A high-ranking Bellingham Fire Department paramedic has been fired for coming to work with alcohol in his bloodstream, according to public records obtained by The Bellingham Herald. Sean Patrick Farnand, 46, a paramedic captain and a training program leader for Whatcom Medic One, has filed grievances with the city through the local firefighters’ union in hopes of getting his job reinstated.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2015 4:32:39 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

The next time your home smoke alarms start chirping in the middle of the night, you can curse Green Valley resident Lyman Blackwell. And when they go off for real and save your life, you can thank him. Lyman, 91, was recently awarded the inaugural Philip J. DiNenno Prize by the National Fire Protection Association for his work in developing “the affordable home smoke alarm.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson.com

A 44-year-old man impersonating a firefighter has been arrested after he claimed to be looking for a fire crew battling the Lake fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said Tuesday. David Anthony Battle was arrested Saturday at the Lake fire incident command center, where firefighters gather to share information about the blaze and distribute equipment, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

One of Pinellas County's 18 fire departments is threatening to sue the county over years of cuts in the emergency medical services budget. Over a three-year period at the beginning of the recession, county officials cut about $1.8 million in EMS funding from the budget of Pinellas Suncoast Fire and Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times

Federal authorities said this morning they plan to “bring all resources to bear” to find the cause of a fire that destroyed a historically black S.C. church in rural Greeleyville Tuesday night, Craig Chilcott, a senior agent with the ATF in South Carolina, said the investigation is ongoing, there is no timetable for its completion and no cause has been ruled out.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Post & Courier