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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

VIDEO: A touching tribute Tuesday night for the "Charleston 9," who died six years ago battling a blaze at the Sofa Super Store in West Ashley. Family, friends, and fellow firefighters came together to remember those nine fallen heroes. A salute and bagpipe melody for the nine men who took their last breaths six years ago. The names of the "Charleston 9" were read during Tuesday night's ceremony. Diane French lost her 27-year-old son, Michael French, that day. She says it doesn't get any easier. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. He's usually the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of when I go to bed at night."
live 5 news wcsc

Washington town’s firefighters protest proposed cutting of battalion chiefs

A move by Yakima firefighters to block a proposed staffing change by taking the issue directly to the City Council backfired Tuesday night. More than 20 firefighters showed up to protest the city administration’s proposal to cut the fire department’s battalion chiefs, saying that the move would put them at risk and make the department less efficient in responding to emergencies. Yakima Mayor Micah Cawley cut off Jeremy Rodriguez, president of the firefighters union, saying that he was raising staffing issues that had to be taken up during collective bargaining. A bargaining meeting is scheduled for early July. “When it comes to issues of bargaining ... that’s the city manager’s desk,” Cawley said. Council members in general were reluctant to engage in the issue.
yakima herald

’BURN’ Movie Producers Talk About Experience

"BURN," the award-winning film that documents a year in the life of the firefighters in Detroit’s Engine Company 50, has exceeded its producers and director’s wildest dreams and continues to amaze audiences. The film was released today on DVD and Blu-ray and in an exclusive interview with Firehouse, Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez discussed the odyssey that began in 2009 with just an idea for a documentary chronicling the phenomenal rate in which an iconic city was burning at the hands of arsonists.
firehouse.com

Convicted killer still collects over $55K a year in Chicago firefighter pension behind bars

Eugene Ornstead is a killer. In 1994, the veteran Chicago fire department lieutenant beat his second wife to death in their northwest side home. Then, stuffed her body in the trunk of his car and drove to Racine County, Wisconsin, where he told police they had been kidnapped. The story quickly fell apart and Ornstead was convicted of first degree murder. Now, 76 years old, Ornstead lives behind bars in a medium security prison in Redgranite, Wisconsin, and won't be eligible for parole until he turns 100. But despite his brutal crime, every month Ornstead gets a check from the Chicago firefighter's pension fund for $4,645 dollars. That's more than $55,000 a year and more than $840,000 in pension money since he committed the murder.
my fox chicago

Column: The great firefighter seatbelt lie

In 2012, nine firefighters and EMTs died in crashes without their seatbelts on. NFPA 1500 requires all firefighters to be seated and belted when the apparatus moves. Every state governor and state legislator will tell you their firefighters' safety is important to them. Yet, 18 states exempt firefighters and EMS personnel from seatbelt laws — even the federal motor coach law exempts firefighters and EMTs when responding. If safety is important, why permit by law, unsafe behavior? Can a state say that firefighter behavioral health is important if the state law exempts them from using seatbelts? Is this some level of lie, even if unconscious or unintended? Once this issue is realized and not fixed does, the level of lie increase?
firerescue1.com

New Mexico department to test new two-man squad unit with ambulance

Remember the old "Emergency" television program during the 1970s, where two Los Angeles firemen responded to an assortment of situations where paramedics or assistance to the public was needed. Much of that will soon become reality in Las Cruces as the city Fire Department prepares to begin a six-month pilot program of using a squad unit. City Council approval, and acceptance of a used ambulance from American Medical Response (AMR), could come at the council's July 1 meeting. With that approval, the squad unit program could begin on Aug. 1. "It has the potential to improve service to the community," Fire Chief Travis Brown said Tuesday. "The concept is very similar to that old "Emergency' program that was on TV. "But the most significant difference is our squad unit program will be used for transporting patients to the hospital in times when our community's ambulance system is overloaded."
las cruces sun-news

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

South Carolina chief mulling discipline on fire station fire

Columbia fire chief Aubrey Jenkins said Tuesday he has reached no decision on whether to discipline the firefighter who left an unattended pot of grease on a fire station stove Monday night, causing $20,000 worth of damage. “I’m sure he’s embarrassed and won’t do it again,” said Jenkins, who didn’t identify the firefighter. Jenkins said the fire illustrates the value of a sprinkler system, without which he said the fire would almost certainly have done hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. As it was, about $20,000 worth of smoke and water damage was done in the kitchen at Station 1, 1800 Laurel St., before sprinklers kicked in, keeping the blaze contained until firefighters arrived on the scene.
the state

California grand jury bashes fire district for wasting taxpayer money

Former board members of the Newcastle Fire Protection District wasted taxpayer money by neglecting repairs at a damaged fire station, resulting in needless spending on temporary housing for firefighters and on a costly special election, according to the Placer County grand jury. But a former fire district board member countered Monday that the station remains unsafe and that new leaders aren't spending parcel tax money to build a new facility. The grand jury report issued Friday is the latest salvo in a debate over the fate of Fire Station 41, an 80-year-old building in Placer County. The county claims the station is completely safe after new board members ordered a series of repairs. The grand jury report detailed the history of troubles with the station that began in 2005 when a fire truck hit a structural beam during an emergency call.
sacramento bee

Cleveland’s goal is to merge EMS and fire divisions by year’s end

The city's Fire Training Academy opened its doors today to six EMS paramedics, who began eight weeks of training in what city officials described as a "huge" step toward merging Cleveland's divisions of Fire and EMS, possibly by year's end. The paramedics, who are already state certified as firefighters but need training on how Cleveland operates, join a class of fire cadets who are about half way through their training at the academy. Once training is completed, the EMS workers will return to their current assignments pending negotiations between the city and three unions. "It's a huge step," said Ed Eckart, the city's assistant safety director. "Even though it's six people -- that's a small number -- in terms of the next step, getting the integration done, it's a huge step." Eckart said city officials hope to reach agreement with unions over how EMS workers will become firefighters by the time the academy ends in mid-August.
cleveland plain dealer

’Critical’ crash patient awakens, goes berserk on Philadelphia medics

Paramedics were treating a man being transported to a local hospital after he was hit by a vehicle on the Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia this morning when the man suddenly began attacking them, according to police. Frank Keel, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Firefighters' and Paramedics Local 22, said Medic unit 25 responded to the call. He said the patient not only attacked the medics, but chased a female medic out of the vehicle and down the street. The man then tossed an oxygen bottle at the window of Engine 59, jumped in the driver's seat and tried to take off with the fire engine. However, Keel said the man was dragged out by firefighters.
philly.com

New Jersey fire department shut down after sex assault arrest

The Borough of Leonia suspended its volunteer Fire Department on Monday and recruited two neighboring departments to respond to emergency calls while officials grapple with allegations that a teenager who had applied to be a firefighter molested a 3-year-old boy behind a fire truck. As of noon Monday, the Teaneck Fire Department was answering fire calls on the west side of Leonia, while Fort Lee was covering the east side of town, Borough Administrator Jack Terhune said. Both departments are working for free, Terhune said, adding that he didn’t know how long that arrangement would last or when the volunteer Fire Department would reopen.
North Jersey.com (Bergen County Record & Herald News)

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