Former Derby Fire Chief James J. Butler, 50, has died, according to an email sent out Sunday by Town/City Clerk Mark Garofalo. The email, which doesn’t mention the cause of Butler’s death, details his accomplishments, including being an inspector with the Derby Fire Marshal’s Office, and a member of the Paugassett Hook and Ladder company for more than 30 years.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firehouse

A firefighter was hit by a stray bullet Sunday morning as emergency crews extinguished a fire inside a Gilbert garage containing hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The fire was reported inside the garage of a single-story house at the 1200 block of East Sherri Drive shortly before 10 a.m., said Gary Hildebrandt, a Gilbert fire spokesman.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

An unauthorized billboard with a "Merry Christmas" message has led to the discipline of nearly one-third of the Lancaster Fire Department and exposed a long-simmering feud. Seventeen firefighters were reprimanded from Lancaster fire's Crew 3, and a retired fire captain was banned from city firehouses, after they posed for a billboard picture on a fire truck on city time during the holiday season.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

A 38-year-old Cosumnes Fire Department firefighter suffered major injuries early Saturday when he was struck by a car as he was responding to a traffic collision on Interstate 5, the California Highway Patrol reported. The firefighter, Eric Oviedo, was responding to a 1:15 a.m. collision on the northbound side of I-5 about a quarter mile north of Lambert Road.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: sacramento bee

A bride-to-be getting her hair done down the block from the Friday morning crane collapse was escorted through the chaos by an FDNY chaplain, who then married the woman and her groom on the spot. The impromptu wedding took place on the steps of the nearby Tweed Courthouse — the Department of Education headquarters — where Nesh Pillay, 25, and Aaron Vanderhoff, 27, had originally planned to take their wedding photos before tying the knot at City Hall at 10 a.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post