A state appeals court ruled last week that City of Lockport firefighters are entitled to state arbitration on the issue of the reduction of staffing on each shift resulting from the abolition of the city’s ambulance service in September 2014. The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld a December 2014 ruling by State Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso that the city was not allowed to stop the arbitration sought by the firefighters union, but it emphasized that it was not taking sides in the dispute over whether the city was allowed by the union contract to cut staffing and do away with city ambulances.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: buffalo news

A 51-year-old retired Lakeville Fire Department lieutenant was indicted Friday on charges he supplied a part-time Lakeville firefighter with alcohol and then raped and assaulted him on two separate occasions. A Plymouth County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Thomas W. Dunlevy of Lakeville with two counts each of rape and procuring alcohol to a minor, and one count each of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, assault and battery, intimidation of a witness and attempted rape, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: south coast today

Six wildfire hotshots working a low-intensity fire suddenly found themselves in a whirl of flame and debris Tuesday, forcing them to deploy their emergency fire shelters and trapping them for 15 minutes, according to an investigative report the Bureau of Indian Affairs released Sunday. The six, who have not yet been identified, remained in radio contact even as a small tornado of fire swirled around them.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

A Memphis firefighter died in an off-duty incident Monday, marking the third such fatality in the department in recent weeks. According to an official of the firefighters union, Tina Mathenia, 46, was a 15-year veteran of the department. She appeared to have health issues, firefighters union head Thomas Malone said, that led to her death.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

Vancouver parents Jason Cunningham and his wife Becca thought they had done everything they could to childproof their home. They installed child-proof locks on cabinets, installed mesh on their deck railing to keep their kids from falling or getting stuck, and kept any and all chemicals out of reach and locked up.
- PUB DATE: 7/5/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: tdn.com