Tag: firefighters

Pennsylvania Takes Steps to Ease Volunteer Firefighter Crisis

The Center Square

by Lauren Jessop   As Pennsylvania’s volunteer firefighters dwindle, lawmakers hope to reverse the trend. States nationwide struggle to recruit and retain volunteers, while simultaneously investing time and money into training required to keep up with stringent regulations. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, volunteers account for 96.8% of firefighters in Pennsylvania – the third highest percentage in the country. The national average is 70.2%. Since the 1970s, the ranks of volunteer firefighters in Pennsylvania have dropped from 360,000 to fewer than 37,000. A bill passed unanimously by the Senate last week would create a pilot program for community colleges and universities within the state’s higher education system to provide firefighting training to high school students. It’s now under consideration in the House of Representatives. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Michele Brooks, R-Crawford, would grant $150,000 to one school in three regions across the state – eastern, central, and western – to establish fire training programs. Brooks’ Chief of Staff Adam Gringrich told The Center Square the senator was pleased to have the bill moved so early in the session and hopes that the House takes it up when they convene. “The regional component of the grants addresses the equal need…

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Pittsburgh Loosens Residency Requirement for Firefighters

The Center Square

Union disputes in Pittsburgh over residency requirements for city workers have weakened requirements for police and firefighters to live in the city proper.

A policy brief from the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy detailed the shift away from residency requirements. Pittsburgh voters approved an amendment to the home rule charter in 2013 to require city residency for all municipal workers. However, a union grievance weakened that requirement for firefighters.

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Another Pro-Life Facility Is Firebombed; Pro-Abortion Terrorist Group Jane’s Revenge Takes Credit

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A pro-life medical office and pregnancy center in Buffalo, New York, was heavily damaged in a terroristic firebombing early Tuesday morning in the latest attack on pro-lifers. There have been dozens of reports of left-wing violence and vandalism targeting churches and pro-life facilities since news broke of a leaked draft ruling indicating that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade.

Windows in the CompassCare reception room and nurses’ office were reportedly broken and fires lit. Jane’s Revenge, the same militant pro-abortion group that firebombed a pro-life office in Wisconsin last month, reportedly took credit for the attack, leaving graffiti reading “Jane Was Here” on the building.

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Bill Looks to Provide Benefits for More Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Injured on the Job

The Center Square
Jim Struzzi

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jim Struzzi is trying to expand a law that provides for firefighters and police who are injured on the job to cover other types of public servants.

The Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act of 1935 allows police officers and paid firefighters medical and wage benefits if they are temporarily disabled because of an injury on the job.

The Enforcement Officer Disability Benefits Law of 1954 was passed to provide police, park guards, and paid (but not volunteer) firefighters full income replacement when injured in the line of duty.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Responds to Reporter Asking If He’s Had the Vaccine: ‘Have You Had an STD?’

Rachel Alexander

During a press conference announcing his lawsuit with police officers and firefighters against the City of Phoenix over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich was asked by Arizona’s Family political editor Dennis Welch whether he was vaccinated. His press secretary waved the question off as “inappropriate.” 

However, Brnovich, who is running for U.S. Senate, responded, “Do you have an STD?” After a brief pause with some laughter from those present, he went on, “It’s not a ridiculous question. The question should be, once you allow or cede this authority to the federal government, where does it stop? And my own health information is my own health information.” 

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Police Officers, Firefighters Sue Oregon Governor Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

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Police and firefighters are suing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, arguing her vaccine mandate for state workers conflicts with the U.S. and state constitutions.

The lawsuit filed in Jefferson County by the Oregon Fraternal Order of Police and the Kinglsey Firefighters Association asks the judge seeks to block the state from enforcing Brown’s executive order requiring COVID-19 inoculations fir all executive branch employees.

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St. Paul Firefighters to Begin Wearing Bulletproof Vests, Helmets on Emergency Calls

Hayley Feland

After getting a large donation of bulletproof vests and helmets, St. Paul firefighters will start to wear them on some of their emergency calls. St. Paul Deputy Fire Chief of EMS Kenneth Adams said, “Twenty years ago we worried about having the best turnout gear and the best air packs, and nowadays we’re having to worry about, ‘Are we going to get shot?’”

