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| Thanksgiving Day fire kills two Hawkins parents, four children survive thanks to hero sibling A Thanksgiving Day fire claimed the lives of two East Texas parents with their four children just barely escaping the flames. Courtney Cline, 30, and her longtime partner Ben Mendez, 34, were killed in the blaze in the 1100 block of CR 3859, north of Hawkins. According to Wood County Fire Marshal Tully Davidson, the fire appears to be accidental. Cline and Mendez's bodies have been sent to Tyler for autopsy. Davidson said that the four children were able to make it out of the house alive thanks to a heroic sibling. Dallas, the oldest child, woke up and smelled smoke. When he realized that there was a fire, he tore through a wall to rescue his three younger siblings. EAST TEXAS MATTERS Officials: Three dead after small plane crashes near San Antonio airport San Antonio officials say all three people aboard a single-engine aircraft heading to Boerne died after an in-flight emergency caused it to crash shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood and the Bexar County Medical Examiner identified the victims as two men, ages 22 and 38, and a woman, age 71. While an exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined, Hood said the plane took off from Sugar Land, a city about 20 miles southwest of Houston, and was heading to Boerne when the pilot noticed "some kind of engine problems." At that point the pilot declared an "alert 2 emergency" over San Antonio, indicating that there was a mechanical or engine issue. Hood said the plane crashed on the 600 block of West Rhapsody Drive near the San Antonio International Airport, and there's no indication that it struck any trees or other structures. KWES-TV NBC 9 ODESSA Unhappy Thanksgiving: Explosions at Port Neches chemical plant keep more than 50,000 out of their homes More than 50,000 people in southeast Texas will spend Thanksgiving away from their homes as evacuation orders remained in place after two powerful Wednesday blasts at a chemical plant in Port Neches, about 80 miles east of Houston. A fire that sent large plumes of dark smoke into the sky continued to burn Thursday at the TPC Group plant, which manufactures butadiene and other chemicals used in synthetic rubber, fuels, lubricant additives and plastics. Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said there are no lingering issues with air quality after the explosions, but the risk of further blasts hurling debris and flames spreading necessitates maintaining the evacuation order and a 10 p.m. curfew. "It's Thanksgiving, a lot of people are displaced, they can't go home," Stephens told TV station KFDM. CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES Related: Residents near Port Neches plant return home after evacuation order lifted Kilgore College Fire Academy to mark 30 years Blake Green can't remember a day he did not want to be a firefighter. Ever since he was a little boy, it was all he wanted to do, he said. So when Green graduated high school in May 2003, he knew exactly where to go next — the Kilgore College Fire Academy. "I guess it just kind of reinforced what I wanted to do," said Green, who is now part of the Emergency Prevention Response team at Eastman Chemical Co. in Longview. "A lot of people say you go to school to find out what you want to do, and I think that did that for me." The fire academy will celebrate its 30th anniversary by graduating its 108th class at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Van Cliburn Auditorium at Kilgore College. The ceremony will graduate 18 candidates, adding to the more than 1,700 firefighters who have been trained at the academy. LONGVIEW NEWS-JOURNAL Texas A&M Professor's Technology Could Help Prevent Wildfires B. Don Russell wasn't thinking about preventing a wildfire when he developed a tool to detect power line problems before blackouts and bigger disasters. The electrical engineering professor at Texas A&M University figured he might save a life if his creation could prevent someone from being electrocuted by a downed live wire. But fire prevention may be his product's biggest selling point in California and other places that have experienced devastating wildland blazes blamed on electrical equipment. "If we can find things when they start to fail, if we can find things that are in the process of degrading before a catastrophic event occurs, such as a downed line that