A Louisville man who served eight years for arson claims investigators manipulated him into making a false confession by providing him beer during the interrogation and threatening his girlfriend with prosecution. U.B. Thomas III was convicted of setting four apartment house fires in 2011, but a judge tossed out the conviction in March.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Louisville Courier-Journal

The proposed acquisition of a quint truck faced stiff opposition from firefighters, while Mayor Bob O’Dekirk said the city needs to do something about “obscene” amounts of overtime spent in the department. Firefighters at a City Council workshop meeting Monday said putting a quint, a dual-purpose truck, in downtown Station 1 would threaten public safety in the older section of the city.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Herald-News

Mary Marchone never imagined giving nearly 50 years to the fire service when she was hired as an office assistant for Montgomery County, MD, Fire Rescue in 1969. But over the course of nearly 50 years, that office assistant educated herself on fire safety and prevention and eventually became one of the most well regarded training specialists in the country.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

There’s no white cross on the side of GA 109 symbolizing a lost life. That’s what matters to Rick Rickerson. It all happened so quickly. A vehicle flips over and over on a desolate stretch of a Pike County highway. A woman is trapped. She’s not breathing. Rickerson witnesses the horrific accident and his instincts automatically kick in.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV 9 DC

Bellingham firefighters responding to a medical aid call found themselves facing a man with a gun, prompting a police standoff Saturday that closed roads in the Barkley neighborhood for about four hours. “Shortly after they arrived, our crew reported that someone pointed a gun at them,” said Assistant Chief Bill Hewett of the Bellingham Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald