A girl owes her life to volunteers at the local fire department, and she just wanted to say thanks.
That’s why she, her parents, friends and cheerleading squad showed up at Murray Volunteer Fire Company.
The recent reunion was much different than their first encounter on Dec. 17 when Macy Wilke, 8, suffered a life-threatening seizure at her home.
“I went directly from my house to the scene,” Capt. Steve Van Gorp told KETV. “We just needed to get her in the squad and we needed to start transport right away to the hospital.”
Meghan Wilke said doctors told her the seizure was a result of encephalitis due to influenza A. Her daughter spent two days on life support after the episode.
“I don’t know that her outcome would’ve been so favorable if we didn’t have people who were willing to roll out of bed and drive their personal vehicles to answer our call,” Meghan said, adding that they live in a very remote area.
Macy understands how lucky she is. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have been alive without them. I feel thankful that the people were there for me.”
Van Gorp told the reporter: “It’s really cool to see her and how well she’s doing and how active she is.”
Two EMS personnel have been charged with murder following the death of a patient they were sent to help.
Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley were arrested and charged with first-degree murder, according to Sangamon County, IL State’s Attorney Dan Wright.
They are being held in the Sangamon County Jail in lieu of $1M bail, WICS reported.
Lifestar Ambulance Service refused to comment about the arrests of its employees, the station reported.
Police called EMS to a home after noticing Earl L. Moore Jr., 35, was in distress.
Cadigan and Finley placed Moore face down on the gurney and tightened the straps across his back. He was transported to HSHS St. John’s Hospital where he died at 3:14 a.m. on Dec. 18, reports indicated.
The coroner found that the cause of death was compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone face-down restraint on a paramedic transportation stretcher due to straps across the back.
The Illinois State Police handled the investigation.
The federal government wants the city to resolve the massive salary gaps between its firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics — a bombshell determination that has become the backbone of a new class action discrimination lawsuit for equal pay among the city’s first responders, the Daily News has learned.
About 25 current and retired city Emergency Medical Service workers have signed onto the lawsuit, which centers around the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s decision that City Hall has “discriminated against current and former first responders of the FDNY’s EMS, based on race and sex, from at least November 8, 2018 to the present with respect to pay, benefits and terms and conditions of employment.”
The feds recommended in December 2021 that the city “reach a just resolution of this matter” and opened the door for a potential lawsuit if the city “declined to enter into conciliation discussions.”
With no further movement on the issue, EMS unions stepped through that door on Dec. 7 with the class action lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal court seeking to correct the pay disparity.
Citing the EEOC report, the 57-page suit argues that the city “suppressed the salaries of EMS First Responders despite the fact that they perform work that is substantially equal in the required skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions as their fire side colleagues.”
As a result, EMTs and paramedics have suffered a “loss of wages, salaries and benefits, as well as emotional hardship and mental anguish,” the lawsuit notes.
EMS employees have been historically underpaid compared to FDNY firefighters and other first responders since merging with the department in 1996.
The pay gaps between the two groups continue to this day, even though the EEOC determined that EMTs and paramedics work just as hard as their firefighting counterparts, something that was made abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The investigation showed that workloads, working conditions, training, and risks to EMS first responders and firefighters are comparable, with a substantial degree of overlapping duties, especially with respect to medical emergencies,” according to the EEOC decision, which was completed after a two year investigation. “The evidence further shows the two groups have comparable accountability and responsibility.”
Despite their interlocking duties with the firefighters, city EMTs and paramedics weren’t considered uniformed personnel until a 2001 City Council law was passed. The Council further intervened in 2020, passing a resolution calling for EMS to be paid the same as firefighters, but the city has failed to take action, the EEOC decision noted.
Entry-level EMTs are paid a base salary of $39,386, according to the lawsuit. Within five years, their pay increases to $59,534. City firefighters start their career with a salary of $43,904 that goes up to $85,292 after five years.
The pay gaps continue throughout the EMS member’s career. EMS chiefs and commanders earn $135,053 a year while their counterparts on the fire side “who perform substantially equal work in skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions” make $235,000 a year.
While the city’s firefighter force is mostly made up of white men, EMS is mostly people of color and has many women, causing a racial and gender disparity, the lawsuit added.
