Effective June 1, Alachua County’s Rescue 24—housed at Station 24, located at 3509 NW 143 Street—will be out of service unless it can be filled with available staffing or voluntary overtime.

“Like other public safety agencies in the State of Florida, Alachua County Fire Rescue has struggled to maintain an adequate workforce to meet the needs of a service delivery demand that continues to grow,” a Facebook post reads. “The department has continually advertised its vacancies but has been unsuccessful in filling them. Therefore, the department has had to rely upon overtime and mandatory overtime to keep units in service. Mandatory overtime is when an employee is not scheduled to work but is required to do so.

“Regarding mandatory overtime, Alachua County Fire Chief Harold Theus stated, ‘We have worked hard to reduce and eliminate mandatory assignments when we can. These last few months, it has reached an unreasonable point. Mandatory assignments are not good for the employee, the department, or the citizens we serve. We have implemented several changes to accommodate for our reduced workforce, but at this point, I have no other option other than taking a rescue unit out of service.’

“Some of the efforts to keep units in service and available include:

* Streamlined hiring process

* Suspension of all out-of-county transfers

* Alternative special event staffing

* Administrative staff working on Rescue Units

* Placing Basic Life Support (BLS) units in the Peak Load Division

* Encouraging employees to work overtime in the Rescue classification

“Effective June 1, 2022, Rescue 24 at Station 24, located at 3509 NW 143 Street, will be out of service unless it can be filled with available staffing or voluntary overtime. This unit was selected for several reasons. First, station 24 has an Advanced Life Support (ALS) Fire Engine for immediate first response medical care. Additionally, this rescue unit has a lower call volume than many of the other 14 Rescue units and has Rescue units located to the North, South, East, and West.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell visited the National Weather Service’s Spokane office on Wednesday to discuss legislation that would give the organization more funding for their efforts in fighting and tracking wildfires. The bill introduced by Cantwell last month, known as the Fire Ready Nation Act of 2022, is a bipartisan effort to allocate more funding to the weather service for better equipment, higher pay and the development of new technologies.
- PUB DATE: 6/1/2022 10:55:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review - Metered Site

Flaherty Volunteer Firefighter Lloyd Claycomb was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital after being struck by a Meade County Ambulance that rolled over Tuesday.

The accident happened at the intersection of US 60 and Joe Prather Highway in Meade County at about 7:45 Tuesday evening.

According to Kentucky State Police, a Meade County EMS ambulance was traveling north on the Joe Prather Highway with its lights and siren engaged when it was struck by a Chevrolet Impala traveling west on US 60.

The impact caused the ambulance to rollover and it struck struck firefighter Claycomb who was collecting donations for the Crusade for Children charity drive that kicked off this week.

The Impala then struck a Ford F-350.

Firefighter Claycomb and the driver of the Impala were transported to the University of Louisville with serious, potentially life-threatening injuries. The driver of the ambulance, who is reportedly a volunteer with the Ekron Fire Department, and the F-350 driver were taken to the Baptist Health Hardin with less serious injuries.

A driver tried to pass a Phoenix fire truck responding to a call Tuesday and wound up crashing–first into the truck and then a tree. The driver died in the crash.

The accident occurred around 4:15 p.m. in the area of 35th Avenue and Camelback Road, Fox 11 reports.

Firefighters stopped their truck and provided first aid to the driver of the other vehicle, and he was transported to the hospital.

The fire truck did have its lights and sirens running at the time of the crash.

Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins and offensive lineman Michael Deiter recently spent a day training with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department.

The two were put through their paces, including donning full gear, deploying hose, and extinguishing fire in a training tower. The visit was broadcast the team-produced show “Fish Out of Water.”

Both men walked away with a new appreciation for the work that firefighters do.