Akron will no longer use a test for fire department promotions. The city will instead rely on education and seniority. A three-year contract recently approved by the fire union includes a new promotional process that is aimed at avoiding a repeat of years of legal challenges over promotional tests that caused a depletion of the department’s ranks.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: akron beacon journal

Six firefighters were transported to the hospital after deploying their fire shelters while battling the Cedar Fire near Show Low on Tuesday. There was a sudden and unexpected change in the fire, according to Candy Lupe with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Fire Management. A group of fire crews had to deploy their fire shelters.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KASW-CW6 & KTVK-3TV

The absence of volunteers at the Colonial Volunteer Fire Co. has led to fire apparatus being unable to respond to emergency calls during the evening and overnight hours recently, officials say and documents show. The turnout has been so low in the past few months that the company's volunteer fire chief, Joseph Scharnitz Jr.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Trenton Times

Donald Farley, leader of the Bristol Fire Department’s Swift Water Rescue team, had barely made it into Rainelle when he ran out of road. Little Sewell Creek had already enveloped the small town in Greenbrier County with four to eight feet of muddy, turbulent water, leaving the few local emergency officials that were available nearly helpless.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Gazette-Mail

A member of the Dakota City Fire Department has died after suffering a heart attack while in the line of duty. Capt. Eric Speck, 38, died Monday after suffering from a heart attack on Thursday after responding to a medical call. Dakota City Fire Chief Clint Rasmussen said Speck had been complaining of chest pains during the call and traveled to the hospital afterward, where it was found he had suffered a heart attack.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sioux city journal