The US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a registry of firefighters who develop cancer in an effort to study the risks they face on the job. The Firefighter Cancer Registry Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Collins, R-NY, would provide $2 million in federal funds from 2018 to 2022 for the CDC to gather and study data, including the status of a firefighter who developed cancer (volunteer or career, for example), the number of years spent on the job and the number and types of incidents they responded to.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

A female firefighter who claims she was demoted and told to stay home with her young son has filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the Lower Swatara Fire Department. Jessica Etzle contends in the U.S. Middle District Court suit that she was stripped of her post as lieutenant and told by the fire chief in January 2016 that, "'You have a 6-year-old son' and she needed to be home and be a mother to her son.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive.com

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday directed all land managers and park superintendents to be more aggressive in cutting down small trees and underbrush to prevent wildfires as the smoke-choked West faces one of the worst fire seasons in a decade. In a memo, Zinke said the Trump administration will take a new approach and work proactively to prevent fires "through aggressive and scientific fuels reduction management" to save lives, homes and wildlife habitat.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Montana Standard

Court documents are shedding new light on the incident that left Union head and Deputy Cranston Fire Chief Paul Valletta facing simple assault and disorderly conduct charges. It happened Saturday. An affidavit says problems started when Valletta made "degrading" comments against Lt. Scott Bergantino in front of fellow firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLNE-TV ABC 6

Three people died of carbon-monoxide poisoning on Tuesday from a generator that was running inside their Orange County home after Hurricane Irma, the Sheriff’s Office said. Four other members of the multigenerational family were taken to Florida Hospital in very serious condition. Neighbors in the Kingswood Manor neighborhood near Lee Road — who were still without power Tuesday night — found out about the incident mostly through word of mouth, as helicopters and media arrived on the scene.
- PUB DATE: 9/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel