The Pebble Volunteer Fire Department is mourning the loss of Chief Steven M. Smith.
He was responding to an incident Sunday when he lost control of his motorcycle, according to The Alabamian.
His 2000 Honda veered off the road and hit a culvert. He was transported to Lakeland Community Hospital where he died of his injuries.
Smith started at the department in 1998 and served as the fire chief for 10 years.
Visitation will be held from 6-9 p.m. at Pinkard Funeral Home in Haleyville. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at the same location.
Interim Chief Anthony C. Marrone was selected to fill the position permanently.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday selected acting Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone to fill the post permanently, amid calls by some firefighter groups for the supervisors to look outside the agency for a more diverse candidate pool.
The board voted unanimously in closed session to ask the chief executive to enter into contract negotiations with Marrone. The appointment is expected to be finalized in a vote next week.
The looming hire has frustrated some of the department’s female and minority firefighters, who said they expected the supervisors to look outside the department’s top ranks — an echelon of the department long dominated by white males.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a shock to everyone in the department,” said firefighter paramedic Johnny Gray III, president of the L.A. County Stentorians, a group that advocates for Black firefighters along with other underrepresented groups. “No one saw it aired out to the rest of the county to maybe apply to it. I don’t think the department knew as a whole this was happening.”
The presidents of the Stentorians, the Women’s Fire League and Los Bomberos de L.A. County sent a letter to the board before Tuesday’s vote saying they wanted the board to carry out a national search for a new chief within the next three months.
“This action is critical to ensure equity in hiring and promotion within a department that has struggled for decades to do so,” the letter said. “If internal promotion is the only path to the chief role, this pattern will continue in perpetuity. The department is currently faced with numerous accusations of harassment, retaliation, discrimination, racism and intimidation.”
The county Fire Department is one of the busiest in the country, serving roughly 4 million residents. It responds to emergencies in all unincorporated parts of the county as well as in roughly 60 cities that contract with the agency.
Since its founding, the department has remained largely white and male. The board appointed the department’s first Black chief — Daryl L. Osby — in 2011. No woman has held the top post.
When Osby stepped down last summer after 11 years, the supervisors named Marrone, a department veteran, as acting chief while they looked for a permanent hire.
In a brief interview, Marrone touted his decades of experience inside the department and 11 years on the department’s executive team. Marrone, who joined the department in 1986, said he’s successfully steered it through two line-of-duty deaths, the Omicron coronavirus surge and, as of Monday night, the safe return of the county’s Urban Search and Rescue team, which was dispatched to Turkey after this month’s deadly earthquakes.
Like the authors of the letter, he said he too believes the department needs to do more to lift up the firefighters who rarely make it to the top ranks.
“People of color and women under Chief Osby’s leadership for 11 years have made great strides,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process. There’s more work to be done. I think I’m prepared and I have all the skills necessary to lead that fight.”
Marrone is supported by Los Angeles County Fire Fighters Local 1014, the union representing roughly 3,400 county firefighters. Union President David Gillotte wrote to the board last week that the department had been “to hell and back the last few years” and needed a permanent leader to boost morale. Gillotte urged the board to make Marrone permanent “in the instant.”
But minority groups within the Fire Department said they need a leader who will make it a priority to tackle what they say is persistent sexism and racism within the department. Some have questioned whether Marrone is that person.
Gray said he consistently hears about derogatory remarks directed toward Black firefighters. A few years ago, he said, he spoke with a Black fire department employee who told Gray a white crew was calling him the N-word backwards every time they walked by. Gray, who has been with the department for 12 years, said that he had heard this month of another Black firefighter who was called the same racial slur.
“There are instances of folks using the N-word openly,” Gray said. “There are definitely situations that are happening still — and it’s 2023. I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of it completely.”
Gray spoke to a reporter Tuesday as he drove to the funeral of Hershel Clady, a trailblazing Black firefighter who was the first within the department to get promoted. Clady, who entered the force in 1969, rose through the department’s ranks despite opposition from his fellow firefighters and bosses. He once opened his locker to find a snake, according to an interview he gave with The Times in the 1990s. To keep getting promoted, he had to repeatedly sue the county.
“It’s just ironic. He’d turn over in his grave already at what’s transpiring,” Gray said. “He fought all those years, went to court all those years — and some of the same stuff is still happening to this day.”
Supervisor and Board Chair Janice Hahn said she takes these concerns seriously.
“We are falling way behind other departments in hiring women and that needs to change,” Hahn said in a statement. “I pledge to work with the next chief on not only making sure we are hiring more women and people of color as firefighters in the department, but that everyone is given an equal shot at promotions and opportunities.”
Supervisor Hilda Solis said she trusted the new chief to make addressing the lack of diversity within the department a priority.
“The vote should say something, right?” she said. “We felt this individual was capable of dealing with the challenges this department has faced in the last 2½ and three years.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department has been plagued with similar problems. The Times reported in 2021 on the experiences of female firefighters who said they endured a “frathouse culture” in which women and minority firefighters reported being routinely bullied. At the time, women made up 3.5% of the sworn personnel, though then-Mayor Eric Garcetti had been aiming to reach 5% or more.