“EMS first responders work in the same conditions and perform at least as rigorous work and require at least as much training and effort, with at least as much regular hazards, if not more than, fire first responders,” the lawsuit said.
“Yet it is [the city’s] policy and practice to compensate the EMS first responders substantially less than their almost exclusively male and overwhelmingly white counterparts on the fire side of the FDNY,” the suit said.
“The injustice of pay inequity in the FDNY was not created by the current mayor or the current fire commissioner,” said Vincent Variale, president of Local 3621, which represents EMS lieutenants and captains. “But it is their moral and legal obligation to end it. Thanks to the work of the EEOC they have the opportunity to put this dark chapter of the FDNY behind us.”
Oren Barzilay, head of Local 2507, which represents rank-and-file EMTs and paramedics, called the EEOC decision “a historic moment for New York City’s emergency medical servicemembers.”
An FDNY spokesman could not comment on the lawsuit, citing the ongoing litigation.
“The FDNY is committed to fair and equitable pay practices. The case is under review,” a Law Department spokesman said in a statement.
When pay disparity issues are raised, the FDNY says they’re not to blame and any pay increases are hashed out by the city and union negotiators at the bargaining table.
“I personally believe that they are not compensated as they should,” former Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro told a City Council committee in 2021 when asked why EMS isn’t receiving better wages. “But we don’t control the process.”
When she was the FDNY first deputy commissioner, current FDNY Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh was involved in the EMS union’s 2021 contract negotiations, which led to a salary increase for EMS employees, including a 6% bump for all EMTs and paramedics who agreed to be trained to respond to mental health calls.
Jan. 10—Flint’s former fire chief is suing the city and its mayor, alleging he was terminated last year after refusing to lie about a fatal house fire and how his crewmembers responded.
Ousting Raymond Barton, a lifelong resident who had led the city Fire Department since 2016, “violated his federal rights, including his free-speech rights under the First Amendment, and the public policy of Michigan,” the chief’s attorneys said in the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court.
The litigation focuses on the fallout from the two-alarm blaze reported May 28 on Pulaski.
Two of the firefighters who responded initially claimed to have thoroughly searched the house for residents, including using infrared equipment and thermal imaging, but found no one trapped, according to the suit.
However, about seven minutes later, a second set of firefighters found two brothers, ages 12 and 9, in an upstairs bedroom, “visible to the naked eye,” the document stated.
The boys were identified as Zy’Aire and LaMar Mitchell, both African American.
State fire investigators determined electrical wiring in the residence caused the blaze, city officials said.
Barton believed the two firefighters had lied and started investigating, his lawyers said.
“They initially refused to give complete reports about their actions at the fire; and when they did finally submit their reports, Chief Barton concluded that they were false,” according to the lawsuit. “Chief Barton asked the two firefighters to correct their reports to include information about how they had made mistakes in looking for the two children, but they informed Chief Barton that they were unwilling to correct the factual misrepresentations in their official reports.”
Barton recommended the two be suspended without pay pending a final investigation then discharged when it ended. But Mayor Sheldon Neeley “wanted Chief Barton to alter official reports to disguise the firefighters’ misconduct, suspend the firefighters with pay, and drop his recommendation that they be discharged,” the attorneys wrote. “Mayor Neeley informed Chief Barton that he was up for re-election and that his wife was up for election for state representative and that both of them needed the support of the firefighters’ union.”
Though Barton refused, saying he wouldn’t lie if called to make statements or answer questions under oath in litigation brought by the family of the fire victims, Neeley eventually “unilaterally and surreptitiously changed the official recommendation” from the chief, then demanded a public announcement supporting it, according to the lawsuit.
“Chief Barton was also reluctant to make public statements that would paper over the obvious racial dynamic of the controversy,” his legal team said, and during a City Council meeting where the victims’ relatives sought answers, Barton explained that he had not changed his recommendation and wanted to discharge the firefighters.
“Given that the city had a large African-American population and given the history of racism by city officials, Chief Barton believed that public confidence in the Fire Department would be undermined if city officials failed to acknowledge readily apparent racial issues.”
