Days after the head of a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department advocacy group for female firefighters issued a resignation letter, charging lax attitudes toward sexual harassment, the chief says he doesn’t believe the department has major issues and that he has no plans to resign. “We take all claims seriously of bullying, harassment and retaliation,” Fire Chief Richard Bowers said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

Craig Wohlitka told a Broward courtroom Wednesday that he is still haunted by the dying nursing home residents he tried to save as they sweltered in a building with no air conditioning in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. In a span of about three hours on Sept. 13, the Hollywood firefighter/paramedic and fellow crew members treated two critically ill residents.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel & SouthFlorida.com

Fire crews confront the opioid epidemic daily in the most personal of ways. They tend to the users who can't stay awake. They administer naloxone, the reversal drug that brings addicts back from a life-threatening overdose. And they answer the call when an unresponsive person is found in a parked car, a gas station bathroom or a neighborhood — impoverished or affluent.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

In one day, 53 firefighters packed up two fire houses and left behind the stations they knew and loved. That day, Jan. 23, Vancouver’s two new fire stations were deemed complete — complete enough, anyway, to unlock the doors and put the state-of-the-art facilities into service. “It’s definitely still a work in progress,” said Vancouver firefighter and paramedic Pete Adams.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian