In a memo sent to her staff, Austin Fire's first female chief, Rhoda Kerr, has announced she will soon leave the department to take on a role in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Kerr told the Austin Fire Department staff Wednesday that she plans to retire July 1 to start her "new adventure as the new Fire Chief in Fort Lauderdale.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVUE-TV ABC Austin

A memo released Wednesday shows that two Kokomo firefighters engaged in a physical altercation last month over a city contract proposal that was rejected by the local fire union. The fight, which led to both firefighters receiving written reprimands, came just one day after a rally at City Hall attended by roughly 200 people in support of the Professional Firefighters of Kokomo Local 396.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kokomo Tribune

The memory of Hannah Lassette Ahlers and the other Las Vegas concertgoers killed during the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history is being kept alive, one act of kindness at a time. About a month after the Oct. 1 shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, firefighter Tommy Maher decided he wanted to honor each of the 58 victims by performing random acts of kindness in their name.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bradenton Herald

A veteran of the D.C. Fire and EMS Department says the city's training academy is leaving new firefighters woefully underprepared. Some rookies leave having never used a fire hydrant, a recently retired deputy fire chief with decades on the job wrote in an internal memo obtained by News4. The nine-page memo says the recruits are rushed through a training program.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington

The Chicago Fire Department Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of an explosion that killed four firefighters in the Back of the Yards neighborhood responding to a fire in a sausage factory. On Feb. 7, 1968, more than 300 firefighters were called to the Mickelberry Food Products Company at 50th and Halsted.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Chicago