The first national system intended to prevent hobby drones from interfering with planes and helicopters fighting wildfires has launched, federal authorities say. The U.S. Interior Department announced the kickoff of the pilot project Monday that uses a smartphone app and real-time wildfire information to create virtual boundaries, or geofences, that drones can't cross.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPVI-TV NBC 6

One city firefighter has been fired and two others have been suspended from their jobs. City officials said the termination of firefighter Scott Graham stemmed from an arrest last fall. Firefighters Todd Guertin and Daniel Goudreault have been placed on unpaid leave while the city investigates alleged improprieties.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: eagle-tribune

The city of Woodbury has filed a lawsuit against a former firefighter to get him to stop using pictures allegedly identifying himself as a Woodbury firefighter on the website of a nonprofit company that he started. The lawsuit, filed in Washington County District Court against William Braun and EdQuest Inc.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press

The death of Sonia Bray and the Columbus Fire Division's subsequent investigation of paramedics’ role have exposed weaknesses in the division’s ability to hold its employees accountable when they make mistakes. The Dispatch found that the division’s investigation into why Bray died in early 2011 went dormant for nearly a year, that internal investigators were unwilling to ask necessary questions and that a turnover in investigators led to light punishments for two paramedics and a lieutenant.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: columbus dispatch