The FDNY is getting its “fifth man” back. The department has decided to bring back a fifth firefighter to the 10 engine companies that lost them last month. The additional firefighters had been pulled from these houses and sent to different stations in early December to combat a soaring absentee rate, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

The state is investigating the Spokane Fire Department after contaminants reportedly were found in firefighters’ air tanks. The discovery, which occurred in mid-November after firefighters noticed a foul smell coming from air canisters during a breathing test, prompted fire department leaders to shut down all three of the department’s air compressors.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokesman-Review

A Baltimore circuit judge has ruled that city officials broke their contract with many police officers, firefighters and retirees in 2010 by cutting a key pension provision that has cost retirees millions in pension benefits. Judge Julie R. Rubin ruled Tuesday that former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's overhaul of pension benefits "unlawfully withdrew" a variable pension benefit that paid out more money to retirees when the stock market improved.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

An Austin Fire Department arson investigator has been charged with four crimes — sexual assault, another felony and two misdemeanors — and was booked Wednesday into the Travis County Jail, according to court records. Lt. Marcus Reed is accused of using his position as a law enforcement officer to lure a woman into his city-owned truck in March and assaulting her.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: American-Statesman

Bonnie Blystone made a call to the Ocean City-Wright Fire Department on the afternoon of Dec. 20. When the dispatcher answered, Blystone said it wasn’t a 911 call. It was a “personal dilemma,” she said. (It was) a floundering American flag atop at 25-foot flagpole located on my parent’s property next to their home,” she said in an email.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Florida Daily News