After winning reelection in November, the mayor “called Chief Barton into his office and told Chief Barton to resign as fire chief or be fired because Chief Barton had refused to serve Mayor Neeley’s personal interests by participating in the cover-up of the firefighters’ misconduct,” the court filing stated. “Chief Barton refused to resign, telling Mayor Neeley that he had done nothing wrong. Mayor Neeley then fired Chief Barton because Chief Barton had been unwilling to make false statements to the public about what he had actually recommended regarding (the firefighters) and about the substance and circumstances of the Fire Department’s investigation.”
Neeley did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Caitie O’Neill, a city representative, told The Detroit News: “The city of Flint has not yet been served with a lawsuit, and has no comment at this time.”
Barton’s suit alleges deprivation of federal rights under color of state law; wrongful discharge in violation of Michigan’s public policy; and tortious interference with contract.
Having a male recruit place duct tape over the mouth of a female recruit’s mouth is just one of the reasons the Memphis training division chief is out.
Memphis Fire Division Chief Eric Shane Howell violated a number of policies including harassment, according to documents obtained by WREG.
On Dec. 8, he reportedly instructed a male recruit to put duct tape over a female recruit’s mouth, telling another instructor, “this is how we teach them to shut up.”
The station obtained Howell’s termination letter that outlines a number of incidents that occurred at the training academy. during his watch.
During an administrative hearing last month, he reportedly told the administration he had to “get on to the class” and laughed when presented a picture of the duct tape incident, calling it a “joke” but admitting he could “see why it can be taken the wrong way,” according to the station.
Howell was also accused of making recruits carry two, five-gallon containers of chemicals weighing 54 pounds apiece for extended distances.
Even after being disciplined, Howell used vulgar, sexual and inappropriate language while talking to the class.
During a previous session, he participated in or failed to stop actions toward certain recruits, according to his termination letter.
Howell asked that they take his 25 years of his past performance into consideration, including honors. He can appeal his firing.
A mother and a daughter were taken to the hospital Monday night after their vehicle fell into a sinkhole in Chatsworth.
They were in a vehicle about 10 feet down in the hole when a pickup truck toppled onto it, KTLA reported.
The occupants of the truck climbed out, but the other two were trapped.
Crews from Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County and Ventura worked for more than an hour to free them as the vehicle shifted.
The road, which was continuing to “sluff and deteriorate” required crews to secure the vehicles.
Crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department rescued a mother and a daughter after their vehicle, along with another car fell into a sinkhole in Chatsworth.
A Denver firefighter, known as ‘Racist Rover,’ has been fired.
Lt. Jared Russo was terminated for ‘hateful intolerant speech,’ according to 9News.
The 12-year veteran reportedly mocked people of ethnic backgrounds and made racist jokes, the station reported.
Other firefighters didn’t like working with him because of his behavior.
“Lieutenant Russo’s misconduct extended beyond a single house to where he became known throughout the district and beyond as the ‘racist rover,’ ” officials noted in a notice of disciplinary action document.
NIOSH has completed three investigations into firefighter fatalities that occurred in 2018.
The probes — released Monday — involved a firefighter who perished after falling through the floor of a house fire and two in which responders suffered cardiac issues.
Nathan Flynn
On July 23, 2018, Howard County, MD, Fire Lt. Nathan Flynn was working at a house fire in Clarksville when he fell through the first floor into a basement-level crawl space.
A fellow crew member called a Mayday on the tactical channel being used for the operation, while Flynn called a Mayday and relayed pertinent information on an unmonitored channel, according to the investigation.
He was trapped for 22 minutes before being rescued by a rapid intervention crew. He was rushed to a hospital where he died.
