VIDEOS: A home in a Massachusetts city exploded and burst into flames earlier this week, leaving the structure fully engulfed by the time first responders arrived.

Emergency crews were called to the scene on Plain Street in Taunton around 10 a.m. Wednesday. Police and firefighters arrived within minutes, but the force of the explosion had already caused significant damage to the two neighboring homes as well.

The response was complicated by the more than two feet of snow that fell during Monday’s blizzard. The Taunton Police Department released new bodycam video on Thursday showing the moment when officers realized hydrants on the street were buried, slowing efforts to get water on the flames.

“Where are the hydrants? They’re all buried…Do you know where the hydrants are? … We’re f*!” one officer is heard saying in the video as the flames raged.

WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston

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VIDEO: Fire departments across the country are facing a difficult reality: fewer firefighters, tighter budgets, and more emergency calls than ever before. Now, one department in Wayne County is turning to new technology to help close that gap.

The Wooster Township Fire Department is among the first in the nation to use a new automated pump system, “Sam,” installed directly on one of its fire engines.

Traditionally, operating a fire engine’s pump panel requires a dedicated firefighter to manually control water flow, pressure, and valves during a fire response. The process is complex and highly hands-on.

“It’s a huge help because we have very limited staffing on duty, and then even when we do get a call, we’re relying on volunteers to show up,” said Fire Chief Dallas Terrell.

The automated system allows firefighters to manage water pressure more efficiently without requiring a full-time pump operator. According to developers at Idex Fire & Safety, the core technology used in many fire engines has remained largely unchanged for generations.

WEWS-TV ABC 5 Cleveland

The post Meet ‘Sam’: The high-tech system changing how firefighters battle blazes in one Ohio county appeared first on Daily Dispatch.

A bill passed unanimously in the West Virginia House of Delegates protecting certain conversations between first responders and their peers.

The bill, House Bill 5086, allows police, firefighters and other emergency first responders to speak with “peer support team members,” usually their fellow co-workers, about stress or other topics that may come with the job.

HIPAA laws still apply when treating patients as health care providers, but conversations between co-workers outside of treating patients as a first responder were not previously specifically covered by West Virginia state law when it comes to how those conversations could be used in court.

Sponsor of the bill Del. Jonathan Pinson (R-Mason) says this bill is important to him.

“As a former police officer, I recognize the distress of the job. And I recognize that some of these calls that my coworkers, former coworkers, firemen, EMS, police officers, the stress that’s just compounding in them, for us to be able to unanimously stand together in the House of Delegates and say that we want to provide them this support, it means a lot,” Pinson said.

WOWK-TV CBS 13 Huntington

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The county is suing a private equity firm, American Industrial Partners, and fire truck makers REV Group, Oshkosh Corp. and Boise Mobile Equipment for allegedly violating federal and state antitrust laws.

The post LA County (CA) Files Lawsuit Against Fire Truck Makers appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

PHOTOS: Spokane firefighters rescued a cat from a house fire in Spokane’s Emerson Garfield neighborhood Thursday. Firefighters were called to a house on W. Jackson Avenue near N. Adams Street. SFD says no humans were home at the time but a cat did require oxygen at the scene. The residents will be displaced by the fire. The cause is under investigation.

KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane

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