The leaders of Orange County’s sheriff and fire departments have been summoned to appear before the Board of Supervisors out of concern that the helicopter war raging between the agencies may lead to a mid-air collision. Supervisor Todd Spitzer said Monday he is also concerned that sheriff’s deputies might start arresting Orange County Fire Authority pilots in the fight over who should conduct air rescues.
- PUB DATE: 1/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

Nearly three decades ago, when Michael Mackey of Miami was looking to begin his career as a firefighter, his father suggested he consider Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Mackey knew other municipal departments could offer better pay — as much as $10,000 per year more. But Mackey’s father, an engineer with the city of Miami, knew Palm Beach County’s fire chief, Herman Brice, and he suggested that his son would be able to grow in a department he believed would thrive under Brice’s leadership.
- PUB DATE: 1/23/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Palm Beach Post

Longtime Boulder Rural Fire Rescue Chief Bruce Mygatt retired this week after being with the department for almost 50 years. Mygatt, who told the department about a year ago he would be retiring, celebrated his last day on Wednesday. Mygatt joined the at-the-time all volunteer Boulder Rural and Suburban Volunteer Fire Department in 1972 and became the department’s first full-time chief when it became the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Denver Post

Northern Mariana Islands Gov. Ralph DeLeon Guerrero Torres today announced that he has accepted the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) deployment plan offered by FirstNet and AT&T, meaning all 56 states and territories in the U.S. have made an “opt-in” decision. “Today, Gov. Torres made history,” FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said in a prepared statement.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications

As many as a dozen Chicago firefighters are facing disciplinary action for allegedly looking the other way while a colleague had sex with a woman at a South Side firehouse. The firefighter accused of engaging in the firehouse sex - with a woman who was his girlfriend at the time - is facing either a lengthy suspension or termination, City Hall sources said.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times