around 9:40 a.m. at 11th Street and Maryland Avenue NE. A D.C. Fire & EMS spokesperson said D.C. Fire Engine 10 was responding on a call for a gas leak when the collision occurred.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nbc washington

How to know when firefighters hit the wall

At some point the words lactic acid or acidosis has been put forth in a firefighter class on cardiac arrest, fitness or maybe in a heat cramps lecture. You hear lactic acid and lactate used interchangeably by fire and EMS educators or those talking about acidosis as a reference to muscle breakdown. The truth is that there is a difference between lactate and lactic acid.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

South Carolina bill aims to bring back stiffer penalties for arson

Don’t play with fire – that’s the message a bill before the S.C. Legislature aims to send to would-be arsonists. House Bill 3545 will restructure degrees of arson if the bill becomes law. Right now, state law doesn’t differentiate between type of buildings burned, and only levels a first-degree arson charge – the most serious kind – when there is a death, according to Jason Pope, deputy director of the South Carolina Firefighters Association.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the state

Commuter train derails, falls into creek near San Francisco

An Altamont Corridor Express train with more than 200 passengers aboard struck a downed tree and derailed Monday night during a heavy downpour, injuring nine as one of its rail cars tumbled into a rain-swollen creek. Authorities said it was "an absolute miracle" no one was killed. Four of the injuries were serious, though not thought to be life-threatening, according to the Alameda County Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: inside bay area

Update: 2 Virginia firefighters reinstated after suspension for transporting toddler in fire engine

Two Stafford County volunteer firefighters that were suspended for rushing a toddler to the hospital in their fire engine, have been reinstated. The County’s fire department called a press conference Monday afternoon, where they announced Capt. James Kelley and Sgt. Virgil Bloom returned to work Monday at 4 p.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVR-TV CBS 6

9/11 Memorial Stair Climb Denied Use of One World Trade Center

A charity stair climb at One World Trade Center to honor first-responders killed on 9/11 has been abruptly canceled — because building landlord, the Durst Organization is afraid it would scare off potential tenants by reminding them about the terror attacks, the event’s organizer alleges. “This is all about profits, greed and getting the building leased,’’ fumed John Hodge, chairman of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post

New Jersey firefighter charged with pulling machete during firehouse argument

A volunteer with Lawrence's Slackwood Fire Co. has been charged with threatening other firefighters and brandishing a machete during a dispute with fellow firefighters in January, records show. James "Jay" Macheda Jr., 22, is charged with making terroristic threats, criminal mischief and weapon possession charges in connection with a late-night Jan.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

Virginia volunteer firefighters suspended for transporting child to hospital in fire engine

Two volunteer Stafford County firefighters have been suspended after they transported an 18-month old child to the hospital in a fire engine. The father of the little girl tells FOX 5 he is grateful for the actions of those two first responders, who may have saved his daughter's life. The suspended firefighters, Captain James Kelley and Sgt.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTTG-TV MyFox 5 DC

Charges filed against water treatment plant manager at Washington State Fire Training Academy

Firefighters training at the Washington State Fire Training Academy (FTA) in North Bend between 2012 and 2014 may have been exposed to contaminated water, according to court documents filed March 1 by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Ferguson named wastewater plant operator George Campbell and the company he owns, Broadband Environmental Service Inc.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Snoqualmie Valley Record

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