For the fifth time in five years, Unalaska is looking to hire a new fire chief. Ramona Thompson was fired in early October after about a year and a half leading the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Due to the fatal plane crash that month and Thompson's travel schedule, KUCB couldn't reach her for an interview until this week. "Our current city manager pretty much said that she had determined that it was in the best interest of the community and the organization to terminate me without cause, and that's why I'm not working there anymore," she said. Thompson has more than 35 years of fire and EMS experience. She previously worked as EMS coordinator for the Department of Public Safety, as well as director of clinical services for Iliuliuk Family and Health Services.  

Like Santa and his elves, Karen Wilson and her young granddaughter are busy performing Christmas miracles. The weather is frigid -- below zero -- at mile 84 of the Parks Highway. But cold weather isn't stopping Wilson from gathering up Christmas donations to hand-deliver to victims of this summer's devastating McKinley Fire. "I'm out delivering Christmas decorations and trees," Wilson wrote in a post on a Facebook recovery page for McKinley Fire victims. Wilson has no issues giving out her number if it might connect her with someone who needs help. She has been collecting donations -- Christmas trees, decorations, gifts -- and storing them until a family calls. Then she hits the road, driving as far as she has to on her own dime to bring a little Christmas cheer to families who lost so much in the fire.  

Two hundred fire fighters have now reportedly died from illnesses related to the September 11th attacks, according to a charitable organization that assists 9/11 first responders with medical needs not covered by insurance. The Ray Pfeifer Foundation confirmed on Twitter Wednesday that two more New York City fire fighters have died due to "9/11 illness," marking the 199th, and 200th FDNY deaths related to the World Trade Center attacks. Retired FDNY captain Dennis Gilhooly of Engine Company 67, and retired firefighter Brian Casse of Engine Company 294, both died, the foundation said. The Ray Pfeifer foundation was established in memory of a FDNY firefighter who died on May 28, 2017 from cancer related to 9/11, according to the foundation.  

After voters rejected a city charter amendment Nov. 5 that would have allowed 2 additional mills for public safety, the council is considering options as funds in the annual public safety budget are exhausted halfway into the second quarter of the fiscal year. The rising number of medical runs the Davison-Richfield Fire Department is being dispatched for is considered to blame for the city's public safety budget being $80,000 in the red last year. Medical runs have now burned up the entire 2019-2020 budget which only went into effect in July. While the Genesee County 9-1-1 is asking Davison and other municipalities being hit hard by the rising number of medical runs to wait for new dispatching practices to show results – expected before the end of December – the city council is considering options, including ending fire department medical runs.  

Belgrade residents will face the question of whether they want to create their own fire department in the spring. City officials say it'll be costly -- roughly $3.3 million -- so they have another option on the table. If residents vote to create their own department, taxes will have to be raised, but if they vote to annex themselves to the Central Valley Fire District, city officials say there won't be much of a fiscal change. While they're both separate agencies, they've worked together for the last 70 years. That could change as Belgrade keeps growing. Belgrade has yet to hit the 10,000 population mark, but once it does, state law would require it to have its own operating fire department. That's why city officials want to get the ball rolling on the annexation.  

A recently released CalFire report reveals how one fire captain narrowly escaped death and banded together with two civilians to save themselves by using a fire shelter — a last resort meant to protect from a blaze burning all around — during the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County. Around 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 25, the report said, a captain assigned as a division supervisor during the Kincade Fire was near Pine Flat Road near Geyserville, where he had gone to check on firefighters after hearing reports that some were not wearing protective wildland gear. The Kincade Fire, which eventually burned more than 77,000 acres, had already been burning for nearly two days. Before the incident, there had been a "significant" wind shift from the west to the north, according to CalFire.  

In the aftermath of several public sexual harassment cases, Austin EMS and the police and fire departments are updating their sexual harassment policies to create consistency across city emergency services. The action comes in the wake of Austin Fire Department Lt. James Baker's guilty plea to hiding a camera and filming firefighter Kelly Gall in the fire station restroom. The incident culminated with Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore offering Baker a plea deal that consisted of five years' probation and the loss of his EMT and firefighting licenses. Austin Fire Captain Christine Jones came to the Dec. 2 meeting of the Public Safety Commission to share a similar story about the harassment, gender-specific insults and slurs she was subjected to by Captain Roger Scarcliff while on the job.