might electrocute someone or a fire starting or even an outage for their customers, that's kind of the Holy Grail," Russell said. KXAS-TV NBC 5 DALLAS - FORT WORTH 30 years since first local 911 response, emergency system continues to evolve In December 1989, one Robinson family learned the importance of a new three-digit phone number that connected them with firefighters who kept their home, and their Christmas, from going up in flames. McLennan County had just implemented a 911 system through the McLennan County 911 Emergency Assistance District. It joined Tarrant and Harris counties as some of the earliest in Texas to standardize how residents can call for emergency help, said Yost Zakhary, a former president of the local 911 district. The response to the house fire in the 200 block of West Karnes Drive was among the earliest uses of 911 in the county. "We have always heard what a great volunteer fire department we have and now we know firsthand," a note written by the Robinson family 30 years ago states. WACO TRIBUNE-HERALD PREVIOUS STATE NEWS |
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| Officials in New York delay restoring full health benefits for retired firefighters A group of retired White Plains firefighters are urging the city to uphold a promise made to them that their health benefits would be covered through retirement. For over a year, former Deputy Fire Chief Ed Lobermann, 85, has made presentations and met with city officials regarding the issue. Lobermann represents around 100 retired firefighters who pay 15% of their premium, when they were told in the 1970's it would be paid for them. The legality and impending financial impact on the city have caused pause for some members of the council. Council member Milagros Lecuona proposed legislation to benefit the group of retirees that was discussed at a special meeting Monday. The legislation would stop retired firefighters aged 70 or older from contributing any amount toward their health insurance. NY JOURNAL NEWS (LOHUD.COM) Despite 22 years of talks, Wisconsin officials can't get a fire district off the ground Elected officials from the Village and Town of Waterford and the Village of Rochester agree: A joint fire and emergency medical services district would benefit all three municipalities. But at least 22 years after a consolidated department was first proposed, the chance of a district for these western Racine County communities appears further off than ever. Local officials have failed to make any tangible progress and intergovernmental relations are rapidly deteriorating. And as politics get in the way of progress, citizens are the ones who could pay the ultimate price. Consolidated departments carry the benefit of reduced costs, unified training and response methods and better response times because jurisdictional borders are removed from the equation. Sturtevant and Mount Pleasant combined their fire departments in 2009 to form the South Shore Fire Department for those very reasons. Waterford-area officials have at least taken notice of the potential benefits. THE JOURNAL TIMES - METERED SITE Arizona: Fire agencies in Sun City area in good shape for staffing The Scottsdale Fire Department is facing a period of heavy retirements in the next five years, but Northwest Valley fire services are on a firm footing with staff. Scottsdale is a fairly new city department, having been creating July 1, 2005 after purchasing that portion of Rural Metro, including infrastructure and staff. Tom Shannon has been the Scottsdale fire chief since 2011. He has known from that time the department would face high retirement numbers beginning next year. Scottsdale will see 49 of 69 captains and 41 or 69 engineers retire by 2025. Northwest Valley fire services are on a more stable footing, due partly to having longer operating histories. SUN CITY WEST INDEPENDENT New real time mapping system used on California's Cave Fire A new real time wildfire mapping system was used on the Cave Fire near Santa Barbara, California this week. In September the Orange County Fire Authority began a 150-day pilot program to use and evaluate the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS). The program got off the ground thanks to funding secured in the 2019-2020 California state budget by Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach). The system utilizes a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with infrared and radar sensors that can see through