The call load for firefighters has tripled and variety of their training and responsibilities has significantly expanded in the last few decades, while the personnel population at the Peoria Fire Department has remained relatively flat. Those factors, combined with the continued dwindling of tax revenue flowing into city coffers, create a stark reality, according to the president of the local firefighters union, Ryan Brady.
- PUB DATE: 11/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Peoria Journal Star

The cast-iron natural gas main that served Dr. Richard Williams' turn-of-the-century home in this Southern college town was as old as the house itself: It was built during Shreveport's first gas-fueled boom in 1911. When that pipeline cracked in 2016, the gas built up slowly and silently in a shed behind Williams' home.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

For decades, Devil's Night in Detroit was a horror story -- a night when arsonists ran amok, and when homeowners stood on their lawns with garden hoses running while the city reeled amid hundreds of fires that firefighters couldn't douse. Now? The plague of arson seems to be over. As trick-or-treaters made the rounds Wednesday night, Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones released a statement about Devil's Night at the Free Press' request.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to get answers from Verizon about fire crews getting their data speeds throttled as they battled the Mendocino Complex Fire over the summer. Santa Clara Fire Chief Tony Bowden and Verizon representatives gave status reports at the meeting.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

The Otsego County Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Town of Oneonta Fire District Board of Commissioners on Oct. 31, dismissing the requested injunction by the Town of Oneonta. The Fire Commission may now proceed with its dissolution Friday, Nov. 2 as planned. The Commission voted to dissolve in September following more than a year of stalled budget negotiations between the town, commission and city.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oneonta Daily Star