Four firefighters were burned in a backdraft that erupted during a blaze Sunday afternoon at a West Side residential building. The fire, in the 4900 block of West Potomac Avenue in the city’s Austin neighborhood, had been extinguished as of about 12:30 p.m., according to the Chicago Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: chicago tribune

Austin fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr responded to the censure she received Thursday night from the city’s firefighter union by saying her department’s employees have been “seriously misinformed.” In a statement, Kerr said Bob Nicks, the president of the Austin chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, embarked on a “one-sided misleading personal vendetta” that has damaged conversations about how to keep firefighters healthy and safe.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: austin statesman

At its annual membership meeting in Albuquerque, July 19-21, the principal membership of the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) elected, by unanimous acclamation, four State Fire Marshals to serve two year terms on the Association's Board, announced NASFM President H. "Butch" Browning, Louisiana State Fire Marshal.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: fire engineering

The Fire Department has both fewer firefighters and fewer administrators, with six upper-command positions vacant, including the chief's job. For several months, Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré has been acting chief as the city searches for a new department head from outside the city — an effort that has hit some bumps since it began a year ago.
- PUB DATE: 8/1/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: providence journal