“[Joshua] Eisnor was responsible for protecting the Malden community. Instead, he dishonored his noble profession,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollin

By Flint McColgan Boston Herald Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

MALDEN, Mass. — The Malden firefighter who pleaded guilty earlier this year to dealing drugs, including at his fire station, has been sentenced to five years of probation.

Joshua Eisnor, 43, of North Reading, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston this summer to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. He was charged with the crime just a month before.

U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin on Tuesday sentenced Eisnor to five years of probation, a $2,000 fine and to forfeit $900, which is the total amount he made, according to the plea agreement, from dealing the drugs including Oxycodone, Adderall and Klonopin to other Malden firefighters, both while on duty and off duty.

“As a firefighter, Mr. Eisnor was responsible for protecting the Malden community. Instead, he dishonored his noble profession and sold drugs while on duty,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins in a statement following the sentencing.

Joseph Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, added that “it is dishonorable for a firefighter to break the law and breach the trust of his community that he took an oath to protect.”

At the time of his plea, prosecutors recommended a sentence of 90 days in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release. Sorokin appeared to agree with Eisnor’s defense attorney who, in a Dec. 1 sentencing memo, asked for only probation, citing Eisnor’s acknowledgment of his wrongdoing and acceptance of responsibility even before the plea agreement.

“Admittedly, the present case stems from poor judgment and drug addiction for which Eisnor has admitted and understands the wrongfulness of his conduct,” attorney Stephen Neyman wrote, adding that this was Eisnor’s “only significant encounter with the criminal justice system” other than minor charges from when he was a teenager.

The bill creates an online public repository of tools and best practices for firefighters to reduce the release of and exposure to PFAS

By FireRescue1 Staff

WASHINGTON — The Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances (PFAS) Act passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 400 to 22 on Dec. 1.

The bill, which unanimously passed the Senate in July 2021, now goes to the president’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law.

According to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), which supported the bill, the PFAS Act (S. 231) requires the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the U.S. Fire Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, to:

• Develop and publish guidance for firefighters and other emergency response personnel on training, education programs, and best practices relating to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly referred to as PFAS)
• Design a curriculum to:
  • Reduce and eliminate exposure to PFAS from firefighting foam and PPE;
  • Prevent the release of PFAS from firefighting foam into the environment; and
  • Educate firefighters and other emergency response personnel on foams and non-foam alternatives, PPE, and other firefighting tools and equipment that do not contain PFAS.

The PFAS Act also creates an online public repository on tools and best practices for firefighters and other emergency response personnel to reduce the release of and exposure to PFAS.

NVFC chair Steve Hirsch praised the passage of this legislation: “Enactment of this important legislation will lead to improved health and safety outcomes for fire, EMS, and rescue personnel. We thank Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) for their leadership on this important legislation.”

With American Rescue Plan Act money, the city plans to offer $3,000 signing bonuses to 550 new hires

By Lucas Daprile cleveland.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland City Council has approved $2.2 million in spending on two projects to provide benefits to dispatchers and first responders.

The money, which is provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, includes $1.9 million to provide $3,000 signing bonuses for new police officers, firefighters, EMS employees and 911 dispatchers, according to city documents. The goal is to provide bonuses for 550 first responders, at a cost of $1.7 million, with the rest of the money to pay for travel for career development, a marketing firm to assemble a marketing strategy, and for advertising.

Half of the hiring bonuses will be paid after the fourth week of training, which is when many of those who drop out of training do so, according to city documents. The second half of the signing bonus will be paid three months after the employee is hired and remains on staff.

Also approved was a proposal to spend $310,000 on a mental health wellness program for EMS, fire, police and 911 dispatch employees. The wellness program seeks to consolidate fragmented efforts among departments and provide employees with access to therapy, substance abuse counseling, anger/grief management, meditation and yoga, according to city documents. The money includes salary and benefits for two therapists for two years.

The first responder and dispatcher benefits are separate from another recently discussed proposal to use state ARPA money to provide Cleveland police officers with $3,000 retention bonuses.

