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

State regulators have released previously withheld details in reports filed by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. revealing the exact location of damaged transmission equipment found near the ignition points of the wildfires that ravaged Sonoma and Napa counties in October. The documents — including the precise address and specific types of damaged equipment — provide new information about the proximity of PG&E equipment to the origins of the deadly Oct.
- PUB DATE: 1/4/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat