At the Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s (FDSOA) 28th annual Apparatus Specification and Maintenance Symposium, Jim Juneau kicked the conference off with a keynote covering how firefighters are treated by the law, particularly in cases where firefighters were involved in apparatus MVAs where firefighters, civilians, or both are injured or killed.

Juneau explained that firefighters know they are performing a dangerous job, but the dangers they most often consider are the dangers of the fireground: the fire itself, smoke, searching for victims above the fire, building collapse, getting trapped, etc. But, often they don’t think of the dangers of getting to and from the fire and the consequences of what may go wrong during the response.

Important for any firefighter to consider is that although they may have insurance or may work for a large municipality, there will be consequences if they are operating a fire apparatus and they cause an accident that leads to injury or death. Just a few of these consequences include being charged with criminally negligent homicide; being charged with felony vehicular homicide; a firefighter losing his job; and awards of $15,000,000 and $2,215,000 in an unlawful death law suit. The dollar amounts are staggering, and Juneau reminded everyone that no one has $2,000,000 laying around.

Juneau cited several case studies and the actions that led to various consequences. Some seemed almost unbelievable, yet these things to occur—even to the point of getting caught in a lie on an accident report.

Juneau wrapped his keynote by listing eight things that will get a firefighter in trouble:

1. Ignoring national standards.
2. Poor vehicle maintenance and inspection habits
3. Not using occupant/equipment restraints
4. Entering a negative right-of-way intersection
5. Excessive speed or crazy driving habits
6. Disrespecting railroad crossings
7. Backing and maneuvering an apparatus without spotters.
8. Intoxication on duty or ignoring it/concealing it.

He ended the presentation by reminding the audience that cost of these apparatus operating mistakes are not always in dollars, but could be in lives lost.

PHOTO - A town of Harrison firetruck suffered significant damage to its front end after it slid down a steep, icy private road and rolled over Sunday afternoon. Town Manager George “Bud” Finch said the driver, veteran volunteer firefighter Maurice Kautz, suffered minor cuts and bruises but was not seriously injured.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: portland press-herald

VIDEO - A camera atop a firefighter's helmet, captured the dramatic rescue of a Fresno family from an apartment fire. Crews helped a total of seven people escape from the fire in central Fresno on Saturday, including a family of three on the second floor whose only way out was through a window. Fire had taken over the stairwell and the smoke was too thick to walk through.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVU-TV Oakland, San Francisco, Bay Area

A federal investigator has obtained a warrant to search a laptop computer for evidence that a New Mexico urban search-and-rescue team used falsified training certificates to meet national requirements and retain federal funding. One of the fraudulent training certificates was for an ethics training class, according to the search warrant request filed Wednesday in U.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: santa fe new mexican

A judge has dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit claiming the city should be held partially responsible for the death of a 19-year-old woman who was killed when the car she was riding in ran a red light and was broadsided by a fire truck. The crash occurred June 20, 2013, when a Honda Accord driven by Robbie Dean Gillespie, 45, ran a red light on Midland Road at Poway Road about 4 a.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: san diego union-tribune