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Tennessee Senate Considers Bill to Allow First Responders to Live Outside the Jurisdictions They Serve

Jason M. Reynolds

State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) on Wednesday filed SB 29 which would allow first responders to live where they choose, the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus said in a statement.

Kelsey posted on the caucus’ Facebook page, “This is a public safety bill. It will enable us to hire more police officers, which will help us fight our rising crime rates.”

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Homes Burned as Winds Push California Fire into Desert Floor

The Associated Press

Strong winds pushed a wildfire burning for nearly two weeks in mountains northeast of Los Angeles onto the desert floor and spread it rapidly in several directions, causing it to explode in size and destroy homes, officials said Saturday.

Meanwhile, officials were investigating the death of a firefighter on the lines of another Southern California wildfire that erupted earlier this month from a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used by a couple to reveal their baby’s gender.

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Bill Would Change Ohio Workers’ Compensation for First Responders with PTSD

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by Todd DeFeo   Emergency personnel in Ohio who suffer work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could soon be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim even if they do not experience an accompanying physical injury. Current law prohibits workers’ compensation claims for psychological conditions without an underlying physical condition. However, state lawmakers are considering the change as part of House Bill 80, which creates the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) budget. The state is looking to fund the BWC to the tune of $319.8 million for Fiscal Year 2020 and $324.8 million Fiscal Year 2021. That represents a significant increase from the estimated $304 million BWC will receive in the 2019 fiscal year and the nearly $264 million it saw in 2018. The County Commissioners Association of Ohio and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce expressed concern about the PTSD provision. “Ohio has always required that an employee have a physical harm or injury in order to participate in workers’ compensation,” Kevin Shimp, director of labor and legal affairs for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, told members of the House Finance Committee. “The so-called ‘mental-mental’ claim – a psychological condition that arises solely from the stress – has never been compensated in Ohio. This exclusion was originally a…

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Agency: Deadly Tubbs Fire in California Caused by Homeowner Equipment

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In a long-awaited report, state investigators said Thursday that a 2017 wildfire that killed 22 people in Northern California wine country was caused by a private electrical system, not equipment belonging to embattled Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. The state firefighting agency concluded that the blaze started next to a residence. It did not find any violations of state law. “I eliminated all other causes for the Tubbs Fire, with the exception of an electrical caused fire originating from an unknown event affecting privately owned conductor or equipment,” CalFire Battalion Chief John Martinez wrote in his report. Some details about the property, including its owner and address, were blacked out of the report. It said the Napa County property about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of Calistoga was built in 1946 on about 10.5 acres (4.2 hectares) with a wine cellar, pool and several outbuildings. PG&E said in a Jan. 2 court filing that it believed a handyman performing unlicensed electrical work started the wine country fire. In that filing, it identified the owner of the Napa County compound as Ann Zink. The utility said it provided electricity to Zink’s property by a line that connected to a service riser…

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Briley Pushes $125 Million Flood Wall in ‘Residential’ Downtown Nashville While Firefighters, Police Get Pinched on Raises

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville Acting Mayor David Briley has resurrected failed plans for a flood wall in downtown, wanting to spend $125 million the city does not have. The latest big ticket item on Briley’s wish list comes days before the special mayoral election on Thursday. Former mayors Megan Barry and Karl Dean failed to get the project approved, The Tennessean said. That is because some City Council members wanted to focus on mitigation efforts in residential areas following the 2010 flood. Metro Water Services Director Scott Potter is trying to sell the flood wall by calling downtown another residential area, the newspaper said. The original flood wall price tag in 2015 was $110 million. Briley has added the wall to the city’s proposed capital improvements budget, which the council will look at next month. The City Council is not exactly rolling in cash — it is considering a proposal to raise property taxes by 50 cents as The Tennessee Star reported earlier this week. News4 I-Team recently ran a story saying former Mayor Dean used $7.4 million in HUD disaster relief money to pay for design and engineering work for riverfront development, including Ascend Ampitheater. You can read more about that report on…

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