If you are a Fire & Rescue professional attending the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis, mark your calendars to join the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate's (S&T) John Merrill  as he discusses how to “Make Firefighting Safer with Artificial Intelligence.” This discussion will be held in rooms 138-139 on Thursday, April 11, 2019, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil stadium.

When firefighters arrive on an emergency scene, they face overwhelming amounts of information. Combined with new technologies and alerting to existing systems, they may not have time to synthesize life-saving information quickly to do their jobs. Imagine an intelligent personal assistant customized to the individual responder needs that can recognize radio transmissions and responder jargon to extract actionable information and also fuse data from hazard sensors and situational awareness apps to provide decision-making tools to help you answer the call. 

The DHS S&T Next Generation First Responder (NGFR) Apex Program has partnered with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop the Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction and Synthesis (AUDREY), the state-of-the-art human-like artificial intelligence reasoning system to assist first responders at the scene of an emergency. Learn how AUDREY can be integrated with 911 call centers and paramedic response to improve object recognition to help in emergency scenarios.

This is a casual classroom environment that will call upon participants to identify capability gaps first responders (specifically firefighters) may encounter while in the field. DHS S&T’s NGFR director John Merrill will also call upon colleagues who are a part of the AUDREY pilot to explain to participants how AUDREY was used in their public agencies and AUDREY's benefits, including Dr. Edward Chow from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) who will explain further developments with AUDREY and how DHS S&T and NASA JPL are partnering with other agencies across the nation.

FDIC International offers 34,000+ Fire & Rescue professionals from 65+ countries around the world, quality world-class instructors, classrooms, workshops, H.O.T. evolutions and the most innovative products and services available to the industry displayed by over 800 exhibiting companies.

Voters will decide in a special election April 23 if they want to fund a new Regional Fire Authority. The City Council voted Monday in favor of the RFA, after Snohomish County Fire District 12 had previously. If approved, the RFA would be funded by a property tax rate of $1.45 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $435 annually for a $300,000 home.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2019 6:24:38 AM - SOURCE: Marysville Globe

Voters approved three tax measures for the Newman Lake Fire and Rescue, Spokane County Fire Protection District 8 and the Orchard Prairie School District in Tuesday’s special election. More than 81 percent of voters approved a replacement levy for Newman Lake Fire and Rescue. The ballot measure replaces an emergency medical services levy that’s expiring at the end of 2019.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2019 12:19:13 AM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

As 2020 looms on the horizon, a request to extend the fire chief’s tenure has surfaced. Fire Chief Ed Bradley turns 64 on April 12, and figured he would be shown the door a year later, per state law that mandates police and fire chiefs’ retirement at age 65. He said Town Manager Melissa Arrighi asked him to stay on for another two years to help facilitate a seamless transition to a new fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wicked Local Plymouth

James Bulerin III has dreamt of following in his father’s footprints and becoming a city firefighter. But city officials have dashed those dreams because Bulerin has a medical marijuana card and tested positive for the drug. “The city has disqualified him from being a firefighter which is a clear violation of the state law,” said Bulerin’s lawyer, Thomas Bucci, who this week filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city on his client’s behalf.
- PUB DATE: 2/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post