Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday announced that the city would provide firefighters an average raise of nearly 20 percent. The raises will go into effect this January.Fire Chief Randall B. Slaughter called the raises historic. “This pay raise represents the single largest pay enhancement to firefighters in this city in my 29 year career,” Slaughter said.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Atlanta Journal Constitution

Phoenix Fire Department Chief Kara Kalkbrenner announced in a message to the department Wednesday that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Kalkbrenner, who was sworn in as the first woman to lead the department in December 2014, said in the message she will undergo a double mastectomy and reconstruction surgery this Friday.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AZ Central

Never far from the busy engines of Los Angeles’s Fire Station 9 on Skid Row is a man known by everyone in the area as 'Mango.' Even though he can often be found wearing an LAFD cap and jacket designating him as the “Fire Traffic Officer,” he is not an official member of L.A. City Fire. But when the calls fire off at Station 9, Mango springs into action, just like the crews.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News

Chattanooga Fire Department Capt. Skyler Phillips fought back tears Tuesday as he told City Council members the story of a nearly blind woman with broken glasses who used to regularly call 911 seeking help after tripping and falling. This fall, the department launched a new program, CFD Connect, that seeks to connect frequent non-emergency 911 callers with social services that proactively address their problems before they turn to calling for emergency help.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chattanooga Times Free Press

Local first responders are talking about ongoing issues they face when responding to 911 calls. Fire and EMS providers now rely on GPS systems that sometimes take them far from where they need to go. Fire Chief Jerry Hanson says it’s an issue for East Prospect Fire Company about once a month. “There was a fire last month on Otter Street, which is literally two miles from here, but the way it came up on mapping, it wanted me to go to Columbia,” Hanson said.
- PUB DATE: 12/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHTM-TV ABC 27 News