Archive for August 14th, 2017

Firefighters sue over excessive noise from sirens (more)

Excerpts from the palmbeachcoast.com:

Nearly two dozen Palm Beach County firefighters are suing a publicly-traded company claiming sirens it produces for emergency vehicles robbed them of their hearing.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, current and former firefighters for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the West Palm Beach and Boca Raton fire departments say Federal Signal Corp. should have warned them of the hazards of long-term exposure to the high-intensity sirens. They are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

Federal Signal provided no warnings or inadequate warnings to consumers and end users … about the dangerous propensities of the noise emitted by the sirens,” Pennsylvania attorney Carmen DeGisi wrote in the lawsuit. “Repeated exposure over a period of time to the noise … (has) caused permanent, irreversible hearing loss to the plaintiffs.”

Chicago attorney David Duffy, who represents the diverse Illinois-based company, said it has been hit with similar lawsuits from firefighters elsewhere in the country.

“Federal Signal has strong defenses to these cases and has prevailed in a string of jury trials,” he said in a statement. “Federal Signal is committed to defending its quality siren products and will litigate these cases as necessary.”

It has defeated firefighters’ claims of hearing loss in jury trials in Philadelphia and Cook County, Illinois, according to company news releases.

In April, it recovered $128,000 in legal costs after a law firm dropped its suit on behalf of Washington, D.C. firefighters. A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that the law firm failed to properly investigate the hearing loss claims before filing the suit, Federal Signal said.

“Sirens,” Duffy said, “are vital public safety products and save lives.”

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Chicago Fire Department news

An update to CFD retirees from a reader:

Dear Retirees,

Wednesday’s hearing was a pretty frustrating experience. We presented five issues, on which we felt fairly confident.

1. Our renewed motion for Class Certification.
2. The judge’s choice of orders to enter for the March hearing at which he ordered audit and reconciliation of the 2013 to 2016 years.
3. The City’s assertion that he lacks jurisdiction over the post-2013 reconciliations.
4. The Funds’ report on the actions to fulfill their obligations to provide health care coverage for the annuitants for 2018.
5. The City’s report on the progress in the audit and reconciliation process.

After about two hours of hearing, attended by perhaps 40 of you, Judge Cohen finally ruled that he instead has no jurisdiction over the post-2013 reconciliations, yet he has set September 14 as the next status for the city to report on the 2014-2016 reconciliation process timetable.

Denied class certification again, preferring to await rulings on the merits if the Supreme Court takes our appeal. The transcript should be out by the end of the week, we hope, and we’ll post it.

But I do not believe that we can expect judge Cohen to follow through on actually ordering the city or the Funds to comply with any of their obligations, unless he is ordered to do so by the appellate court.

Accordingly, we will put our efforts into our Petition to the Illinois Supreme Court, which is due September 7, and we may try to get the class certification and jurisdiction issues up there as well.

It will be a challenging but important month ahead. Your contributions are invited and welcome.
Finally, after I presented to the Firefighters union last week seeking their assistance, they instead have sent their counsel to intervene in our case. As I advised their lawyer, if they are here to help, we welcome them. But their actual purpose remains to be seen.

Clint KrislovKrislov & Associates, Ltd.

thanks Bill

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Elmhurst Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

The emergency call came to the Elmhurst Fire Department late on a cold night this past February. An ambulance was needed at the Elmhurst YMCA, 211 W. 1st St.

For the firefighters and paramedics who responded, the call was almost routine. For 58-year old Frank Sangiacomo, who was having a heart attack, it was anything but routine.

Sangiacomo told the story Monday to the Elmhurst City Council as Andrea White of Elmhurst Hospital recognized first responders firefighter/paramedics with a Run of the Month award for their actions that saved Sangiacomo’s life.

Sangiacomo, a longtime hockey player, had gotten off the ice at about 11 that February night after a pickup game and happened to be changing clothes next to off-duty Elmhurst FD Lt. Jeff Hayes.

As I headed for the shower, the room started spinning and I couldn’t focus,” said Sangiacomo, adding that he’d been playing with some chest pain for a couple of weeks.

Hayes suggested calling an ambulance.

“Jeff got the ball rolling. Without him, I’m sure I wouldn’t be standing here,” he said.

Paramedics Chris Placzek and Samantha Georges, joined by Elmhurst Fire Department Lt. Steve Wroble and firefighters Eric Davidson and Scott Wardzala, responded.

White, emergency medical services coordinator for the hospital, said the award recognizes excellence in such areas as communications with the hospital and clinical assessment.

thanks Dan

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House fire in Clinton, WI 81/31/7

This from Tim Olk:

Was on my way home from Monroe Wis at the fire school. Just passing Rockford, Clinton FPD pulled a Mabas Box Alarm for a house fire. Upon arrival they found heavy smoke pushing from the C&D corner, which was a back porch  right off the kitchen. The building was a 2 1/2-story, wood frame house about 30×50.

Being a balloon-frame, fire was already on floors 1 and 2 and in the attic. One firefighter and the state fire marshal were called to the scene.

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

HME fire truck at fire scene

Tim Olk photo

firefighters at house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

heavy smoke from attic during a house fire

Tim Olk photo

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