Officials say a firefighter killed while battling a wildfire near Yosemite National Park was driving a bulldozer and trying to prevent the fire from spreading. Braden Varney, 36, was a second generation firefighter, state fire officials told CBS Sacramento. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Nancy Koerperich said Saturday that Varney was cutting a "fire break" with the vehicle to prevent the blaze from spreading when he was killed.
- PUB DATE: 7/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News

A firefighter battling cancer is being sued by Baytown's city government, which seeks to deny paying him insurance coverage for his treatment over the last 18 months. Patrick Mahoney, a battalion chief for the Baytown Fire Department, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in December 2016, forcing him to have half of his thyroid removed and undergo continued treatment, including thyroid hormone supplements and regular blood work.
- PUB DATE: 7/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Two men have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in an explosion at a marrijuana grow house that killed a New York City fire battalion chief, prosecutors said. "This is an extremely rare instance where someone is being held criminally responsible for conditions that caused the death of a firefighter in the line of duty in New York City," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said Friday in announcing that Garivaldi Castillo and Julio Salcedo had admitted to manslaughter and marijuana possession.
- PUB DATE: 7/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV 7online.com

VIDEO - Two suspects are in custody after an hours-long chase of a Sacramento County fire truck stolen in Rio Linda ended Saturday near Oroville, authorities said. Several agencies pursued the truck Saturday afternoon as it traveled nearly 100 miles across four counties and reportedly swerved into oncoming traffic.
- PUB DATE: 7/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCRA-TV NBC Sacramento

Philadelphia firefighter Joyce Craig gave the ultimate sacrifice — her life — in helping save others from a house fire in West Oak Lane in December 2014, becoming the city’s first female firefighter to die in the line of duty. That is why getting a headstone for her grave took 3½ years. “We didn’t want to put just any headstone there,” said Lisa Forrest, a captain in the Fire Department and president of Club Valiants, an association for black firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.
- PUB DATE: 7/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com