A City of Newburgh Fire Department union leader is denouncing what he described as a new structure for the impending layoffs of first responders on Dec. 31, but City Manager Joe Donat contends this method is the fair and right way to do business. The 2020 city budget calls for 14 firefighters to lose their jobs at the end of the year.
- PUB DATE: 12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Times Herald Record - Metered Site

Easton's Fire Department is going gender-neutral, at least in the ordinance that governs operations. Easton City Council's Public Safety Committee reviewed ordinance changes Tuesday that include converting "men" in the ordinance to "firefighters," and "he" will become "the Fire Chief." For example, the current language, "When answering an alarm of fire, he shall be in complete charge of all officers, men and apparatus'' will be "When answering an alarm of fire, the Fire Chief will have complete charge of all officers, firefighters ….
- PUB DATE: 12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMZ-TV 69 News

In 2016, Denton (Texas) Fire/Rescue (DFR) Department Firefighter Gary Weiland had knee surgery, and for two years, everything seemed fine. Then, in 2018, while playing football in the yard with his family and friends on Thanksgiving Day, his entire life changed without warning. “I was literally running around the field, throwing a ball, and my knee started to swell up,” Weiland said.
- PUB DATE: 12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman asks “why does an All-Electric Fire Engine make sense for a municipal Fire Agency like ours?” Some answers: Typically, Fire Engines only travel short distances before returning to their home base, or Fire Station, so electric motors make perfect sense. Most emergencies only last 30 minutes or less and this Engine can be shut down once it arrives at the incident, so an electric motor is very practical, efficient and environmentally responsible.
- PUB DATE: 12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: In Menlo

The financial future of the family of a 51-year-old Buffalo Grove firefighter who died of colon cancer will soon be decided by a trio of appellate court judges who on Tuesday began considering a decision to award his widow and their four children her late husband’s full pension benefits. The case involves the village of Buffalo Grove’s appeal to the Second District Appellate Court to overturn a 100% line of duty death pension benefit award to the family of late firefighter Kevin Hauber.
- PUB DATE: 12/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune - Metered Site