A Kelso man pleaded not guilty last week to deliberately setting a work truck on fire after police say he told them the vehicle had been parked on the street for too long. Ronald Edwin Smith, 57, is charged with second-degree arson after police found remnants of a fire around 8 p.m. Halloween night in the 800 block of North Seventh Avenue in Kelso.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2022 4:25:00 PM - SOURCE: The Daily News - Metered Site

Rather than a fire truck trying to get down snowy streets for EMS calls, the Buffalo Fire Department will utilize SUV’s loaded with life-saving equipment, WGRZ.com reported.

For the first time in more than 25 years, the city fire department has exactly the fire engine it wants, OleanTimesHerald.com reported.

The Olean Fire Department took the keys to the new Engine 41 on Monday, the report said. City and fire officials said the fire engine is the first built to the city’s specifications since 1996. The new engine should be in service soon once the firefighters get used to it.

The truck was built by Rosenbauer Group in Minnesota and purchased through Empire Emergency Apparatus Inc. of Niagara Falls. The specifications and features were chosen by the city fire department’s truck committee with the special focus on safety and performance.

The Common Council OK’d the purchase in March 2021, with up to $625,000 allocated to the purchase, the report said. The final cost came in at $573,637, according to the report. Along with being under budget, the timing of the order saved the city more money due to price increases this year.

Some of the features include a short length, lower hose deck height, improved communications and safety equipment, and a heat tray to keep the water from freezing in cold weather. It is also designed to better maneuver on the city’s streets.

By Ron Siarnicki, Executive Director, NFFF

As a third-generation firefighter with 45 years of fire/rescue and EMS operational experience, I’ve been a part of multiple command changes—from shift changes in a firehouse to leadership hand-offs at fire scenes. They’re a pivotal part of our work, and now it’s time for me to take part in another one as I announce that I will be retiring as the Executive Director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF).

Leading this organization for 21 years has been an incredible honor, an enormous part of my daily life, and much more than a job—it’s been my passion. And while I have happily embraced this role, there is no doubt that it is also a demanding one. Firefighters work around the clock, and tragedy can strike anytime. We take our job supporting Fire Hero Families and departments seriously, and this work happens 24/7. My passion for the fire service will never lessen – but after 50 years, I’ve missed a lot of nights, weekends, and events at home. It’s time for me to pull back a bit. My wife and family are ready for that, and as you can imagine—so am I.

My time in this role has been marked by great sadness for the incredible heroes we’ve lost along the way—343 firefighters on 9/11, 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters in the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013, 11 firefighters from five departments in the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas in 2013, nine firefighters killed in the Charleston (SC) warehouse fire —in fact, we remember every single firefighter from different incidents across many years. At NFFF, we’ve always said we can’t control those tragedies, but we can control what happens once they’ve occurred. So I leave this role very proud because we have helped and continue to help so many families to be able to move forward. It’s painful but essential work, and it’s been my privilege to be a part of that.

I am so immensely proud of this organization and all it does. I was the fifth employee to join NFFF in July 2001. At that time, we were working in a small conference room in Emmitsburg, and we all did everything—from marketing and development to supporting family programs and building corporate relationships. From that, we’ve grown into an organization with talented and committed senior leadership and a passionate team of 30+ who constantly expand our programs, reach, and impact.

The people who work here are special—they are deeply committed to honoring more than 100 fallen firefighters each year at our annual Memorial Weekend, which took place October 8 and 9 this year. They work hard to raise funds to support various grief and behavioral counseling and survivor support programs from Memorial Weekend to Stair Climbs, Family Wellness conferences, scholarships for family members, our Hal Bruno children’s summer camps, and so much more. I am also proud of our work as a leading voice and partner in line-of-duty death reduction efforts through progra

Plum Grove Volunteer Fire Department located a fully-equipped Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for $8,000, BlueBonnetNews.com reported.

The department did not have the $8,000 to buy the boat, but local assistance was offered by Trey Harris and El Norte Property Owners Association, the report said. A donation was made to the department that allowed them to make the purchase.

The department has since been working through finalizing the project, and assuming all FEMA requirements are met, the department will have successfully gained a new Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for only $1,234.42, according to the report.

A fire official said the boat gives the department the ability to make rescues during floods. The department had been limited to using a high-water vehicle or aluminum boat, the report said.