On July 1, Rhoda Mae Kerr will pin five brass bugles on the collar of her Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue uniform—the number symbolizes her rank, and five is the highest. On that day Kerr will also make history as the department’s first female fire chief in its 106-year history. Kerr comes from a lineage of firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Daily

Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri’s office released another statement Wednesday in response to reports on the conduct of former temporary fire Chief John Kelly, who resigned from his position last week amid allegations of professional misconduct. Kelly — appointed interim chief last July in place of Russell Brooks, who remains on administrative leave — stepped down to become a deputy chief after an investigation into text messages sent between Kelly and 23-year-old Carmen Ambrose, the son of Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose, that make references to watching pornography and other lewd acts that occurred on fire department property.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

A fiery uproar in the town of Morris could have left residents without a volunteer Fire Department. A statement from the department was released Tuesday announcing that its members had voted to “cease providing fire, rescue, and EMS services,” as of June 30. The statement noted that the decision was not made lightly, but came after the department felt it could not come to a “reasonable working relationship with the town administrators.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

Buffalo Grove officials announced Wednesday they are challenging a decision to award a full line-of-duty death pension to the widow of a 51-year-old Buffalo Grove firefighter, arguing not enough evidence exists that his fatal colon cancer was related to his work. The full pension award for Kevin Hauber’s wife, Kim Hauber, and their four children represented an “unprecedented” claim and marked the first award of its kind in Illinois after the Buffalo Grove Fire Department Pension Board determined earlier this year that Kevin Hauber’s cancer was caused in the line of duty, village officials said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

Firefighters from Grant County Fire Districts 10, 11 and 3 and the Bureau of Land Management rescued a woman in her 60s who fell over 100 feet down a cliff at the I-90 Vantage scenic view area Wednesday evening. She was taken to Quincy Valley Medical Center. The Grant County Sheriff's Office says she was conscious and talking to rescuers when she was pulled out.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 9:17:08 PM - SOURCE: KXLY4 News