Also approved Monday night were multiple ARPA-related expenses including retention bonuses for police, grant funding for its crime center and a violence prevention program.

City council was set to consider a $7.5 million ARPA expense to nonprofit Cleveland Development Advisors, Inc. to finance community development projects in low-income neighborhoods, but it will now be held until another meeting. The community development projects would include affordable housing, restoring vacant/abandoned properties, remediating contaminated properties and fixing up commercial properties, according to city documents.

The expenses are the latest, but likely not the last, ARPA expeditures for law enforcement. Two members of the public safety committee, including Chairman Mike Polensek, called for using additional ARPA funds to increase prosecution of homicides.

Another was Councilman Joseph Jones, who has been a vocal advocate for aggressively recruiting more police officers.

“We now need to start turning toward ARPA funds… so we can solve those homicide rates,” Jones said. “We need to send a strong message to crime in this city that if you come over here in the city of Cleveland you’re going to be held accountable. We’re not playing around.”

Solving homicides is worthy in its own right, Jones said, but creating a safer city will also encourage people to come back to Cleveland.

“When you start doing that, you’ll start bringing more people back into the city of Cleveland, more businesses into the city of Cleveland,” Jones said. “Right now they’re leaving the city of Cleveland because they don’t feel safe.”

Former Coweta firefighter Hunter Forsyth’s alleged affiliation with a white supremacist group was unearthed

By Chris Joyner The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A Coweta County firefighter has been fired following an official investigation that he is a neo-Nazi and a member of White Lives Matter, an online organization that spreads racist and antisemitic propaganda around the nation and internationally.

“We became aware of this unfortunate matter this week and immediately began an investigation,” County Administrator Michael Fouts said in a statement released Wednesday. “We can confirm that as of Dec. 7, Hunter Forsyth is no longer with Coweta County Fire Rescue. Our focus is and always will be providing the best quality care and service to all our citizens and visitors.”

Forsyth’s alleged affiliation with the white supremacist group was unearthed by left-wing activist organization Atlanta Antifascists, which on Tuesday published a lengthy dossier to its website using public records, photographs and social media posts across multiple platforms in its investigation into Forsyth and his alleged connections to White Lives Matter, an international group that espouses that the United States and European countries be “re-purposed” into white-only states where a small number of people of other races would “serve the interests of White People.”

The county placed Forsyth on paid leave Tuesday following the publication of the claims and started its own investigation. He had been a county employee since January. Paperwork provided by the county makes no mention of the allegations, instead noting that he was fired for failing to successfully complete his probationary period. The separation notice is signed by Fouts.

“We’ve received information on the matter,” Fouts said Tuesday when contacted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the allegation. “Obviously, we are concerned about our employees and providing public service.”

Hate group watchdogs say White Lives Matter is behind the spread of racist and antisemitic propaganda in cities around the United States.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was able to verify some of Atlanta Antifascists’ documentation by viewing Forsyth’s social media accounts on Facebook and the far-right platform Gab. As a reporter was viewing the Gab profile attributed to Forsyth, material on the page was restricted from public view.

The AJC attempted to reach Forsyth, but the call was not returned.

Forsyth’s alleged Gab profile included the slogan “democracy is death” as well as images of Hitler, numerous antisemitic and racist messages, and references to the “14 words” — a white supremacist slogan referencing alleged threats to the white race.

Forsyth’s Facebook profile is less overt but featured a profile photo including the message “Exposing Friends to Extremist Content” and a Facebook banner picture featuring a Black Sun or “Sonnenrad,” a symbol associated with Nazi Germany and modern-day white supremacists. Both have since been replaced with more generic photographs.

Coweta County Commissioner Al Smith, who is the only Black member of the county board, said Tuesday that the county may need a policy requiring the personnel department to check social media accounts of front-line county workers to make sure extremists are not hired as first responders and other positions of public trust.

“I don’t think we have a protocol that includes checking an applicant’s Facebook page,” he said. “It may need to be codified.”

In 2018, county residents expressed outrage when a neo-Nazi group chose Newnan as the site for a public rally. The event drew hundreds of counter-protesters and an equal number of police, but only a handful of extremists.

