Fire news

... dayton's fire chief said allegation that the public's safety is at risk are unfounded. chief herbert redden spoke to news center 7 on monday after the dayton firefighter's union raised concerns about safety levels and equipment following a massive fire in the five oaks neighborhood sunday morning when five vacant houses burned in a suspected arson case. ... related: 5-house fire in dayton shows risk posed by vacant homes       (Source: WHIO-TV Dayton (OH) N/A )

... fire officials say a firefighter was in the hospital with serious injuries sunday evening after a fire truck rolled over on newfield road in shapleigh ... related: bikers say firefighter who crashed fire truck saved their lives    (Source: WMTW-TV ABC 8 (ME) N/A )

...  in between putting out fires and saving lives, prosecutors say, a former south san francisco fire battalion chief took sports bets and collected debts while on duty at the firehouse.the alleged racket unraveled after the city's fire chief discovered one firefighter was on the hook for $30,000 in gambling debts. ...    (Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) 234770 )

... a judge has issued a ruling in favor of west allis firefighters who want to smoke while on duty - but whether they will actually be allowed to smoke, inside or outside of fire stations, remains in question ...    (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) 186433 )

... a chicago firefighter died this morning after he fell from a ladder while fighting a fire at a west loop restaurant. christopher wheatley, 31, was carrying an ax and a hose up a ladder at avec restaurant, 615 w. randolph, when he fell about 35 feet around 12:30 a.m., according to fire cmsr. robert hoff. ... related with video: firefighter dies after falling 35 feet off ladder    (Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) 516032 )

... a 12-year-old autistic child who died in a west philadelphia rowhouse fire saturday night might still be alive if not for a recent city policy of temporarily shutting firehouses to save money, the head of the firefighters union and community members said sunday.  ... related: commissioner defends response to fatal fire    (Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer (PA) 356189)

... details are still murky, and rumors are swirling about possible malfunctioning of outdated equipment that may have contributed to the july 24 deaths of lt. steven velasquez  and firefighter michel baik, but none of the tales have been officially corroborated.. its also still unclear whether any building or fire code violations were found in the illegal attic   ...    (Source: Greenwich Time (CT) 11700 )

... video: the city of seattle is seeking to overturn a $12.8 million judgment awarded to a former firefighter, who claimed he was permanently disabled by an on-duty fall, after investigators secretly shot video of the man chopping wood, playing horseshoes and bocce ball, and even breaking into a victory dance ...    (Source: Seattle Times (WA) 263468 )

... veterans who dreamed of joining the fdny vented frustration yesterday with a judge's decision to cancel a class of firefighters because he said the test they took was biased."the people who are supposed to be getting helped [by this ruling] could be the one getting hurt," said nafis sabir, a 33-year-old african-american man who spent eight years in the marine reserves. ... related: mayor says fdny hiring is not discriminatory    (Source: New York Daily News (NY) 535059)

... at approximately 8:45 p.m., a portion of the kitchen floor collapsed after an oven fell through it. shank said this is where the fire originated and attributed the collapse to light-weight construction and the size of the commercial-style oven.. soon after the collapse, the first firefighter fell through the hole into the basement and suffered contusions to his leg and body. ...    (Source: Firehouse Magazine (NAT) 81500 )

... a brooklyn judge on wednesday blocked the city's plan to hire 300 firefighters - saying the fdny's latest written exam still discriminates against minority-group applicants. federal judge nicholas garaufis ruled that test no. 6019 is not a true measure of the abilities for entry-level firefighters ... related with video: judge rules fdny exam still discriminatory     (Source: New York Daily News (NY) 535059 )

... using water and foam to fight a combustible metal fire caused an explosion that killed a wisconsin firefighter last year, niosh investigators concluded. st. anna volunteer firefighter steven koeser, 33, was killed and nine other firefighters were injured in the december 29 blast. ...    (Source: Fire Rescue (NAT) N/A )

... when the new las vegas fire and rescue station no. 6 opens in late august, it will be the first of its kind in the entire country: a public teaching fire station. "i think the idea came about because we have the need for the fire station and because basically i'm an educator and i said why not put the two together?," says las vegas city councilwoman and former teacher, lois tarkanian. ...    (Source: KTNV-TV Las Vegas Channel 13 (NV) N/A )

... three firefighters filed a lawsuit accusing some of their colleagues of cheating on a promotion test, according to channel 2's john bachman. a judge issued a temporary restraining order on wednesday, halting the promotion of 40 lieutenants. the firefighters who filed the suit asked city officials to look for test irregularities, but a human resources investigation found no problems, according to bachman. ...    (Source: WSB-TV ABC 2 Atlanta (GA) N/A )

... think it's tough to smoke where you work? imagine if you worked 24-hour shifts and couldn't smoke indoors or outdoors. since july 5, smoking firefighters of the west allis fire department have been working under that double-ban. on friday, they'll ask a judge for an order allowing them to smoke outside of the city's three fire stations ...    (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) 186433 )

... progress in the development of an indoor personal locator and tracking device for firefighters has accelerated so much in the last year that researchers are hopeful of commercialization within the next two years, and of its technology being used by military and other emergency responders ... related with video: new firefighter location technology unveiled     (Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) 100000 )

... "and we're going to come across these and have an issue with one of these hydrant locks, and have a terrible disastrous event on our hands," said the chief. but belfair water district manager dave tipton doesn't think locking fire hydrants will have any direct effect on firefighting. "i disagree. i don't think that's a relevant statement," he said of the chief's concern. "i think that's something that they're making up." ...    (Source: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000 (WA) N/A )

... federal officials are investigating why recordings of calls made to a dispatch center during the destructive station fire were withheld from a review team and reporters. u.s. forest service chief tom tidwell said tuesday he was "deeply troubled" that tapes of incoming calls to two of the 14 phone lines at the angeles national forest dispatch center were not found earlier....    (Source: KCBS-TV CBS 2 Los Angeles/KCAL-TV (CA) N/A )

... in his memo, officer h.t. fulcher said a fire department supervisor "sarcastically" asked him if he wanted to hook up the woman to monitoring equipment. "i asked him if he was talking to me and he replied, 'yeah, you guys want to handle everything else,'" fulcher wrote. ... related: police, firefighter tension sparks probe       (Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) 191191 )

... mary-ellen harper, director of fire and rescue services for the farmington fire department (ct), says her department got calls from california, new york and chicago. within minutes of sending her tweet, fazzina says she heard an ambulance siren. ...    (Source: USA Today (NAT) 1826622 )