For the first time since the November election, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday sat down with the head of the firefighters union and said he is willing to negotiate a plan to phase in raises mandated by the voter-approved charter amendment that requires the city to pay firefighters the same as police of equal rank and seniority.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

The city of Charleston is limiting fire truck responses on non-life threatening medical calls, following in the footsteps of other local municipalities who’ve done so for several years. Fire personnel in Charleston will now only respond to the non-life threatening 911 calls — like nausea and earaches — when Emergency Medical Service workers either request assistance or the anticipated EMS response time is longer than 10 minutes.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Post and Courier

Three Spokane Valley Fire Fighters were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after being exposed to chemicals from bug bombs. The firefighters were responding to a fire alarm around 1 p.m. at Central Park Condominiums near South Eastern Road and East Sixth Avenue. When firefighters arrived, they saw no fire or smoke, but saw an overturned wheelchair and crawled through a window to find if someone was in the apartment, said Greg Rodgers, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Spokesman Review

A Washougal family escaped injury Wednesday afternoon when a piece of rock fell from the sky, pierced their roof, and landed in their child's bedroom. Fire officials say the rock came from a nearby construction site, where crews were blasting to make way for utility lines in a new subdivision. "They were doing some blasting just above the apartment complex for utility lines," said Ron Schumacher, fire marshal with the Camas-Washougal Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

VIDEO: A former Oneonta firefighter who died after rescuing his fiancé and nephews from a burning apartment in December was recognized by the New York State Senate on Tuesday. State Senator Jim Seward honored John Heller with a special New York State Senate Resolution. He was granted the state senate’s Liberty Medal, the highest honor given by the New York State Senate.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: 12 NEWS WBNG