Nicholas Scoppetta, who served in top city government posts spanning six decades and four mayors, has died. Scoppetta, 83, served as the city’s fire commissioner just months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks under then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg. He had the formidable task of rebuilding an agency that lost 343 firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post

A jury on Thursday convicted a man accused of stabbing two San Diego firefighters of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter, but acquitted him of the more serious attempted murder charges. The jury also found Ryan Allen Jones guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and another count of battery related to an assault of MTS officers.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nbc san diego

PHOTO - A photo of a Phoenix-area firefighter carrying an American flag over his shoulder while walking from a huge recycling plant fire went viral on Wednesday. The photo, originally posted by Adrienne Berman, shows Tempe Fire Department Capt. Nick Ells walking away from a fire near 36th Street and University Drive with the flag.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ktar

A battalion chief has become short-tempered and erratic in his decision making. A company officer is rumored to be going through a bad divorce and drinking heavily when off duty. A firefighter who was involved in a particularly bad medical call has been calling in sick a lot since then. As a fire chief, should you say or do anything in response to these circumstances? Should anyone? And if someone does take action, exactly what should that person do? Firefighters sometimes hesitate to get involved when a colleague might be having problems related to behavioral health, because they don't want to intrude.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

Mayor Tony George has decided to scrap a 4½-year-old ambulance mutual aid agreement with three neighboring towns and instead return to using for-profit Trans-Med Ambulance as the primary backup unit for the entire city, multiple people familiar with the plan said Thursday. Fire Chief Jay Delaney would only say in an email that George gave him a directive “to change the dispatch procedures when city ambulances are already committed to calls.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice