Archive for August 1st, 2018

Cancer in the fire service

Excerpts from wlos.com:

According to the Asheville Fire Department, for the second time in North Carolina history, a firefighter death caused by cancer is being determined by the Industrial Commission as a line of duty death. Asheville fire engineer Will Willis passed away after his battle with cancer earlier this year.

The fire department says this decision means his family will receive a survivor’s benefit. It will also give Willis’ children free college education at public North Carolina universities. Additionally, the decision means Willis’ name will be added to the state memorial in Raleigh. That ceremony should happen sometime in May.

Fire Chief Scott Burnette said the decision by the Industrial Commission was practically unheard of until now. He said the decision is important, not only for the Willis family, but also for the department.

This year, the Asheville City Council approved funds for a second set of turnout gear for Asheville firefighters. The department also has started new decontamination processes. They say the Industrial Commissions’ decision is an important part of recognizing what is happening.

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Chicago Fire Department history

This from Steve Redick:

Not sure of the date on this one. Carl Brauneis gave the still out and I think I heard my old boss Jack Turner and maybe Tom Shevlin as well so I’m thinking mid to late 1970s. This is NOT the big one on October 30, 1970

 

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South Elgin Fire Protection District news

Excerpts from wandtv.com:

South Elgin Fire Protection District firefighters rescued a dog that escaped through a window onto a home’s roof.

Crews say the homeowners who live in a duplex weren’t home when the dog made its move. They say the animal broke through a window screen on the building’s second floor, then made its way over to the neighbor’s side of the roof.

The dog wasn’t able to get back to the window it came out of because the roof was steep. They safely managed to get it down using a ladder.

Firefighters rescue dog from the roof of a house

South Elgin Fire Protection District photo

Firefighters rescue dog from the roof of a house

South Elgin Fire Protection District photo

Firefighters rescue dog from the roof of a house

South Elgin Fire Protection District photo

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New ambulances for Chicago (more)

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

Mayoral challenger Paul Vallas went to city hall Tuesday to talk about his plan for increasing the number of ambulances deployed by the Chicago Fire Department, only to see Mayor Rahm Emanuel preemptively announce he’s adding more ambulances to the street.

About 45 minutes before Vallas’ scheduled news conference to criticize Emanuel’s handling of emergency medical services, the Emanuel administration sent out a news release announcing the fire department would be getting five new ambulances, and that fire officials would hold their own event to discuss the additions Tuesday afternoon.

If elected, Vallas said, he would move to add another 20 ambulances to the fleet by the end of his first term, to bring the total number to 100. The cost for the new vehicles would be about $50 million, which he said could be covered in large part by more efficiently billing insurance companies for emergency medical services and monetizing the larger ambulance fleet by getting private events such as music festivals to pay to have fire department paramedics on hand.

Vallas also said he would create a separate bureau for paramedics within the fire department, headed by a director with commissioner-like powers. He did not think he would need to reduce the number of firefighters on engines and ladder trucks in order to increase the number of paramedics to staff the additional ambulances he would purchase.

He suggested Emanuel has been punishing paramedics because their union backed Jesus Garcia in the 2015 election.

thanks Dan

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