Smith said Coweta County isn’t alone in facing problems with far-right ideologies. “This has been prevalent in society at large for over 200 years,” he said. “It’s been this way for so long. I’m not going to say we haven’t made any progress but the progress we have made have been slow to come by.”

Crews found one of the victims sprawled out on top of the elevator; the other victim was underneath the elevator

By Rocco Parascandola and Thomas Tracy Source New York Daily News Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

NEW YORK — A store security guard and a teenage shoplifter were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Thursday when the pair fell down an elevator shaft of a Target in the Bronx following a violent fight, police and New York City Fire Department officials said.

First responders were called to the third floor of the box store on Exterior Street near East 151st Street in Melrose, not far from Yankee Stadium, around 11:15 a.m. when they learned the two had fallen down an elevator shaft, cops said.

The 29-year-old victim, a loss prevention officer for Target, was fighting with the 16-year-old — who had been caught shoplifting — when they rammed into the closed elevator door, police sources with knowledge of the case said.

The elevator door opened to an empty shaft and the two fell inside and down to a ground-floor dollar store, cops and a witness said.

“It was just like a ‘boom!’” said dollar store employee Omar Felipe. “Two ‘booms!’”

Felipe believed the sounds of the men falling may have been boxes, but when first responders arrived needing to access the shaft, he realized what had happened.

“The police officers just was thinking people was stuck in the elevator. They didn’t know people fell down the elevator,” said Felipe. “The Fire Department, they cut a hole. They needed to get access inside so they can take the guy that was stuck.”

Firefighters found one of the victims sprawled out on top of the elevator, which was below the open doors, FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sorrocco said at a news conference outside the building.

The second victim managed to fall between the elevator and a wall, landing in the shaft pit three stories below.

“The first victim was moved immediately,” Sorrocco said. “The second victim, it was a more difficult operation. He was underneath the elevator. We had to secure the elevator and set the brake. We sent our members down below to treat him while we set up a mechanical advantage to lift that person out of the elevator pit, which was approximately 10 to 15 feet below.”

Felipe recalled a firefighter screaming down the shaft trying to get the fallen victim to speak.

“They said ‘Are you there?’ and screaming and no response,” Felipe said. “He couldn’t talk.”

Firefighters put together a rope system that allowed them to pull the victim out of the shaft. It took an hour to bring him out and put him in an ambulance, Sorrocco said.

It was not immediately disclosed which victim landed in the pit.

The Target loss prevention officer was removed to Lincoln Hospital for treatment. The teen was taken to Harlem Hospital.

Before the fight, the teen had been caught repeatedly sneaking into the Target after he was told to leave, apparently because he had been shoplifting, police said.

When the loss prevention officer escorted the teen out of the building, the struggle began.

No charges were immediately filed.

Base salaries for certified firefighters and police officers will now be $50,895, per Smyrna city officials

By Jake Busch Marietta Daily Journal, Ga. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SMYRNA, Ga. — The City Council unanimously approved more than $1 million in raises for city employees at its meeting this week.

The raises, which total $1.3 million and will take effect Jan. 1 of next year, encompass a cost of living adjustment, merit increases and an extra $2,000 raise for certified public safety positions, according to City Administrator Joe Bennett.

Bennett told the MDJ Smyrna is short 20 police officers and four firefighters. Those numbers represent vacancy rates of 23% and 4%, respectively, according to Carol Sicard, Smyrna’s human resources director.

“The city is experiencing difficulty hiring and retaining employees in the certified public safety positions with constant changes occurring recently in other jurisdictions,” Bennett said.

Smyrna Police Chief Keith Zgonc said his department is “always in a battle with some of the other cities and counties” for personnel.

The new starting pay for uncertified police officers and firefighters will be $47,179, according to city staff. Base salaries for certified officers and firefighters will be $50,895. Sicard noted all uncertified officers and firefighters must complete their certification within their first year of employment with the city.

“It means a lot for the police department,” Zgonc said of the raises. “We’re short handed over there and this will go a long way towards keeping some folks on board.”

