A Tallahassee law firm has been tasked with investigating firefighter allegations that “a toxic work environment” exists within the Ocean City-Wright Fire Control District. The department review by the firm of Allen Norton & Blue was authorized Thursday by the district’s five-member governing board. It follows receipt of formal complaints lodged against Fire Chief Billy Lord and Assistant Chief Scott Funchess by at least four firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Florida Daily News

Eight-hundred feet in either direction, and Friday's oil train derailment outside the small Columbia River Gorge city of Mosier might've sent flaming tank cars into a lake in a National Scenic Area. A half-mile east, and the inferno would've burned a few feet beneath a block of modular homes. Another mile-and-a-half, and leaking tank cars would've landed on the bank of the Columbia River during peak spring chinook salmon migration.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oregonian

It's a major risk factor facing firefighters, work-related heart attacks. But a new study out of Beloit could help reduce that job hazard. It shows ramped-up tones keep heart-rates from climbing to extreme highs. "We looked at the startle response and we looked at ways to gently wake them as opposed to suddenly waking them," Dr.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

The turf war between Advanced Medical Transport Inc. of Central Illinois and the Peoria Fire Department, dormant for many years, could be heating up again. Nearly a decade ago, the two sparred over which entity would provide paramedic service and patient transport within the city limits. AMT reached an agreement with the city in which it was to pay $85,000, adjusted annually for inflation, for exclusive patient transport in Peoria.
- PUB DATE: 6/6/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Star

Cicero (IL) Fire Department, aerial ladder quint. Dash CF cab and chassis; Detroit DD13 500-hp engine.