Firefighters in Reno helped free a few furry scavengers that had found themselves trapped in a difficult situation in the middle of the night. Late Saturday, crew members of the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, Station 39 said they were awoken by the crashing sound of their garbage dumpster outside being tipped over.
- PUB DATE: 10/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVU-TV

Westbrook has settled a lawsuit filed by its fire chief and deputy fire chief that alleged the city retaliated against them after they complained about a volunteer firefighter who had been hired as a city fire inspector. The city agreed to pay Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte and Deputy Chief Stephen Sloan $25,000 for their legal fees and other expenses associated with the suit.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

Members of City Council are questioning whether a controversial new policy that treats some city fire runs as lower priority is warranted amid concerns over its rocky implementation. Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones led a presentation Monday on the policy he put in place in August that has emergency dispatchers coding runs as emergent and non-emergent, a classification that now deploys crews to some scenes without lights and sirens.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News

The City Council’s investigative body is moving forward with its own probe into the misuse of $8.2 million in emergency public safety dollars to cover payroll and other expenses. The probe, in part, seeks to determine which employees at city hall were aware of the misuse, according to Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, who originally made a request last month to the mayor’s office for financial records and correspondence related to Fund 224.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Indiana Times (nwitimes.com)

A Jacksonville fire captain testified Monday in federal court about what he calls discrimination and retaliation by his fellow firefighters. "I felt rejected and dejected," Capt. Eric Mitchell testified before a jury. Mitchell filed a lawsuit against Division Chief Gail Loput, Fire Chief Kurt Wilson and the city of Jacksonville.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJXT-TV CBS 4 Jacksonville

One year after the mass shooting in Las Vegas hit home the dangers faced by first-responders, Mesa leaders voted to spend $262,000 to equip firefighters and medical teams with body armor. The protection already is available in Chandler, Scottsdale and Tempe, and will be in place in Gilbert this year.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

San Antonio fire union President Chris Steele has been reprimanded for overseeing a political news conference while wearing a fake uniform that was nearly identical to its official San Antonio Fire Department counterpart. On Sept. 20, Steele held a rally and news conference at the headquarters of the Bexar County Democratic Party, where he announced that the organization had endorsed the three proposed charter amendments the union had placed on the Nov.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News

Bucyrus Fire Chief Jay Keller has sued the city for $1 million in damages that he believes were accrued while he was on paid leave last year. The lawsuit was filed Friday afternoon in the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, Cleveland Division, by Keller's attorney, Adam Stone. "We have no further comments," Stone said after telling the Telegraph-Forum that the city would be served notice of the lawsuit via certified mail.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mansfield News Journal

The firefighters union is criticizing the search process to replace retiring Fire Chief Stephen Geldart after none of the 19 candidates who applied for the position – including four Hudson firefighters – was selected. The initial candidate pool was whittled down to six finalists – including two Hudson firefighters – who attended an assessment center that put candidates through a battery of exercises covering all aspects of the profession such as technical knowledge, personnel administration, leadership and grant writing.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MetroWest Daily News

It was 11:19 p.m. on Oct. 8, and a panicked caller to Sonoma County’s 911 dispatch center was incredulous the operator wasn’t aware her world had exploded in flames. “What’s on fire?” the 911 dispatcher asked. Everything, the caller said. The trees, the houses, anything standing on Mountain Home Ranch Road in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Maybe they should take baked Alaska off the menu. More firefighters are getting burned – thanks in part to a 32 percent spike in cooking injuries in firehouse kitchens. Overall, there were 247 firefighter burns in fiscal year 2018, a 22 percent increase from 2017, according to the latest Mayor’s Management Report.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Authorities on Sunday confirmed that three “males” died in a fiery car explosion Saturday night in Center City Allentown, what they called an “isolated incident.” They also believe “the perpetrator” was killed in the blast, an explosion that shook city buildings and residents, leaving many to wonder what could have led to such carnage.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), if you have a reported home fire today, you are more likely to die than you were in 1980. This startling fact is attributed to several factors, including the way homes are built and the contents in them. “Open floor plans and a prevalence of modern synthetic furnishings make homes burn faster and the fires produce deadly smoke and gases within moments,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president of Outreach and Advocacy.
- PUB DATE: 9/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

A fire truck hit a tanker truck on U.S. Route 36 just east of state Route 258 around 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to Sgt. William Bower of the State Highway Patrol. The firefighter driving the Newcomerstown Fire Department truck, Heather Stein-Wells, 42, was ejected from the truck. She suffered a broken hand, scrapes and required stitches at Coshocton Regional Medical Center.
- PUB DATE: 9/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Times Reporter

FirstNet provided the city of Whiteville, N.C., with critical voice and data communications throughout Hurricane Florence and subsequent flooding in the area, passing a “big test” regarding the resiliency and flexibility associated with the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN), according to a Whiteville official.
- PUB DATE: 9/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgentcomm

Former Fire Chief Mark O’Brien says he will fight his firing by the town manager, and will likely seek a public hearing before the Board of Selectmen, saying in an interview Thursday he “has nothing to hide.” Town Manager Pat Finnigan confirmed O’Brien’s employment was terminated Sept. 18, but would not provide further details, citing personnel privacy laws.
- PUB DATE: 9/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoastonline.com

Easton's firefighter union says it does not want the city to start hiring part-time employees. The union laid out its grievances with possible part-time hires in a Facebook post on Monday. In the post, the union says hiring part-timers would equate to a cut in staffing and says the city isn't willing to send-part time employees to the Allentown Fire Academy for training, something Mayor Sal Panto denies.
- PUB DATE: 9/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMZ-TV Channel 69

Bellingham Fire Department personnel made 15 training attempts to intubate a dead man as he lay in a body bag on the floor of the apparatus bay at Station 1, according to an investigation into the incident submitted Sept. 4 by a Seattle law group and released by the city Wednesday to The Bellingham Herald.
- PUB DATE: 9/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

Like their colleagues in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Chicago, firefighters in Buffalo believe there's a link between hearing loss and the sharp, piercing sounds of the sirens that accompany them to fires. But four years later, the lawsuits they filed against the siren maker are ending and no one on either side is claiming victory.
- PUB DATE: 9/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

Firefighters are supposed to wait for Dallas police before they go into a dangerous situation. It's a new policy. "Gunshot with victim with shooter in vicinity. Do you see police?” says a dispatcher. Sunday night when firefighters responded to a home near Fair Park, they had a tough decision to make.
- PUB DATE: 9/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA.com