Layoffs in Arizona fire district
Tucson, Arizona - Friday, Dec. 7th, was the 66th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the day for final paycheks for several Avra Valley Fire District firefighters. Cutbacks have caused the fire district and state health department to temporarily authorize a private ambulance provider to provide service to the 265-square mile fire district. PHOTO: This Avra Valley RD ambulance will be running less due to lay-offs.
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Oakland Fire has to redo applications
Oakland, California - In a December 4th column, the SF Chronicle's Chip Johnson details how the recruitment application process at Oakland Fire went haywire and has ended up with the intervention of Oakland's Mayor to make it right.
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Charleston fined in FF deaths
Charleston, South Carolina - Charleston, South Carolina has agreed to pay more than $3,000 in fines to the state for violations connected with the greatest loss of firefighters since the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The president of the International Association of Fire Fighters calls the fine and review a "travesty."
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NZ FFs - fighting fires smartly
Christchurch, New Zealand - The New Zealand Fire Service has engaged a new technological tool to make firefighting smarter, giving firefighters better access to the information they need to do their job.
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Private fire losing ground
Oro Valley-Tucson, Arizona - Southern Arizona's Golder Ranch Fire District hopes to complete annexation of Oro Valley two years early - taking away some more fire subscription business from the private Rural/Metro fire service. While unrelated to the Oro Valley change, Rural/Metro has laid off several managers during the same time, including a Scottsdale-based fire chief, Gary Morris, who brought signficant national municiple fire service experience to the firm.
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University to study FF fatigue
Mesa, Arizona - Arizona State University studies firefighter fatigue - Computer games will gauge stress. Mesa, Arizona firefighters are working with Arizona State University to determine the effects that working high call volumes under stressful conditions have on job performance. Mesa is a good candidate for the study because its firefighters work in some of the busiest stations in the country.
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America's Fire Chief Retires
Phoenix, Arizona - Calling him "America's Fire Chief," NFPA President Jim Shannon joined a long line of well wishers at the retirement dinner honoring Phoenix Fire Chief and noted fire service author Alan V. Brunacini. "Bruno" retires after more than four decades as a firefighters, with 28 years of that as Phoenix's fire chief, one of the longest reigning large metropolitan city fire chiefs in the nation.
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How heroes learn to save their own
Gurnee, Illinois - Cottony black smoke spouting out of a building is the worst - it indicates the potential for a flashover. Sending men into a building with rolls of black and brown clouds hovering above is like sending them into hell. At those moments, Captain Barry Henby of the Gurnee Fire Department Station One is hopeful that the "Saving Your Own" program, which trains firefighters how to avoid and flee danger, will help his men.
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