Crews who battle wildfires will have to wait at least another year before getting better fire shelters than those that failed to save 19 firefighters trapped by flames in Arizona four years ago, officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. The deaths pushed the U.S. Forest Service to speed up work to get an upgraded shelter in place this year, but the effort has been delayed a year after prototypes could not outperform the shelter developed in 2002.
- PUB DATE: 5/5/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

Fire Chief John A. Pond said Thursday that six firefighters deserve commendations for work that included rescuing seven people from a burning building on Jan. 1 while others have been ordered to undergo ladder truck retraining. Two men and a woman died and 49 tenants were displaced in a blaze at 106 North East St.
- PUB DATE: 5/5/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Republican

The interim Sioux Falls fire chief sent a department-wide email Tuesday night ordering firefighters to bar former Chief Jim Sideras from any fire stations or the fire headquarters building. The warning from Interim Chief Brad Goodroad came hours after news broke that authorities had served a search warrant at Sideras' Sioux Falls home on Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 5/5/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Argus Leader

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert’s opponents are again criticizing her record on public safety, drawing a rebuke Wednesday from the city’s police and fire chiefs. The commercial in question, paid for by Firefighters for Better Government, says Stothert’s policies are “stretching Omaha’s police too thin.” It also criticizes Stothert for police patrols near her home.
- PUB DATE: 5/5/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha World-Herald

California’s firefighting agency plans to discipline two employees blamed for forcing the state to redo a battalion chief examination for nearly 500 employees, the department’s director said Thursday. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection notified 488 applicants that they will have to retake the promotion exam this summer because the initial test “had significant irregularities.
- PUB DATE: 5/5/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS Sacramento