State lawmakers are working to curb and document the use of contaminated firefighting foam with a trio of bills. Fire chiefs who use firefighting foam that contained per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances would be required to report its usage within 48 hours, including details on the location, quantity used, nearby waterways and cleanup efforts.
- PUB DATE: 5/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News

A decorated Navy SEAL was rejected by the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) because he was too old, multiple reports say. According to the "New York Post," 37-year-old Special Operations Chief Shaun Donovan was told by FDNY he's six months and 25 days too old to join the department. Donovan passed the written exam for firefighters, scoring in the top 1 percent of nearly 44,000 candidates and passed the physical test.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC 10 News

You’ve seen police body-camera video, but now we’re seeing similar videos from firefighters. The new videos are changing the way departments train their crews. “Kind of like what sports athletes do. They’re watching batting practicing or watching another football team. We’re doing the same thing. We’re reevaluating and seeing how we can get better,” Captain JD Flint, with Metro Fire of Sacramento, said.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS 13 Sacramento

Efforts are under way nationally to get communications officers, aka dispatchers, proper recognition for what they do. Rep. Norma J. Torres' House Resolution 1629, called the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (SAVES) Act, seeks to reclassify communications officers nationally from a non-protective service occupation to a protective one in the Standard Occupational Classification system, giving dispatchers recognition as first responders.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norman Transcript

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards Council approved a plan to consolidate the information currently contained in 114 NFPA Emergency Response and Responder Safety (ERRS) standards, guides, and recommended practices into 38 overarching standards. The move will not only provide emergency responders with easier access to well-rounded safety information, but also improve the standards development experience for more than 2,000 principle and alternative NFPA Technical Committee Members.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org