The city based its changes on a pay study conducted in 2021 by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. That study recommended the city adjust its pay bands based on either the Employment Cost Index or the Consumer Price Index, with city staff electing to base the newest round of raises on the former.

For the remainder of the current budget year, which runs through June 2023, the city will fund the raises with a combination of contingency funding in the city’s general fund and a one-time use of federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Going forward, Bennett said Smyrna’s Budget Committee will look to use the city’s normal operational revenues to maintain the raises.

The City Council previously approved staff raises totaling $1.3 million in April. Prior to that, the council approved raises for a majority of Smyrna police officers in November 2021.

The cost of living adjustment for this newest round of raises will be 4.6%, which Sicard said all full- and part-time staff will receive. Merit raises, meanwhile, will be based on performance ratings, range from 1.5% to 3.5%, and be available for all eligible staff.

“This is an opportunity to take care of the people that take care of us,” said Mayor Derek Norton during Monday’s council meeting.

Norton said he and the council “inherited a mess as far as staff goes and in how they were taken care of in the past.”

Councilman Charles “Corkey” Welch, who has represented Smyrna Ward 4 since 2011, disagreed with Norton.

“You didn’t inherit a mess,” Welch said. “We did everything we could to give raises and give incentives to keep people on.”

Norton said he did not mean there was no efforts to retain staff on the part of previous councils.

“I mean that there was a mess as far as having done the pay study before, but then not maintaining,” Norton said.

The new positions will be in the department’s aviation and rescue unit or at a station in the works

By Leila Merrill FireRescue1

PHOENIX — The Phoenix city council voted unanimously Wednesday to allocate $7.8 million in annual funding to create 58 new fire department jobs starting in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

According to a news release from the city, some of the new positions will be in the fire department’s aviation and rescue unit. Others will be in station 62, which is in the works.

“The Phoenix Fire Department is very grateful to the city leadership for supporting this critical need,” Phoenix Fire Chief Mike Duran was quoted as saying. “This will place more resources in the system that will improve response times so that we can help our residents as quickly as possible.”

“It is important to hire the staff prior to the completion of Fire Station 62 so that we can hit the ground running,” the chief added. “In the interim, we can benefit from the added personnel.”

Firefighters attempted to rescue the residents but were driven back by intense heat, smoke, and flames, Watertown Fire Department Chief Travis Teesch said

By WiscNews Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

WATERTOWN, Wisc. — Three people were found dead following a house fire in Watertown early Friday morning.

Watertown Fire Department Chief Travis Teesch said in a statement that the fire is under investigation by the Watertown fire police departments as well as the State Fire Marshall.

According to the press release, the fire occurred in the 100 block of Western Avenue and was reported around 12:30 a.m. Emergency responders found the home engulfed in flames when they arrived and were told people were trapped inside.

Firefighters attempted to rescue the residents but were driven back by the intense heat, smoke, and flames, according to the release.

Names and ages of the three who died were not released. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Teesch said in the release.

Assisting agencies include; fire agencies responding through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System as well as the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.

The Lehigh County coroner said the manner of death for Marvin Gruber and Zachary Paris is pending investigation due to the ongoing investigation

By Jennifer Sheehan The Morning Call Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — The two firefighters who perished in the line of duty in Schuylkill County Wednesday night died of asphyxia and thermal injuries, the Lehigh County coroner has ruled.

Marvin Gruber, 59, and Zachary Paris, 36, members of the Community Fire Company in New Tripoli, were killed Wednesday evening fighting a house fire on Clamtown Road in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County.

Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio released his report Friday and said both men died of asphyxia and thermal injuries from the fire. Buglio said the manner of death for both men is “pending investigation” due to the ongoing fire and active scene investigation.

The bodies of both men were transported from New Philadelphia, Schuylkill County, to the Lehigh County Joint Operations Center in South Whitehall Township in a large procession Thursday afternoon. Hundreds of firefighters and emergency responders lined the streets and saluted as they said goodbye to Gruber and Paris.

GoFundMes have been set up to help the families of the two men.

• New Tripoli Bank: https://gofund.me/5348ecbe
• Natasha Bleiler: https://gofund.me/a962f502