After interviews with firefighters, investigators determined the following factors:
Lack of crew integrity
Lack of complete scene size-up
Below-grade fire
Large area residential structure
Lack of a defined incident action plan
Inadequate fireground communications
Missed critical incident benchmarks
Member operating on the wrong radio channel
Task saturation of the incident commander
Lack of personnel accountability
Wind/weather
NIOSH officials also suggested the following recommendations:
Fire departments should ensure that crew integrity is properly maintained by visual (eye-to-eye), direct (touch), or verbal (voice or radio) contact at all times when operating in an immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) atmosphere. The intent is to prevent firefighters from becoming lost or missing
Fire departments should ensure incident commanders conduct a detailed scene size-up and risk assessment during initial fireground operations and throughout the incident including Side Charlie
Fire departments should develop and implement a standard operating procedure/guideline (SOP/SOG) to identify below-grade fires and ensure that appropriate tactical operations are implemented
Fire departments should ensure that a deployment strategy for low-frequency/high-risk incidents is developed and implemented for large area residential structures with unique architectural features
Fire departments should ensure that incident commanders develop an incident action plan (IAP) that matches conditions encountered during initial operations and throughout the incident
Fire departments should ensure that critical incident benchmarks and fire conditions are communicated to incident commanders throughout the incident. This is accomplished with effective fireground communications
Fire departments should have a procedure to ensure all members operating in the hazard zone have their radios on the designated radio channel
Fire departments should ensure all members and dispatchers are trained on the safety features of their portable radio, particularly the features useful during a Mayday
Fire departments should develop a process to prevent task saturation of incident commanders during multi-alarm incidents
Fire departments should ensure that the member assigned to the resource status and situation status function is not given other duties during an incident
Fire departments should develop a formal training program that defines the job duties and functions for staff aides, incident command technicians, or staff assistants
Fire departments should ensure incident commanders maintain control of situation status, resources status, and communications to ensure the completion of tactical objectives
Fire departments should incorporate the principles of Command Safety into the incident management system during the initial assumption of command. This ensures that strategic-level safety responsibilities are being incorporated into the command functions throughout the incident
Fire departments should review and/or develop SOG/SOPs to ensure that water supply is established during initial fireground operations, particularly in areas with limited or no hydrants
Fire departments should ensure adequate staffing and deployment of resources based on the community’s risk assessment
Fire department should periodically review and, if necessary, revise their SOP/SOG on the deployment of rapid intervention crews (RICs)
Fire departments should consider having all members carry a wire cutting tool
Two other investigations were initiated after firefighters succumbed to cardiac issues, one at the scene of an incident and another following a training scenario.
Danny Lister
On Sept. 1, Queen Anne-Hillsboro, MD, Vol. Fire Co. Assistant Fire Chief Daniel “Danny” Lister was “operating on the scene of a motor vehicle collision with multiple patients” when he suffered a medical emergency.
He was stricken after he helped extricate a person from the vehicle.
Lister went into cardiac arrest and was rushed into the Cath lab at University of Maryland Shore Regional Health at Easton, but he did not survive.
The cause of death was identified as hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
NIOSH noted that the fire department does not require preplacement medical evaluations for applicants or offer periodic evaluations for members. They also don’t have a wellness or fitness program available.
However, if they have a serious injury or illness, they must provide a medical clearance from a physician to participate again.
To reduce the incidents of sudden cardiac events, NIOSH recommends all departments
• Ensure firefighters are cleared for duty by a physician knowledgeable about the physical demands of firefighting, the personal protective equipment used by firefighters, and the various components of NFPA 1582.
• Consider incident scene rehabilitation (rehab) during rescue operations as dictated by weather conditions and the work performed.
• Phase in a comprehensive wellness and fitness program for firefighters
Joshua Eugin
The same recommendations were made following an investigation of the Oct. 17 death of a 36-year-old probationary firefighter who collapsed after participating in a search and rescue training evolution.
Saint David Fire District, AZ Firefighter Joshua Eugin was in full turnout gear and SCBA for the drill.
When he fell ill and went into cardiac arrest, there were no ambulances on standby at the site. There were four transport units on duty in the county: two BLS and two ALS units. When the transport unit was requested, only one BLS unit was available, and it was approximately 25 minutes away, investigators learned.
Eugin was treated by a firefighter/medic until the ambulance arrived.
He was transported to a hospital and was pronounced dead after approximately two-and-a-half hour resuscitative efforts.
The death certificate listed the cause of death as coronary artery atherosclerosis with dilated cardiomyopathy and obesity as significant contributing conditions.
As in the previous case, NIOSH said it’s essential for departments to screen personnel prior to any strenuous activity.
Other recommendations include:
• Fire departments should have ALS with automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and all ALS required medications on board during training exercises.
