It has been about 14 months since Russell Brooks last served as Utica’s fire chief. With Brooks on administrative leave, the Utica Fire Department has had three interim chiefs in that span. Retired Utica fire Capt. James Barefoot, the latest appointed to the role, officially started July 2. Through it all, Brooks continues to challenge the city’s decision to place him on paid, nondisciplinary, administrative leave due to concerns with Brooks’ health.
- PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

Video footage that surfaced Thursday raised new questions about the San Francisco Fire Department’s response to the Asiana plane crash on July 6, 2013, particularly its handling of a subsequent incident in which a fire rig ran over a 16-year-old girl. “I mean, s— happens, you know?” San Francisco Battalion Chief Mark Johnson appears to say in footage from the camera attached to his helmet, according to a report published late Thursday by ABC7 investigative reporter Dan Noyes.
- PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com

For years, firefighters at Seattle’s Station 31 have worried that the place where they barbecue steak and try to sleep between calls might be making them sick. Red flags were first raised in the early 2000s, after a string of firefighters were diagnosed with cancer. But a subsequent study found no link between the station and the illness.
- PUB DATE: 7/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

A Swatara Township fire company is suspended and no longer responding to calls after an investigation into reports that some members were being subjected to racial slurs, harassment and bullying. Director of Fire Services Mike Ibberson said the Lawnton Fire Company was taken out of service on May 31.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Penn Live

The FDNY is considering stationing one less firefighter at its busiest engine companies as part of a cost-savings measure to cover rising medical leave, officials said Thursday. As early as next week, the Fire Department might stop assigning a fifth firefighter to the 15 engine companies that had the extra help.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post