March 8, 2023 Despite turmoil in the ranks after recent demotions, Mayor Eric Adams praised her for “changing the culture.”

By Michael Gartland, Thomas Tracy Source New York Daily News(TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Mayor Adams showered his FDNY commissioner with praise and defended her on Monday for “changing the culture” as turmoil over a shake-up in leadership continues to roil its upper ranks.

Adams, who tapped Laura Kavanagh as the city’s first woman fire commissioner last October, said he’s impressed with her performance so far and that she has not lost control of the department despite two high-level firings last week and the demotion of veteran FDNY brass.

“We knew from the onset that Commissioner Kavanagh was coming in, she was changing a culture that she felt she should have changed, and she wanted those high-ranking individuals to be responsive to her mission moving forward. And that’s what she did,” Adams said Monday morning on 1010 WINS.

“I take my hat off to her being the first woman to become the fire commissioner in one of the largest fire departments on the globe. It’s a tough job, but she’s up for it.”

Historically, the fire department has been dominated by men, most of them white, giving Kavanagh’s elevation to the post a level of unprecedented symbolism.

Her promotion from interim commissioner to the role permanently brought with it the expectation that change would be coming, but inside the FDNY, a debate continues to rage as to whether it’s good or bad.

Controversy in the department came into full view last month after the Daily News broke a story about how two top uniformed FDNY officials stepped down from their positions to protest Kavanagh demoting three other chiefs.

Despite their demotions, assistant chiefs Michael Gala, Joseph Jardin and Fred Schaaf have been detailed back to FDNY headquarters, but their new roles are not clear, according to a department source with knowledge of the situation. Kavanagh has declined to sign off on demotions for the two chiefs who asked to be demoted in solidarity: Chief of Department John Hodgens, the FDNY’s most senior uniformed official, and Chief of Fire Operations John Esposito.

According to the source, Kavanagh has asked all the chiefs who wanted to be demoted or transferred to stick around for the next three months so she could “right the ship,“ and they’ve agreed.

Without citing specifics, Adams seemed to defend Kavanagh’s decisions Monday, saying that it is within a leader’s purview to build the team they view as most effective.

“When you come into office, any office — I did it here at City Hall — you want to build a team that can execute the plan that you lay out. And that’s what she’s doing,” Adams said later on PIX11 Morning News. “I don’t know a person that takes over a leadership role and doesn’t do an analysis of who’s going to remain on their team and who they are going to bring in new.”

March 8, 2023 Flint Firefighter Ricky Hill Jr. collapsed at a mobile home fire last month.

Source Firehouse.com News

A Flint man has been charged with murder and arson in connection with a trailer fire last month where a firefighter collapsed and died.

Flint Apparatus Operator Ricky Hill Jr. suffered a medical emergency at the scene and died despite receiving immediate treatment.

Jabez Bobo, 21, was arraigned Monday, and bail was set at $100,000, according to ABC12. 

He is facing life without parole.

After Hill’s death, Mayor Sheldon Neeley said: “This is a tremendous loss for the Flint Fire Department and the entire city of Flint. I ask the Flint community to join us in lifting the family in prayer during this difficult time.”

Hill had been with the department for 16 years. 

March 8, 2023 Former Strong Fire Company Chief Kevin Mains Jr. wanted his 12–48-month sentence to be vacated.

By Justin Strawser Source The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SUNBURY — Northumberland County Judge Hugh Jones upheld a 12 to 48-month state prison sentence for a former fire chief from Mount Carmel who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old junior firefighter.

On Monday, Jones denied a post-sentence motion filed by defense Attorney Sudhir Raman Patel, of Pottsville, on behalf of former Strong Fire Company Chief Kevin Mains Jr., 45, of Shamokin. Mains pleaded guilty to a felony count of sexual assault by a volunteer or employee of a nonprofit and was sentenced by Jones in January.

Patel argued that Jones considered dismissed charges from this case as well as a second case where the charges were withdrawn. Patel asked for the sentence to be vacated and for Jones to resentence Mains.

Mains, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a retired employee of state corrections, is accused of engaging in intercourse on four different occasions with a 14-year-old female junior firefighter from July through August 2018. Mains was originally charged with five felony counts of statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, sexual assault by volunteer or employee of a nonprofit and corruption of minors and an indecent assault misdemeanor. The remaining charges were dismissed.

