A Centralia woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to setting fires in November at an apartment complex she managed in an alleged attempt to get a resident to move. Kathrin Turner, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree arson. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 10. Turner’s attorney, David Arcuri, and Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead plan to ask a judge on that date to impose a 21-month prison sentence.
- PUB DATE: 4/6/2017 3:11:18 AM - SOURCE: Centralia Chronicle

Raleigh Fire Chief John McGrath says his department will need 60 new firefighters, three platoon EMS coordinators, a training captain, an inventory specialist and three additional battalion chiefs to keep up with growing demand, but he’s willing to forgo it all for another year if it means his firefighters get raises.
- PUB DATE: 4/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News & Observer

A former fire academy administrator could avoid jail after allegedly falsifying test scores that were used to improperly certify thousands of Iowa firefighters, a scandal that has rocked the profession, court records revealed Wednesday. Filings show former Fire Services Training Bureau certification and accreditation manager John McPhee has agreed to plead guilty to felonious misconduct in office.
- PUB DATE: 4/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Today the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have announced the topic for the 2017 Safety Stand Down, which takes place June 18-24. MAYDAY, Self-Rescue, and Rapid Intervention will focus this year’s activities on those critical skills required of individual firefighters to recognize when they are in a MAYDAY situation; the skills they need as an individual to remove themselves from the situation (Self-Rescue); and ultimately on the team skills needed to rescue a trapped firefighter (Rapid Intervention).
- PUB DATE: 4/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

The city of San Luis Obispo will pay up to $70,000 — higher than the $50,000 previously estimated — for an investigator’s report into the roles of two high-ranking San Luis Obispo city officials in creating a spoof video that allegedly sexually objectified city firefighters. The video — shown at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce annual dinner Jan.
- PUB DATE: 4/6/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Luis Obispo County Tribune