A firefighter was lowered down a 200-foot elevator shaft Wednesday — six times the distance of any practice run — to help rescue four men trapped in an elevator at a Brooklyn Con Edison plant. Firefighter James Dowdell, 32, was lowered to the top of the elevator inside the Hudson Ave. building in Vinegar Hill about 7:40 a.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Fires sparked by illegal fireworks Tuesday night forced Fresno Fire Department crews to suspend responses to medical emergencies, as Fresno, Clovis and Fresno County reported a 65 percent increase in fire responses this year compared to 2016. In assessing a Fourth of July weekend that strained fire departments, officials said firefighters from the three agencies received 325 calls for service and responded to 98 vegetation fires, two vehicle fires, two apartment fires and three residential fires.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fresno Bee

Detroit firefighters and emergency technicians are being fitted for body armor, although union officials say the ballistic vests that were purchased last month aren’t right for the job because they don’t protect against stabbings. Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones told The Detroit News in May he had secured funding to outfit his employees with the protective gear.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News

An Indianapolis firefighter accused of shooting his neighbor during an altercation in Johnson County last month will not be charged. Dean Keller, 49, was accused of shooting his neighbor, Jeffery Weigle, 59, four times in the chest, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. In a release sent out Wednesday, the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office said Keller had acted in self-defense and would not be charged in the shooting.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRTV-TV ABC 6 Indianapolis (The Indy Channel)

A volunteer firefighter has been released from a La Porte jail after slamming his pickup truck into a child's bedroom Tuesday night. Blake Stevens was suspended from duty from the La Porte Fire Department, and said he is going to resign. Stevens also offered an apology to the family whose home he crashed into, and to any firefighter he said he's embarrassed by the crash.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc13.com