Charges related to a second case were withdrawn. Mains was charged in the second case with misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and open lewdness and a summary count of harassment. He was accused of assaulting a 15-year-old girl in July 2021 while he was free on bail since July 2019.

Citing a state Superior Court decision in the Commonwealth versus Charles Stewart, Patel argued that a sentence cannot be enhanced by anything other than what the defendant pleaded guilty to. During the sentencing hearing in January, Jones said he wondered if Mains had a problem with minors since the original case wasn’t an isolated incident.

Jones said Patel introduced the second case in question as a plea for leniency since the charges were dismissed. Jones said he sentenced Mains within the standard range, which was recommended in the post-sentence investigation.

Patel also said the commonwealth, which was represented by Assistant District Attorney Leslie Bryden, did not oppose a county sentence. Jones said he had the final say.

“The ultimate authority on who gets what is right here,” said Jones, referring to himself.

Jones then denied the motion.

In addition to the prison sentence, Mains was also ordered to pay a $100 fine plus court costs and fees and follow any sex offender requirements from state supervision upon release.

March 7, 2023 After Kansas City Firefighter Dominic Biscari pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter last month, officials said they were seeking termination.

By Glenn E. Rice Source The Kansas City Star (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A Kansas City firefighter who pleaded guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter in a 2021 crash in Westport that killed three people wants his job back.

Dominic S. Biscari, who was driving the truck that struck a car with two people inside, killing them and a pedestrian, was placed on probation for three years after his plea in February.

The fire department said at the time that Biscari, 22, had been placed on unpaid leave and that it was seeking termination.

On Tuesday, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 42, which represents Kansas City firefighters, EMTs and other medical personnel, filed a grievance on behalf of Biscari.

Union officials alleged that the city violated various provisions in its collective bargaining agreement as well as KCFD rules, policies and practices. They said the city did not conduct a disciplinary investigation before it sought to have Biscari terminated.

Kevin Regan, an attorney who represented Biscari in his criminal case, said his client should be reinstated and allowed to return to his job as a firefighter.

“Dominic worked hard to become a community servant and to serve our community as a firefighter,” Regan told The Star. “He earned the right to serve our community. The city is now wrongfully trying to take that right away from him.

“Every night Dominic has been asked to answer the bell for folks in need. He answered the bell. And the city has failed to answer the bell for Dominic and his fellow firefighters and they know it.”

Biscari was driving a Kansas City Fire Department truck on Dec. 15, 2021, when it struck a Honda CRV at the intersection of Westport Road and Broadway Boulevard. The force of the crash propelled the vehicles northwest, causing them to hit a pedestrian before slamming into a building.

Jackson County prosecutors said the truck driven by Biscari was going 51 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a red light at the time of the crash.

Michael Elwood and Jennifer San Nicolas, who were in the Honda, and Tami Knight, the pedestrian, were killed. San Nicolas and Elwood worked at the restaurant Ragazza and Knight was a Kansas City Public Schools employee.

Tim Dollar, who represented Elwood’s family, declined to comment.

In their grievance, the union said that on the day of the plea hearing, KCFD released a statement to the news media that it was seeking to terminate Biscari. They said Biscari did not receive a formal letter from fire officials that he had been suspended and faced termination.

Several days after the Feb. 21 hearing, Local 42 president Dan Heizman received an email from Jean Young, an assistant to the fire chief. The email informed the union that Biscari had been suspended without pay as a result of being charged with three felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to the grievance.

By the following Sunday, Feb. 26, Biscari still had not received his suspension and showed up to work for his regular shift. He was told by a fire company officer that he had been suspended without pay and the fire department was moving to have him terminated. Biscari went home.

The union said it would seek to have an arbitrator determine whether Biscari should return to work. They have asked that Biscari be awarded back pay.

After the crash, Regan had said the city can install receivers at intersections to receive signals from fire trucks that prompt the traffic lights to change. He said receivers had not been installed at that intersection.

The city has known for years that the Westport intersection is dangerous, Regan said. The department also failed to provide adequate training to Biscari on driving a pumper truck.

Additionally, Biscari’s attorneys said he was not made aware of a prior complaint about his driving. In September 2021, a medic told supervisors that she feared for her life after being in an ambulance with Biscari as he was speeding.

Several lawsuits were filed in the aftermath of the Westport crash and last month Kansas City agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to family members of the victims.