A 17-year veteran of the Tallahassee Fire Department died overnight Thursday while on duty. The death of Engineer Jeffery Atkinson was not related to any of the fires fought by the department Thursday, a TFD spokeswoman said. Firefighters had responded to blazes at the International Book Mine on Gaines Street and at a home on Fermanagh Circle in Killearn Estates.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tallahassee Democrat

A state Supreme Court judge has ruled against issuing a preliminary injunction that would block the city from a new policy that prohibits firefighters from being called in to work when their colleagues call in sick. In a decision issued Wednesday, Judge James P. McClusky ruled the city can keep intact, at least for now, a new policy that does not allow firefighters to be brought into work when others call in sick.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

Brandon Clevenger pleaded guilty this morning to reckless driving causing death in the highway crash that killed Comstock Fire Chief Ed Switalski six months ago. Replying in one-word answers, Clevenger, 24, of Battle Creek, admitted in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court that he was responsible for the crash that killed Switalski.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWMT-TV Kalamazoo 3

The city’s fire marshal testified Thursday that a 2014 report on dangers inside the Ghost Ship warehouse that a fire captain claims to have written has never been found and lawyers said they doubt it exists. Fire Capt. George Freelen’s surprising testimony Tuesday, during the preliminary hearing of defendants Derick Almena and Max Harris, who have each been charged with 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the deadly Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/15/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

Fire investigators have ruled out arson as a possible cause for a fire that forced the evacuation of a downtown Yakima apartment building. The Yakima Fire Department investigation found that the Oct. 28 fire’s origin cannot be determined, the department shared Thursday in a news release. Officials said the fire apparently started on or near a bed in a third-floor apartment, but there was no evidence that the fire was deliberately set.
- PUB DATE: 12/14/2017 10:38:21 PM - SOURCE: Yakima Herald-Republic