Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash said a team that will review the forest fires that spread from the park into Gatlinburg and beyond has been activated and “should be here in the next week or two.” Fed by near-hurricane-force winds, the flames swept through Sevier County on Nov.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel

The final judgment in a long-awaited civil lawsuit against the Trenton Fire Department was released last week, ordering the city to pay nearly $1 million in damages and fees, according to the court document. The judgment stems from a 2014 lawsuit filed by former firefighter Jesse Diaz, who alleged that he overheard a racial slur made by a co-worker of his at the department in 2012.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

The Kern County Administrative Office has delayed, for now, a plan to reduce staffing at nine largely rural fire stations after the Kern County Firefighters union objected. "The union requested a 'meet and confer' on the staffing adjustment late last Friday afternoon. We've temporarily delayed implementation due to their request," County Administrative Officer Ryan Alsop said in an email Monday.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bakersfield.com

The goal of the SAFER grant program is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities to respond to emergencies and to assure that communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-related hazards. Local fire departments accomplish this by improving staffing and deployment capabilities so they may more effectively and safely respond to emergencies.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A firefighter died Tuesday morning from a type of cancer that he likely got because of his job, according to colleagues. Jimmy Hendryx, 47, is Bremerton's first firefighter to die in the line of duty in the history of the department, which stretches back 114 years. Hendrix was an avid bag pipes player, and would often perform at memorials for fallen firefighters and police officers.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2017 11:32:37 PM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000