Advocates for female and minority firefighters said they believe the county’s numbers are even worse, with less emphasis on recruiting women and people of color. A county spokesperson said the county does not have a breakdown of demographics of firefighters by race and gender available and would need time to compile it.
Kris Larson, Los Angeles Fire Department’s first Black female assistant chief, said the county department’s problems are “100% the same” as the city’s. The only difference, she said, is that the county’s department is not as closely scrutinized.
“I’m surprised that they haven’t had more scrutiny,” said Larson, a founding member of Equity on Fire, a nonprofit that advocates for more inclusive fire departments on the West Coast. “I think with a Board of Supervisors that’s all women, they should be asking some hard questions.”
Larson said she believed that the L.A. County process had been “hushed and rushed” and questioned whether Marrone, who did not graduate from college, was qualified to lead a complex department with an operating budget of roughly $1.6 billion. She said the lack of bachelor’s degree meant Marrone would not be qualified to be a battalion chief — four levels below the fire chief — at the city.
Marrone said he believed his decades of experience made up for a lack of formal higher education.
An explosion and fire at a Medley yard used by several businesses took the lives of two people Tuesday morning and injured three others, according to Miami-Dade authorities.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said of the five patients, two people were taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, one by land, one by air. One person was treated on the scene.
The 8:47 a.m. call came from 11350 NW South River Dr. as an explosion, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said. Crews arrived to find “multiple vehicles on fire.” The fire was contained by 10:15 a.m.
The address is shared by Alex Trucks Weld & General Repair; Laurie’s General Welding; and Eagle Commercial Truck Cleaning Services.
“Units deployed multiple hose lines to get the fire under control all the while navigating downed power lines and a very hazardous scene,” Deputy Fire Chief Danny Cardeso told Miami Herald news partner CBS Miami Tuesday.
It’s still unknown what caused the fire, but Cardeso said “there was some work being conducted” before the blast.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Miami-Dade police homicide and arson detectives are investigating the tragedy.
A Kansas City firefighter who pleaded guilty to three counts of involuntary manslaughter reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, allowing him to be sentenced to three years of probation.
According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Biscari was placed on probation for three years. He is prohibited from carrying a firearm and must complete 40 hours of community service.
Judge Janette Rodecap approved the plea agreement during a court hearing Tuesday.
Biscari did not make a statement, but confirmed to Rodecap that there was enough evidence for him to be convicted at a trial. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
None of the relatives of the three victims attended the hearing. Deputy chief prosecutor Dion Sankar said the prosecutor’s office had been in contact with them and they did not have objections to the plea agreement.
The fire department said Biscari had been placed on unpaid leave and that they were seeking termination.
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.
According to charging documents, Biscari was traveling at 51 mph in a 35 mph zone, and had a red light at the time of the crash.
Jennifer San Nicolas and Michael Elwood, 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.
“Though this plea will not restore their lives or heal their grief, it demonstrates a level of accountability for the actions of the firefighter who carried a public duty,” Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said. “We also hope this motivates further review of the best and the safest practices for operating public vehicles. Our community requires more care.”
A three-page statement, sent by Biscari’s attorney Kevin Regan, said Biscari had “expressed his regret, sorry, sympathy, and concern to the victims’ families privately.”
The statement said he “made a mistake in judgment,” but also defended Biscari by saying he had no prior criminal history or traffic violations, was not under the influence or texting at the time of the crash and cooperated with the police investigation.
“Other drivers in the area heard the fire truck sirens and pulled over to stop safely,” the statement added.
It continued by placing blame on the city.
Biscari’s attorneys said the city has the technology to install receivers at traffic light intersections that prompt the lights to change so emergency vehicles can get a green light. They also said the city has known for years that the Westport intersection is dangerous and that the department failed to provide adequate training on driving a pumper truck.
“Dominic was never made aware of that report, or given a chance to give his side of the story,” the statement said. “Moreover, prior to the accident, neither the City nor Fire Department conducted an investigation or undertook corrective or remedial actions.”
Jackson County prosecutors ultimately charged Biscari with three counts of second-degree involuntary manslaughter, all low-level felonies. Under Missouri law, each count carried a maximum penalty of four years of incarceration in a state prison plus a $10,000 fine.
Several lawsuits were filed in the aftermath of the crash and last month, Kansas City agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to the family members of the victims.
Feb. 22—NORWALK — With the estimates for two new fire trucks coming in far over budget, the Norwalk Police Department offered up nearly $500,000 in surplus funds from the communication system upgrade to help cover the costs.
The Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special capital appropriation request from the fire department for $489,225 at a meeting Feb. 16, according to city documents.
The funds will cover the remaining balance to buy two new fire trucks, Norwalk budget director Tom Ellis said. Funds for the trucks will be transferred from excess police department money intended for a communications system upgrade.
Over the summer, it was revealed that a police department project to upgrade its communication system came in millions under budget.
