A veteran San Francisco firefighter died Sunday after returning from an early morning fire alarm call, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. Battalion Chief Terry Smerdel, a 26-year veteran of the department, was found unresponsive by coworkers in his office, Chief Joanne Hayes-White said in a news release.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNTV-TV NBC 11 Bay Area

When the winds kicked up as Hurricane Irma made its way up Florida's west coast, rescue workers watched helplessly as the 911 calls piled up on a computer screen. They weren't allowed to respond. Winds were so high that emergency services in many areas were suspended to protect the rescuers. "It just stinks.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

A union rep who tried to help a fellow EMT cited for hanging a noose in an ambulance was rewarded with a racist letter calling her the N-word and threatening her life. Paramedic Keisha Brockington, 41, was stunned and sickened on Aug. 29 after finding the hate-filled missive in her locker at the FDNY EMS Station 22 on Staten Island.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

At 87, retired Lexington Fire Major Orville Cook leafed through a scrapbook of newspaper clippings Sunday, reminiscing about his work on dramatic fires and rescues and when the city’s Station 6 “was at the center of everything.” The fire station at 501 South Limestone Street had its centennial celebration Sunday.
- PUB DATE: 9/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lexington Herald-Leader

A man was arrested Sunday afternoon in connection with a fire started in a field near Second Avenue and South Pittsburg Street in Spokane’s East Central neighborhood. Spokane Police and Fire Department officials received several calls at around 1 p.m., police wrote in a news release. Upon arrival, they found the field in flames.
- PUB DATE: 9/10/2017 6:01:26 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review