As the Soberanes Fire in Big Sur rages into its third week, the Cal Fire firefighters union is bringing its contract negotiations argument to the Monterey area. The Sacramento-based Local 2881 took out an advertisement in The Monterey Herald titled “Cal Fire is proud to serve our community in time of disaster” and highlighted its claim that Cal Fire firefighters are underpaid when compared to other fire departments, ranging from minimum wage pay for entry-level firefighters to a salary lag of between 33 and 89 percent behind the state average.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Cruz Sentinel

The state’s workers’ compensation commission will need to take a second look at a Homewood firefighter’s claim for coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder, after a state appeals court ruled legal precedent exists to support his claim and the commission was too hasty to toss his claims. An arbitrator had found Lt.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cook County Record

The origin of a fatal motel fire in Newport came from a ground-level room but the incident killed four guests on the second floor, police said in an update Monday morning. The fire, which ignited before 6 a.m. at the City Center Motel, killed two people from Portland and two from Springfield, Newport police Lt.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Oregonian

For almost three years now, Cindy Schuenke has had a court order demanding that she be reinstated as a firefighter with the Community Fire Protection District in north St. Louis County. The order makes it clear the district is to give the Pacific woman, 52, back pay to Aug. 9, 2009, when the fire district’s board illegally fired her.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A former Oatman firefighter was arrested Sunday when he tried to help efforts to put out a fire but refused orders to stand down. Jonathan Bradley Blake, 33, of Oatman, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing governmental operations, according to Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trish Carter.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mohave Daily News