The Kansas Court of Appeals has ruled an area woman cannot be prosecuted for drugs found during a warrantless search of her purse by a Shawnee Heights firefighter. Lt. Brian Dodds responded to a home east of Topeka on Sept. 19, 2014, after the homeowner complained a woman she didn’t know was showering in her basement.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Topeka Capital-Journal

Ten months after hiring an outside consultant to review staffing in the city’s fire department, the Providence City Council is refusing to release the much-anticipated findings from the report. Records reviewed by Eyewitness News show Massachusetts-based MMA Consulting Group was paid $37,600 on June 22, but the report remains in “draft form,” according to the city’s law department.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12

The veteran firefighter who committed suicide Saturday aggressively fought post-traumatic stress disorder for years, his father said. Indian River County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief David Dangerfield, 48, drove to a rural area of the county and shot himself, the Sheriff's Office said. Before his death, he made a Facebook post about the perils of PTSD for firefighters and advised family and friends of firefighters to assist their loved ones with getting help.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TCPalm.com

Research over the past couple decades has reported some mixed results about the relationship between firefighting and cancer, which has been used to argue against supporting firefighters who contract the disease. Recent research that has reviewed and combined data from previous studies, weighing the studies based on the size of the sample, has found increased risks for several different types of cancer.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

For 32 years, James "Rick" Beale put his life on the literal line, battling blazes to keep homes, properties and most importantly, lives safe. Although not injured or disabled himself, over those years, Beale knows other fellow firefighters around Polk County, Florida and the United States weren't as fortunate and ended their careers permanently disabled from a work-related incident.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Ledger