National News

  • Firefighters in New York will be paid nearly $1 million in back pay
    City firefighters will be paid nearly $1 million in back pay connected to the five-year contract dispute with the city. City Comptroller James E. Mills said Wednesday that the payout for the retro pay and health benefit deductions will be “just a couple of thousand dollars short of $1 million.” The payouts — scheduled to go out on Aug.
    - PUB DATE: 8/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times
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  • Chaplaincy service for firefighter 1st responders started in Washington state
    “We have a duty to those who put their lives on the line daily,” states southeastchaplaincy.com, a newly formed service and website being stewarded by local Firefighter Chaplain Cole Massey to support first responders in Southeast Washington. “It is our desire to meet every call or need as it arises.
    - PUB DATE: 8/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - Metered Site
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  • When disaster strikes, a search website for first responders will save lives
    When Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago, it took hours for a single message from Pompeii to reach rescuers 18 miles away. Today we have the opposite problem during disasters: too much rapid information from many sources, with consequences just as fatal for some people. Engineers at the University of California, Riverside are working to change this with a tool that searches real-time text, photo and video from social media and surveillance cameras alongside data from sensors, like fire detectors and security alarms.
    - PUB DATE: 8/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: UC Riverside News
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  • Alaskan firefighters worry about wildfire danger with hunting season set to begin
    Hunting season is set to begin this weekend and there is concern about hunters traveling near wildfires currently burning in the Willow area. Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige said at a news conference Wednesday that officials are considering closing the Willow marsh, also called the Willow swamp.
    - PUB DATE: 8/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVA-TV CBS 11 Anchorage
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  • Texas fire rescue short nine firefighters, overtime mandatory
    West Texas’ oil boom is bringing prosperity to many organizations throughout the region, but for Odessa Fire Rescue, it’s turning up the heat. Staffing Odessa Fire Rescue has been a struggle since oil took over the city. To make up the difference, firefighters are burning the candle at both ends. First responders answer the call of duty every day to save Odessans who need their help.
    - PUB DATE: 8/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOSA-TV CBS 7 Odessa
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  • Refinery Terminal Fire Company in Texas - It's not your everyday fire company
    VIDEO: The Corpus Christi and surrounding areas are experiencing an industrial boom, with several new projects in the works. With that growth comes the need for response services tailored to handle industrial emergencies. The Refinery Terminal Fire Company, a global company, has branches which fill that need; but it does more than just fight fires.
    - PUB DATE: 8/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRIS-TV NBC 6 Corpus Christi
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  • Grieving Pennsylvania scientists complete murdered colleague’s study of assaults on first responders
    Drexel University scientist Jasmine Y. Wright was dedicated to helping first responders who are assaulted while trying to help others. Physical attacks on first responders are a felony in Pennsylvania. Yet justice, Philadelphia firefighters and medics have said, is hard-won. In 2015, Wright was leading a federally funded study to find out what was going wrong.
    - PUB DATE: 8/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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  • More California firefighters are suing SoCalGas over 2015 Aliso Canyon gas leak
    Almost four years after the Aliso Canyon gas leak broke out near Porter Ranch, the number of firefighters who have filed a lawsuit against Southern California Gas Co. over the 2015 gas leak continues to grow. In total, 55 Los Angeles firefighters who helped Porter Ranch residents after the 2015 blowout filed a lawsuit against the utility, alleging the utility knowingly exposed them to hazardous levels of toxins like benzene and formaldehyde, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
    - PUB DATE: 8/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News - Metered Site
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  • Kansas fire department offers paid program to recruit paramedics
    The Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department is starting a program to recruit more paramedics amid a national shortage. KCKFD Assistant Fire Chief Morris Letcher told 41 Action News the department is short about 20 paramedics right now. "Firefighting is more than just firefighing," Letcher said. "We're an EMS-based service, so we have to keep up with the times.
    - PUB DATE: 8/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSHB-TV NBC 41 Kansas City
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  • Help for opioid addicts in Tennessee: 'Safe Stations' to be set up at all Chattanooga Fire stations
    VIDEO: Those who struggle with opioid addiction in Chattanooga will soon have a new place to begin their journey to recovery - or, just get some immediate help. The Chattanooga Fire Department (CFD), along with Hamilton County Coalition’s Nu-Start program, has partnered to launch the “Safe Stations” initiative in Chattanooga.
    - PUB DATE: 8/21/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVC-TV ABC/FOX 9 Chattanooga
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