Branford Deputy Chief Ronald R. Mullen died last night when he walked onto an Amtrak railroad track and was struck by an oncoming Shoreline East passenger train near Pleasant Point Road in Pine Orchard. Mullen, who was 55, served with the Branford Fire Department for nearly four decades and was considered one of the best arson investigators in the state.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new haven independent

California's corrections chief is defending the state's use of inmates with violent pasts to fight drought-fueled wildfires, while promising to mend relations with critics who fear the prisoners create a public safety danger. "This is not the time to do any retrenching with the fires we've been having — and there's no need to do any retrenching because there haven't been any problems," Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard said.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc news

A recent column published in the Washington Post suggested that because overall losses from fires have gone down in recent years, career firefighters are therefore largely irrelevant and their ranks could be diminished or replaced by part-time or volunteer workers. The column went on to describe firefighting as mostly about "eating and sleeping, mopping floors, lifting weights, grocery shopping.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

PHOTO - Emergency crews shoveled mud from a section of Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles after flash flood debris blocked the important roadway, stranded hundreds of vehicles, and forced some motorists to take refuge on top of their cars. Excavator trucks scooped and hauled away mud in the darkness Thursday night with the cleanup expected to continue well into Friday, leaving thousands of drivers searching for alternative routes.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: santa cruz sentinel

Toyne—Isabella (PA) Volunteer Fire Department, pumper-tanker. Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis.