A second firefighter has died battling the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park, officials said Sunday. The National Park Service has identified the firefighter as Brian Hughes, captain of the Arrowhead Interagency Hotshots. He was 33. The Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park firefighter died Sunday morning after being struck by a tree on the east side of the fire, where Hughes and his crew "were operating in an area with a large amount of tree mortality," park officials said.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCRA-TV NBC Sacramento

The FDNY’s $10 million minority recruitment drive has floundered, because hundreds of black and Hispanic candidates haven’t paid a $30 application fee, The Post has learned. Normally, candidates for NYC civil service jobs can’t take the exams unless they complete the application and pay the fee. About 45,000 people took the city’s firefighter exam last September through October.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

The cause of death for six family members killed in a fire at a motel near Benton Harbor has been ruled smoke inhalation. The fire started around 1:45 a.m. Saturday, July 28, in a room on the first floor of the Cosmo Extended Living motel, according to police. The six people killed in the fire, police said, were Kiarre Curtis, 26; Marquise Thompson, 10; Gerome Randolph, 7; Samuel Curtis, 5; Savod Curtis, 4; and Avery Curtis, 2.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive

It was supposed to be a routine training exercise: firefighters climbing a ladder to the roof of a six-story building in downtown Los Angeles, as though the structure were on fire. On that June morning in 2017, firefighter Kelly Wong made it more than halfway up the ladder, leaning against the Barclay Hotel at a 73-degree angle.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

A Ridgefield Park volunteer firefighter has been suspended after allegedly taking a firetruck on a joyride two weeks ago and striking a utility pole. The firefighter, Connor O’Grady, allegedly took one of the firetrucks out for a ride at about 10 p.m. on July 13 with a firefighter from Bogota steering the rear of the rig, according to Mayor George Fosdick.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Asbury Park Press