Lack of training, command presence and a failure to appreciate an extremely hazardous situation severely sickened and almost killed a firefighter trying to save three utility workers who were overcome by toxic fumes in a drainage hole 15 feet beneath a Key Largo street in January. Those workers died, and Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department firefighter Leonardo Moreno almost became the fourth fatality as he, too, was immediately hit with a deadly mixture of high levels of hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide as he entered the manhole on Long Key Road in the Lake Surprise Estates subdivision the morning of Jan.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FlKeysnews.com

A compass that would direct firefighters through unfamiliar and treacherous burning buildings started as a seed of an idea thought up by veteran firefighter Jeff Dykes. In three years, the Eau Claire fire captain’s idea turned into his own business, Northern Star Fire, which gained international interest and propelled Dykes to the national stage, where today he is one of 100 small-business owners who will participate in a roundtable with President Donald Trump at the White House.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

The chief of the Hopkins Airport fire department was a no-show Monday at a pre-disciplinary hearing that could have led to his firing. For now, Chief Roosevelt Davis remains in charge of the department while an investigation into his conduct and bogus overtime payments to firefighters continues. The findings of overtime abuse were uncovered in an internal audit and it was Davis who signed off on the payments.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland

Firefighters in Bethesda, Maryland, are in court after an argument over one firefighter's Confederate flag license plate. A Montgomery County firefighter with 10 years service says he spoke out against racism after seeing a fellow firefighter had the flag affixed to the front of his pickup truck. Fellow firefighters say in court documents requesting protective orders that the firefighter, Idris Debruhl, threatened them.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington

Frank Doolittle leans against the rack of helmets, coats, coveralls and boots along the wall in the Summitville firehouse. The simple building sits along a flat stretch of Route 209 about eight miles south of Ellenville. Doolittle’s bald pate is offset by a bristly, brown beard that juts from his chin.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Middletown Times Herald-Record