Sunday, January 25, 2015  Five months after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and receiving immense support from the community, Jonesborough firefighter Luke Story died Saturday afternoon with his family and extended family by his side, a news release from the Jonesborough Department of Public Safety said. Story was 37.Story was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in August after doctors at the Johnson City Medical Center identified cancerous masses on Story’s liver and pancreas. Doctors gave Story three months to a year to live, and after that, Jonesborough community members rallied with emotional and financial support by selling merchandise and holding events in his honor.

Story became a volunteer firefighter in Jonesborough at age 19, and became a full-time firefighter three years later. In 2007, he was promosted to Officer in Charge and became a platoon sergeant.

“Sgt. Luke Story spent his adult life serving his community to make it a better and safer place,” Jones... [ more ]

Sunday, January 25, 2015  More than half of the 33 fire stations taking part in a survey tested positive for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) somewhere the building.The survey also found that roughly a third of the stations had at least one employee who tested positive for the antibiotic resistant strain of staph bacteria.

Professor Marilyn Roberts with the University Of Washington School Of Public Health organized the study three years ago after discovering MRSA in both fire houses she tested in Western Washington.

She designed MRSA testing kits and sent them to 33 stations around the state.

She called the results surprisingly high and is helping departments come up with better ways to protect themselves from the bacteria they contact from each other and while treating people during emergency calls.

MRSA was found in common living areas, bedrooms, exercise rooms and other parts of the fire houses.

Some departments are requiring firefig... [ more ]

Saturday, January 24, 2015  Two people, including a firefighter, were injured in a house fire early Saturday morning.
The firefighter was injured as he became surrounded by flames and fell off the roof of the house.
The home is near 11th Street and Polk Street.
There were reports that people may have been trapped inside the home.
Firefighters did rescue a woman from the home who was taken to a hospital. She thought her son was also trapped in the home, but he made it out safely.
The firefighter was also taken to the hospital.
The home was destroyed.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Read more: http://www.azfamily.com/news/Phoenix-firefighter-falls-from-roof-while-battling-house-fire-289670621.html#ixzz3Pm6GW9WP

Saturday, January 24, 2015  A Richmond firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury while fighting an apartment fire in the 2700 block of Marshall Street Friday evening according to the department spokesman.Crews arrived on scene shortly before 4:30 PM Friday to find heavy smoke coming from an apartment building located near North 28th and Marshall Streets.

The fire was found to have started in the attic and crews had the scene under control shortly after 5 PM.

The firefighter who was injured has been taken to a medical center for addition attention according to Lt. Chris Armstrong with the Richmond Fire Department.

Crews will remain on scene to clear the building of hot spots. At this point there is no cause of the fire. It is still under investigation. 

Saturday, January 24, 2015  For Jeff Smith, a borough firefighter for 33 years, the blaze that destroyed the building at 81 W. Main St was “one of the biggest I’ve been involved with.”Imagine the young volunteers, those who have only been donning their gear for a few years. It’s something they’ll always remember.

Seven firefighters were inside the building when colleagues outside noticed that the smoke was changing color, from gray to a very rich black. That was a sign that “there’s a lot going on, things are starting to be (quickly) consumed, Smith explained.

And it meant the firemen inside were in danger. Immediately the universal alarm was sounded: three 10-second blasts of the air horns on the nearby fire trucks. That means, get out right away. Within minutes the second floor collapsed, the roof collapsed, and the firefighters turned to a “defensive” effort of protecting the nearby buildings, Smith said.

Every fire can be a learning experience, and that’... [ more ]

Saturday, January 24, 2015  About half of Taylor's firefighters may be out of a job next month.The city has been using an $8.1 million federal grant to pay for more than two dozen firefighters.

After an extension in August, that money runs out on Feb. 23rd. To cover the costs. Mayor Rick Sollars says he was forced to send layoff notices to 26 firefighters Friday. The department employs 50 people.

"On February 9 another grant opens up," Sollars said. "We will absolutely apply for that grant. We talked to congresswoman Debbie Dingell today, she's also going to write a letter of recommendation on our behalf to help us successfully receive that grant. We'll also look at reducing some costs as well."

After the layoffs Sollars believes they'll have enough firefighters to cover the city - and they'll be relying on mutual aid from neighboring cities for any major emergencies. 

Saturday, January 24, 2015  The District government contradicted Metro on Friday in an escalating dispute over the failure of emergency radios as passengers sat waiting for help this month in a smoke-filled train trapped in downtown Washington.

The city’s homeland security agency issued a report partly disagreeing with an explanation offered just a day earlier by Metro that implicated the city fire department in the communications breakdown in the Metro tunnel. According to the report, fire officials had told Metro about the radio trouble, and Metro had not fixed it.

Firefighters resorted to cellphones and a chain of runners to relay information during the Jan. 12 incident, which killed one passenger and hospitalized more than 80 others. Neither Metro nor the administration of new D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) have alleged that working radios would have saved 61-year-old Carol I. Glover, the Alexandria woman who died of smoke inhalation as passengers waited over 35 minutes for rescues... [ more ]

Friday, January 23, 2015   On January 30, 2014 fire broke out at Import Knight Body Repair at 811 S. Elm St. at 12:47 p.m. The Greensboro Fire Department quickly responded to a reported car fire. Initially reported as a vehicle fire inside of a business, the fire had already spread within the structure before the first fire units arrived. Based on radio transcripts the first engine arrived on the scene approximately three minutes after dispatch. On arrival firefighters began to attack the fire and started searching the facility to ensure all occupants were evacuated. A ladder company was assigned to the roof to provide ventilation.

At 9 minutes and 40 seconds a structural collapse occurred. Six firefighters were inside when the collapse occurred. Three firefighters, although injured, were able to escape. Two firefighters were not trapped and was able to make egress and exit the facility. Captain Suddarth on the first arriving unit was trapped under debris.

A Mayday was calle... [ more ]

Friday, January 23, 2015   A firefighter struck by a vehicle while on duty in Haralson County on Tuesday evening might not be back on the job for a while.

According to troopers with the Georgia State Patrol, Curtis Wilson, 31, responded to a fuel spill in the southbound lanes of Georgia Highway 100 near Interstate 20. They say Wilson was standing in the lane of traffic when he was struck by a pickup truck. He was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center.

The driver of the pickup truck, identified as 27-year-old Jeremy Gray, of Tallapoosa, was not injured. Troopers say he will not be charged in the incident.
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Friday, January 23, 2015   We regret to pass on that Firefighter Ronnie W. Peek, 49, died in the Line of Duty last evening. Firefighter Peek fell ill while participating in fire department mandated air management training. He was subsequently transported to the hospital where he suffered a heart attack and passed away. Our condolences to all affected. RIP.

Wednesday, January 21, 2015  A fire in a three-story bowling alley in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan has not only taken the lives of six young firefighters aged between 21 and 29 but has also exposed a long-term lack of manpower and equipment in the country's firefighting system."Please let us get back to real rescue missions," Yu Tsung-han (余宗翰), deputy chairman of the National Association for Firefighters' Rights, said in a post on his Facebook page after the tragedy a day earlier.

He complained that firefighters are too busy rescuing cats and dogs to do what they are actually trained for and to receive further training.

As long as the problem of manpower and equipment insufficiency is not resolved, there will be more "innocent brothers" sacrificed, said Yu, a firefighter in the Zhudong district of Hsinchu, a county that neighbors Taoyuan. Two of the six dead were his classmates.

Yu publicized data on his FB page Tuesday indicating that an increasing number of firefighters hav... [ more ]