By Christmas, all 855 members of the Cincinnati Fire Department will have received their custom-fitted bulletproof vests. I'll repeat that -- slowly. Bullet. Proof. Vests. If this is a new reality, it runs counter to how I have always viewed this honorable occupation. In my mind's eye, a firefighter is a hero who would climb a ladder and pluck Morris from a towering oak tree.
- PUB DATE: 10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cincinnati Enquirer

A firefighter fell through a staircase and landed in the basement of a burning house off Lalor Street early Thursday, fire officials said. The firefighter was on the first crew climbing to the second floor with a hose at a house on Benton Road at about 3:10 a.m., fire spokesman Capt. Ferdinand Mather said.
- PUB DATE: 10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

In a recent column about building character in young firefighters, I wrote that trust should be given to all members of the organization; that trust should be assumed unless violated. Trust should not have to be earned through popularity or individual achievement. At least one reader took issue with this statement.
- PUB DATE: 10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

City firefighters are being credited with saving the life of a suicidal man found with a rope around his neck on the top deck of the Elliot Hospital parking garage Thursday around 2 a.m. “I looked across the top level, and I saw a man on the other side of the guardrail, on the opposite side of the garage from me,” 16-year veteran Lt.
- PUB DATE: 10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Manchester Union Leader

From the outside, they appeared to be the perfect family. He was an Ivy League-educated doctor; she was a congressional press aide. They had four beautiful children. However, in 2011, on a trip home from Cape Cod, an argument began between Jerri Sparks and her now ex-husband. She said that's when the nightmare started.
- PUB DATE: 10/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: 13WHAM.com