smoke. The plane provides real-time fire perimeter mapping and live high definition video to support supercomputer-based wildfire predictive spread modeling. A supercomputer at the University of California San Diego runs WIFIRE spread projections based on fire perimeter data collected by the aircraft. WILDFIRE TODAY Illinois fire department turns profit by opening truck repair service to other departments City officials say opening the Rockford Fire Department vehicle repair shop on Falcon Drive to other fire departments is paying dividends by covering the cost of an extra mechanic and producing a modest profit for the department. Not only does the program raise revenue, but it also gives the department an extra set of hands to repair and return Rockford fire equipment to service quickly after a breakdown, Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said. Now the department is trying to spread the word to other departments that it can repair their fire trucks fast and at good price. "We have the training and the expertise to work on pumps and aerials," Bergsten said. "We are highly trained, certified and have that great turn-around time." Rockford piloted the program this year. ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR - METERED SITE PREVIOUS NATIONAL NEWS |
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| | | Rosenbauer Touts WFCA and Sourcewell Partnership Rosenbauer America congratulates the Western Fire Chief Association’s recently announced partnership with Sourcewell. The WFCA-Sourcewell partnership will provide members the ability to maximize their department budgets. Rosenbauer is the most experienced Sourcwell vendor in the fire-rescue sector |
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| Fire Chief - Lake Havasu City - Lake Havasu City, AZ Firefighter Recruit - West Metro Fire Protection District - Lakewood, CO Fire Marshal / Division Chief - Estes Valley Fire Protection District - Estes Park, CO Public Protection (PPC) Field Representative - Insurance Services Office (ISO) - Allentown, PA and Lubbock, TX Lateral FF/EMT and a FF/Paramedic list. - Treasure Valley Fire Cooperative - Meridian, ID Fire and Rescue Public Information Officer - City of Hillsboro - Hillsboro, OR (closes: Dec 09, 2019) Division Chief of Fire Operations - Evergreen Fire/Rescue - Evergreen, CO (closes: Dec 11, 2019) Fire Chief - Sni Valley Fire Protection District - Oak Grove, MO (closes: Dec 13, 2019) Fire Chief - City of Hastings - Hastings, MN (closes: Dec 15, 2019) EMS Training Coordinator - Eugene Springfield Fire - Eugene, OR (closes: Dec 20, 2019) Fire Chief - Klamath County Fire Dist. No. 1 - Klamath Falls, OR (closes: Jan 02, 2020) Fire Chief - North Whidbey Fire and Rescue - Oak Harbor, WA (closes: Jan 03, 2020) Firefighter Cadet - Corpus Christi Fire Department - Corpus Christi, TX (closes: Jan 10, 2020) POST JOB MORE JOBS |
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| 1997 Simon Duplex Pumper - Asking $22,750 - Salem, OR 2000 Pierce Engine - Asking $150,000 - Cody, WY 2004 American La France Eagle - Asking $48,750 - Salem, OR 1994 Pierce Ladder Truck - Yuma, AZ 2000 American LaFrance Eagle - Asking $60,000 - Roseville, CA Oregon Fire Service Museum Seek Surplus Fire Service Vehicles & Equipment - Salem, OR POST EQUIPMENT MORE EQUIPMENT |
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| Wildland Fire Training Classes - Truckee Meadows Community College - Reno, NV - January 6 - May 4, 2020 FDSOA Fire Apparatus, Safety and Maintenance Conference - Scottsdale, AZ - January 12-15, 2020 Basics Of Spec Writing - FDSOA - Scottsdale, AZ - January 12, 2020 FDSOA Pre-Conference HSO Academy - Scottsdale, AZ - January 13-14, 2020 FDSOA Annual Health and Safety Conference - Scottsdale, AZ - January 13-16, 2020 Pre-Conference Session: Sets & Reps for Incident Safety Officers - FDSOA - Scottsdale, AZ - January 14, 2020 Teex Leadership Development Symposium - San Marcos, TX - January 20-22, 2020 Model Performance in Community Risk Reduction Symposium - Murfreesboro, TN - February 18-20, 2020 Ice Rescue Instructor Academy - Lifesaving Resources, LLC - Portland, ME - February 20-23, 2020 Northwest Leadership Seminar - Portland, OR - March 4-6, 2020 Water Rescue Instructor Academy - Lifesaving Resources, LLC - Portland, ME - May 14-17, 2020 FFABCs Diversity Workshop - 50th Convention IABPFF - Hartford, CT - August 2-7, 2020 POST EVENT MORE EVENTS |
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