What started as an experiment in training firefighters locally is turning into a regular event in the Tri-Cities. Starting Monday, 17 firefighters will start a 15-week training program at the regional fire recruit academy — without having to leave home. With Kennewick looking to open a new fire station, and Pasco and Richland replacing retiring firefighters, it will be the largest class ever trained in the area.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tri-City Herald

More than four years after a massive blaze destroyed an Edgewater apartment complex and temporarily displaced more than 1,000 residents, legislative attempts to better protect residential structures from fast-spreading fires have stalled. A panel of firefighters, fire safety experts, activists and builders at a public forum in Teaneck weighed in Wednesday night on how best to address the issue.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: North Jersey.com (Bergen County Record & Herald News)

The city’s ambulance corps is so busy that an overtime cap applying to all other agencies has been lifted and medics are routinely putting in 60 and 70-hour weeks, union officials said. Normally, city workers can’t make more than 40 percent of their salary in overtime. However, with just 4,133 emergency medical technicians and paramedics to handle nearly 1.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Cahokia (IL) Volunteer Fire Department 75-foot aerial ladder quint. Monarch cab and chassis; Cummins ISL 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump.

The Franklin County Fire Department upgraded its tool kit by getting new Jaws of Life. The Jaws of Life is a tool used by firefighters to pry open cars when they are trying to rescue someone from an accident. The new Jaws of Life they received are battery powered and cordless unlike the previous gasoline powered ones.
- PUB DATE: 3/10/2019 9:42:07 PM - SOURCE: NBCRightNow.com