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Cal OSHA Cites San Francisco FD
Cal OSHA has cited the San Francisco for three serious violations involving the June 2, 2011 fire at 133 Berkeley Street that killed Lt. Vincent Perez and FF Anthony Valerio. Both were part of the first arriving company, Engine 26. The three citations involved (1) a loss of communications between E-26 and the exterior standby personnel (communications between interior and exterior personnel in an IDLH environment is an OSHA requirement); (2) a two-in two-out violation by E26 (E26 was a three person crew, the occupants were accounted for, and the entry by Lt. Perez and Valerio without another person on scene besides…
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Omaha Defamation Suit Settled
A defamation suit filed by an IAFF union president against a local business leader has been settled. The contentious suit followed a radio talk show where a self-appointed government reformer accused the president of “acting in an illegal and dishonest manner in exercising his employment duties with the City of Omaha” and of “receiving money from public funds” that weren’t due to him. Back in November of 2010, Steve LeClair, the president of Omaha Firefighters IAFF Local 385, filed a lawsuit against Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector and its president David Nabity. Nabity has been a vocal critic of…
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Terminated Riverside Fire Chief Sues Under ADA
An Illinois fire chief who was terminated by the Village of Riverside last February has filed suit against the village and a fire officer who repeatedly complained about him drinking on duty. Fire Chief Kevin Mulligan filed suit in Federal Court on November 16, 2011 under the Americans With Disabilities Act, against the Village and Fire Captain Matthew Buckley. The suit alleges that the chief was terminated because the Village officials perceived him as being alcohol dependant based primarily on the repeated allegations of Captain Buckley. According to the complaint, Buckley reported the chief’s drinking to the Village manager on at…
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Fire Law Stories in Todays Headlines
There were several fire law stories of interest in the news today: In New Jersey, North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue is investigating how a fire department vehicle came to be parked outside The Squeeze Lounge in Weehawken on Thanksgiving Eve. Alternatively referred to as an adult entertainment spot and a “go-go bar”, it appears that The Squeeze is not the type of place firefighters should be frequenting while on-duty, nor by fire apparatus. Dave Statter is on this one. More the the story. In East Ridge, Tennessee deputy chief Mike Flynn was suspended for 3 days for leaving his…
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Follow Up on California Wildland Arson Case
Earlier this week, we covered the case of US Forest Service firefighter Daniel Mariano Madrigal, who was charged in state court with arson for setting a wildland fire on July 25, 2010. Madrigal’s attorney, Salvador Silva, admitted that his client set the fire but claimed it occurred accidentally when he discarded a cigarette that had burned him. The case was scheduled to go on trial this week in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The case concluded Monday with Madrigal pleading no contest to the charges and accepting a two year prison term. Prosecutor Karen Khim was seeking a four year sentence, but…
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Paramedic Abandonment Investigated in DC Fire EMS
DC Fire is investigating the death of an elderly EMS patient who was transported by EMTs after a paramedic refused to join them in the transport. The paramedic has been placed on paid administrative leave. The incident allegedly occurred on November 17, 2011 when a paramedic assigned to Engine 11 examined an 87-year-old female patient, concluded her condition was not serious, and allowed EMTs to transport her to Howard University Hospital. She died at the hospital. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe refused to say whether the allegations, if true, violated the department’s medical protocols. “There are some concerns regarding this incident……
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Baltimore Medics Deny Transport to Seeing Eye Dog
A Baltimore city paramedic crew is in hot water over their treatment of a blind veteran and his service dog after the man was struck by an auto. Curtis Graham, Jr., a Vietnam Vet, was on his way to the Veteran’s day parade on November 11, 2011 when the injury occurred. Graham claims that city paramedics refused to transport him with his dog. Both the Americans with Disabilities Act and Maryland state law prohibit discrimination against a disabled person with a service animal. Service dogs are allowed to go anywhere that a person can go. That means anywhere – including…
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Wildland Arson or Accidental Fire in California
Today’s burning question: I’m a wildland firefighter and I accidentally started a fire when the cigarette I was smoking burned me and I tossed it. Can I be charged with arson? Firefighter Daniel Mariano Madrigal goes on trial today in Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga, California on arson charges related to a July 25, 2010 blaze (I am not making up the Cucamonga part either). He is a US Forest Service firefighter. According to his lawyer, Madrigal drove out to a remote area to make a cellphone call, when his cigarette burned him. He tossed it away, but immediately began…
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Chicago Firefighters Lose Hearing Loss Case
A jury in Cook County, Illinois has ruled in favor of Federal Signal Corp, and against 8 Chicago firefighters in the latest round of law suits against the siren maker over hearing loss. Following a two week state court trial, the jury deliberated for less than two hours last Tuesday in reaching a unanimous verdict in favor the Federal Signal. The firefighters alleged that the Federal Q sirens were negligently designed, dangerously defective, and caused their hearing loss. The suit was the third in the past few years between Chicago firefighters and Federal Signal. In 2008, 27 Chicago firefighters sued…
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Missouri Sex Harassment Ruling Sparks Termination of Four Chiefs
Four chief officers in the Monarch Fire Protection District have been terminated following an appeals court ruling in a sexual harassment suit. On November 15, 2011, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict in favor of two female firefighters who claimed they were subjected to a hostile work environment. Four days later, on November 19, 2011, the fire protection district’s board voted 2-0 in favor of the terminations. Exactly why the four chiefs, Assistant Chief Les Crews, Deputy Chief Cary Spiegel and battalion chiefs Fred Goodson and Mike Davis, were singled out for discipline remains unclear. The fire…
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Mayor Charged With Stealing From VFD
We have covered a number of stories about theft in the volunteer fire service, but here’s a new one: a West Virginia mayor was charged with embezzling funds from the local volunteer fire department. Grant Town Mayor Robert Dale Riggs has been arrested and charged with four counts of embezzlement, four counts of forgery and four counts of uttering, after he allegedly wrote and cashed four checks worth $9,310 from a Grant Town Volunteer Fire Department account. The crime was discovered by the fire chief who became concerned about the four suspicious checks. The checks were drawn on the Grant Town…
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Michigan Group Loses Suit to Support Fire Department
A citizens group in Michigan has lost its initial bid to have a court order township officials to hold a referendum vote on a special tax levy to support the fire department. The Citizens Action Group of Plymouth Township filed suit against Plymouth Township last week seeking to compel a referendum election in February to restore $925,000 in cuts to the Plymouth Community Fire Department. Township officials have sought to block such a vote and last week refused to honor a petition that CAGPT claims was signed by the necessary 10% of the property owners in the district. The problem…
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