The Maui Fire Department received a donation of a wildland fire apparatus and placed it into service recently with a blessing ceremony held at the Kahului Fire Station, the department said in a Facebook post.

“This is the first of a total of six wildland fire apparatus that will supplement the capabilities of the department’s current wildland vehicles to help protect our community,” the post said. “These vehicles are being donated by the Daniel R Sayre Memorial Foundation in concert with the Hawaii Community Foundation with matching donations from the Bezos Family Foundation.”

Members of the Sayre foundation and other dignitaries were on hand for the blessing, giving the department the opportunity to express its gratitude for the generous donation.

The post Maui (HI) FD Places First of Six Donated Wildland Fire Apparatus Into Service appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

The Kansas City firefighter who drove the pumper in a December 2021 traffic crash in Westport that killed three people and cost taxpayers more than $3 million in damages could receive $915,000 from the city to settle a grievance case filed on his behalf by his union, kansascity.com reported.

According to the agenda for its regular meeting Thursday, May 8, the city council was set to consider approving the settlement, which would appear to end two years of litigation between the firefighters union and the city that began when the fire department suspended Dominic Biscari without pay and announced its intention to fire him, the report said.

The department announced the disciplinary actions when Biscari pleaded guilty in February 2023 to three counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to the report. Biscari got three years probation and was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service, the report said.

The firefighters union, International Association of Firefighters, Local 42, filed a grievance to block Biscari’s termination soon after that guilty plea, according to the report.

The grievance process led to a hearing before an arbitrator last year and then a lawsuit that the city will most likely drop as part of the settlement, the report said.

The agenda item provides few details of the settlement, other than it would resolve the grievance and arbitration cases, as well as “a Workers’ Compensation benefit filed by the employee for injuries resulting from an accident while employed by the City.”

It does not say whether Biscari will be allowed to keep his job at the fire department.

Here is a link to the agenda. For more on this story, please go to kansascity.com.

The post Kansas City (MO) FD Pumper Driver Could Get $915K Payout After Crash Killed Three appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

JORDAN FOUTS
The Elkhart Truth, Ind.
(TNS)

GOSHEN — A trio of Goshen firefighters with decades of service were diagnosed with cancer around the same time a few years ago, a common occupational hazard in an already dangerous job.

One of them retired and one of them is still with the department. The third, Assistant EMS Chief Bruce Nethercutt, died two years ago at 53.

The city unveiled the south-side station named in Nethercutt’s honor on the two-year anniversary of his death Friday. Nethercutt died on May 2, 2023, after a one-year fight with what was determined to be job-related cancer.

“We’re not here just to dedicate a building, we’re honoring a life that made a quiet, lasting difference. A life defined not by titles or attention, but by steady service to others,” Mayor Gina Leichty said during the dedication at Station 3 on College Avenue, where Nethercutt served as house captain for several years.

“Bruce didn’t ask us to remember him this way. In fact, his parting words were, ‘Take care of each other,’” Leichty said. “But his message is exactly why we need to remember him this way. Because in naming this building after him, we’re also lifting up the ideals he lived by and the entire team he served with.”

Fire Chief Anthony Powell remembered Nethercutt as a family man who set a standard that his colleagues still follow.

“Chief Nethercutt was many things: He was a husband, he was a father, he was a grandfather, he was a son. And to all of us here at the Goshen Fire Department, he was truly a brother,” Powell said. “Througho

Carina Julig
The Santa Fe New Mexican
(TNS)

Capital outlay the New Mexico Legislature set aside earlier this year for two new Santa Fe firetrucks sparked a recent debate at City Hall over whether councilors should individually lobby state lawmakers.

Councilor Signe Lindell raised concerns during a Finance Committee meeting last week after questioning where the $2.4 million budgeted for the trucks had come from.

Fire Chief Brian Moya said the firefighters union had lobbied lawmakers directly for the funds after the new trucks didn’t make it on the city’s legislative wishlist.

Councilor Pilar Faulkner, a professional lobbyist, interjected, saying she had worked with the union to help secure state capital outlay for the firetrucks and that Moya was not involved. She had “no regrets,” she added.

Lindell, appearing perturbed, indicated the move to secure the state funds was out of bounds. “It just seems like we’re not playing as a team,” she said, “and somebody’s got to address that.”

She pointed out the vehicles had not been listed among the city’s legislative funding requests and had not been presented to councilors as a priority last year when they were considering a spate of one-time allocations using surplus gross receipts tax revenue. She also complained repeatedly during the meeting her District 1 didn’t receive any infrastructure funding from the state for the next fiscal year.

Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth also objected, describing Faulkner and the union’s lobbying as an “end run” around the City Council.

“We really need to not do that in the future,” she said, adding the council has to make hard choices every year about what to prioritize.

But Faulkner, the city’s contracted lobbyist and at least one local state lawmaker all noted the Legislature’s capital outlay process gives legislators and the governor — not the city — discretion over how to divvy the infrastructure funds in their control.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, for instance, allocated $5 million last year for upgrades to Fort Marcy park. The request had not been on the city’s wish list and appeared to be part of the governor’s desire to help beautify the state’s capital city.

This year, the governor allocated $10 million for an abortion clinic to be established somewhere in Northern New Mexico — a move that raised the ire of Republicans.

“The capital outlay process is completely discretionary, and lawmakers alone decide where they want to put their resources for that year,” city lobbyist J.D. Bullington said Wednesday, adding lawmakers for major municipalities such as Santa Fe often coordinate on how to allocate their shares.

‘I have no regrets’

The city received a combined $525,000 from Rep. Reena Szczepanski and Sen. Linda Trujillo, both Santa Fe Democrats, for a new fire engine for Station 3. It also received $1.5 million from Lujan Grisham and another $400,000 from the Legislature for a new ladder truck for Station 7.

Lindell said the total $2.4 million in the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 took her by surprise.

Ahead of the legislative session each year, the City Council approves a resolution outlining its legislative priorities, which includes a laundry list of funds for capital projects — some for the city overall and some for each council district. The requests are based on the city’s Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan, which ranks funding needs. The city received about $6 million for its projects, and a total of more than $18 million for projects it