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Detroit Medics Claim Whistleblower Status Over Media Complaints
Two Detroit medics are in hot water after speaking out publically about problems within the EMS system in Motor City.
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How much does a lawsuit cost? Ask Volusia County
A headline from Florida this week read: $1M Spent To Battle Firefighter In Court. Fire lieutenant Kurt Vroman was terminated by the Volusia County Fire Department for lying…. about getting food during his workshift. Really? About getting food? Vroman alleged the termination was retaliation for complaints he made about safety related matters, as well as a no-confidence vote he spearheaded against Fire Chief Jim Tauber in 2004. Vroman was union vice president at the time. In response to the termination he filed a law suit. In 2008, a Federal court jury awarded Vroman $10,000 in damages and ordered him reinstated.…
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Firefighter Suspended in Fire Station Turkey Shooting
A firefighter in Hazleton, Pennsylvania has been suspended for shooting a wild turkey outside his fire station while on duty, and serving the bird as a meal to other firefighters. Kevin Ruby, 39, pled guilty to killing the turkey outside the city’s Southside Fire Station on October 10, 2010. Ruby was fined $1,000 for the offense by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and faces charges for discharging a firearm within city limits. He was suspended without pay from the Hazleton Fire Department pending internal investigation. Ruby will also face disciplinary action in two other municipalities, West Hazleton and Kline Township, where he…
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Do your rules allow sex offenders to remain a firefighter?
This video asks a disturbing question: should sex offenders be allowed to serve as firefighters, and if they are already firefighters when they are convicted, should they be permitted to remain serving as firefighters or be terminated? I think the question is disturbing because it is even being asked. In fact it is scandalous for anyone to even consider that such criminals be allowed to serve as firefighters, and enter peoples homes when they are most vulnerable and helpless. You can’t make this stuff up!
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Major Investigation Underway into Mileage Reimbursements in Chicago Fire Department
A major investigation is underway in the Chicago Fire department into allegations that fire inspectors falsified mileage readings on their personal vehicles used to conduct fire inspections. The department does not provide city vehicles to inspectors, who use their own vehicles and are reimbursed for mileage. Ironically, the members were caught because of a prior scandal that broke several years ago, and resulted in the requirement that personnel carry GPS equipped cellphones with them to track their movements. It was the GPS tracking capabilities that led to the discovery of the abuses. The cellphone requirement was implemented in October, 2007.…
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Suit Alleging Unnecessary Damage By Firefighters Dismissed
The owner of a historic building in the Borough of Glendon, Pennsylvania, has lost his suit against Glendon and the City of Easton for damage to the building following a fire on June 14, 2008. Owner Mario Russo alleged that firefighters from Easton wrongfully damaged parts of the building "for no reason but to weaken the structure so it can't be rehabilitated." Russo further alleged when the building was demolished for safety reasons the day after the fire, it was done in such a way as to make it impossible to rehabilitate the structure. The lawsuit was dismissed after Russo was…
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Boston Firefighters Caught on Video – ACTING LAWFULLY!!!!
Some Boston firefighters seem to have found themselves in hot water after being caught on a cellphone video. A passerby caught an altercation between Boston firefighters and a civilian who allegedly had stolen a firefighter’s helmet. As the video below shows, the media seems to be playing this matter up as an example of unnecessary brutality and aggressiveness on the part of the firefighters. But what is the law? Firefighters have the same power to arrest someone for committing a crime as anyone else, essentially power to make a citizen’s arrest. Any person has the lawful right to arrest someone…
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Family of Boston LT Kevin Kelley File Suit Over LODD Accident
In a long expected lawsuit, the family of Boston Fire Lieutenant Kevin Kelley has filed suit against six companies who inspected or worked on the brakes of the ladder truck prior to the tragic 2009 accident that took his life. In a move that many found surprising, the suit did not include the City of Boston Fire Department. Lt. Kelley died and three firefighters were seriously injured when Ladder 26 lost its brakes while coming down a steep hill on January 9, 2009. The truck struck a building. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed on November 1, 2010 in Suffolk County…
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Edison Firefighters Sue To Block Staffing Cuts
Firefighters in Edison Township, NJ have filed suit against the township alleging that staffing cuts are endangering citizens. The suit, which was filed in Superior Court in New Brunswick on Friday, October 29, 2010, alleges that the cuts constitute an abuse of power and violate local law. The firefighter’s union president Robert Yackel, who took on the previous township administration himself in a freedom of speech lawsuit in Federal court, has been vocal about the closing of an engine company and the reduction of staffing from 22 to 20 firefighters per shift. Yackel was quoted as saying “What’s especially troubling is…
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Georgia Paramedic Charged After Falling Asleep at the Wheel: 24 hour Shift Questioned
An accident in Floyd County, Georgia has called into question the use of 24 hour shifts/56 hour per week schedules for fire and emergency personnel. Paramedic Gerald Zigner, 22, allegedly fell asleep at the wheel of his ambulance 12 hours into a 24 hour shift two weeks ago. His partner was critically injured when the ambulance struck another vehicle head on during a patient transport. The case takes on greater significance in light of research into sleep deprivation indicating that 24 hours without sleep is equivalent to being legally intoxicated. The State of New Jersey has gone so…
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New Mexico Captain Charged With Voyeurism for Bathroom Cam
We are living in an era of rapid change, where technology seems to stay well ahead of our ability to effectively draw the line between poor judgment and criminal misbehavior. Social media web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, combine with photos and videos from helmet cams, dash cams, and cellphones to produce a never ending stream of headlines about firefighters being disciplined…. or in some cases being charged with criminal offenses. The Spalding County, Georgia case is a perfect example. Now out of New Mexico comes a report of yet another example: Los Alamos County Fire Captain Aaron Adair,…
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