The city of Boynton Beach closed a fire station to test its air quality and make repairs to the ventilation system.

This comes just before the city received two worker's compensation claims from firefighters stationed at the firehouse. The claims say firefighters showed higher sensitivity to pneumonitis, usually caused by breathing in allergens.

Tim McPherson, the city's director of human resources and risk management, says it's too soon to link the health issues from the worker's compensation claims to the air quality fixes at the station.

"Everything is concerning, they are our employees, our resource, we take everything seriously every time something comes forward," McPherson says.

He explains firefighters noticed a smell in one of the women's restrooms at fire station 3, located on Congress Avenue and Miner Road, in October.

Inspectors found five dead mice in the air ducts. The city brought in two outside firms to test the ventilation system and air quality. The test results gave the city some recommendations which it implemented.

"We've replaced ceiling tile in the whole station. We replaced drywall in areas that were compromised. We cleaned the vents, even though the vent system was relatively new," McPherson says. He points out most of the problems were in a women's restroom and the laundry room. 

A follow-up test was completed last week and the city expects the results to come back Monday. At that point, it hopes to reopen station 3.

The renovations and tests will cost between $7,000 and $10,000, according to McPherson.

The University of Arkansas amended the Fayetteville Fire Department today to discuss possible locations for a new station.

The fire department said they want to replace an old station off of garland avenue.

They are meeting with the university to figure out where response times are more than six minutes. They're considering building a new station to replace the older one.

The fire chief says it is too early to tell how much it will cost or how the project will be funded.

The university does not want to raise student fees and that there a lot of factors to consider.

The next step is to go over response times in the area for each location and meet again next month.

The mother and widow of a newlywed who was killed in a collision with a fire truck in Agoura Hills while driving to a wedding rehearsal dinner for his brother are suing Los Angeles County and the truck's driver.

Eric Stein, 36, and his wife Ksenia Rozen, both of San Clemente, were en route to the event when their car was hit by the truck while Stein was making a left turn along Mulholland Highway about 5 p.m. on July 31, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of Rozen and Stein’s mother, Karen Kirn, in Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Los Angeles County and Michael Aplanalp, who was driving the fire truck.

A spokesman for the county did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit, which alleges wrongful death and negligence and seeks unspecified damages.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued a statement after the accident that said the department was "deeply saddened by the tragic death of Eric Stein. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time."

The suit alleges the truck was being driven too fast and that Aplanalp was “unsafely passing on the left on a two-lane highway” before colliding with the couple’s car.

For more information, view www.dailynews.com

 

A woman died Tuesday after she fell through the ice at the pond at upper Lincoln Park on the South Hill, likely while chasing after her dog. Fire crews were called to the park around 1:20 p.m. by someone who saw a Husky struggling in the pond, apparently after breaking through the ice, said Assistant Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2015 4:45:45 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

A woman died Tuesday after she fell through the ice at the pond at upper Lincoln Park on the South Hill, likely while chasing after her dog. Fire crews were called to the park around 1:20 p.m. by someone who saw a Husky struggling in the pond, apparently after breaking through the ice, said Assistant Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2015 4:45:45 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review