“That project is moving along rather smoothly; they have not had to purchase all the new equipment that they anticipated several years back when they put in the request and they are expecting a significant underrun in that capital project,” Ellis said.
The communications console project has been in the works for several years and had an original anticipated cost of about $15 million.
In the 2020-21 fiscal year capital budget, the police department and combined dispatch received $13.5 million for a “communication console.” Deputy Police Chief Terry Blake previously confirmed the $5.6 million for the system will be taken from the $13.5 million capital appropriation.
With the excess funds, the fire department reached out to police, to determine whether they would share the surplus funds, Ellis said. The police department was cooperative and good partners throughout the agreement, he said.
“We came up with this idea to work with the police department to see how much they were going to underrun that communications project, ask them if they would be willing to transfer a portion of their remaining or unexpected surplus funds to the fire department to get this done,” Ellis said. “Even with this advancement, they’re still expected to underrun the project, so as challenging as the fire department run is in terms of supply chain issues and inflation, the police department run seems to be just the opposite.”
For the fiscal year 2021-22, the fire department submitted a capital budget request for two new pumpers, fire trucks that carry water, Norwalk Fire Chief Gino Gatto said.
“We were not awarded that one, so the following year we had to put in for two engines, which his (fiscal year) 2022-23. We were granted $1.35 million for purchase of two fire engines,” Gatto said. “I believed $675,000 was enough to cover both of them. Unfortunately, the specs were drawn up, we went out to bid, we received two bid responses from two different fire manufacturers.”
The two bids came in hundreds of thousands of dollars above the anticipated budget for the trucks, with the low bid of $1,839,225 from Pierce Manufacturing and a higher bid from another company for $2,092,337, Gatto said.
The $500,000 requested by the fire department will cover the difference between what was previously appropriated and the lowest bid amount, Gatto said.
Now, the police offered to put some of the unneeded communications system funds toward the fire trucks, Gatto said. Fire engine 3, located at the Van Zant Street station, and engine 5 at the Middle Street station will be replaced.
“The way we operate is we try to keep these pumpers on a 12-year replacement schedule,” Gatto said. “Engine 3 on Van Zant, which is a 2007 fire truck, will replace a 2001 that is our reserve right now. Then that 2007 will become the reserve and the 2001 will go into surplus. We take the 10- or 12-year-old vehicle and put it into reserve and hopefully it lasts another eight, nine, 10 years, depending on how much use it gets.”
Orange County Fire Authority crews went the extra mile to help a member of the community.
Firefighters noticed one of the occupants of a truck involved in a crash was wearing a basketball uniform.
That’s when they came up with an emergency plan — to get Abby Walters, 11, to the championship game at Yorba Linda High School, ABC7 reported.
“Being there for your team and being there for your community. Two things we take to heart,” the OCFA firefighters wrote on the department’s Facebook page.
Abby showed up at the fire station to thank them and jumped at the chance to shoot hoops with her heroes.
The abolished department may not use fire apparatus.
Feb. 17—LOWVILLE — Two of the six bank accounts still held by Copenhagen Fire Department Inc., the nonprofit corporate structure formed in 1951 from the now-abolished village fire department, are frozen until the next Lewis County Supreme Court proceeding.
Candace L. Randall, attorney for the village, and Albany-based Terence S. Hannigan, lawyer for the fire corporation and former village fire chief Terence M. “T.J.” Williams Jr., worked out an agreement off the record in what Judge Charles C. Merrell referred to as “an extensive conference” in his chambers on Thursday morning before he asked Mr. Hannigan to read the agreed-upon provisions into the record.
The two bank accounts the fire corporation is still allowed to use are a Community Bank checking account and the “2% account” — a separate account for the 2% tax on fire insurance premiums with insurance companies outside of the state earmarked for fire departments or companies to use as they see fit through the state Foreign Fire Tax program.
The corporation can petition the court to use one of the frozen checking accounts if additional funds are needed before the hearing to decide final asset ownership.
Judge Merrell stipulated, however, that “the court will expect full accounting of any funds taken out of either of those accounts.”
In addition to firefighting gear and equipment like hoses, radios and pagers, among others, seven vehicles, including a fire truck, water pumper trucks, a flatbed truck and a personnel transportation van were listed in the items the village believes it owns.
The corporation is required to maintain the equipment to keep it in good working order.
Only the pickup truck with a plow can still be used, although the corporation can petition the court for use of the van if needed.
“Notice will be given to the attorney of the plaintiff ( Mrs. Randall)” if the van is to be used as well as if any maintenance activities are being done on any of the fire apparatus, the judge added.
Sworn statements filed with the court on behalf of Mr. Williams and James C. Henry, president of the fire corporation, state they believe none of the assets or money in the corporation’s control belong to the village.
“As the chief of the department, it was my responsibility to make purchases of necessary equipment and apparatus. All such purchases made by me and to my knowledge and understanding, the chiefs who preceded me in office, were made by the corporation,” Mr. Williams’s affidavit reads. The statements by the fire officials did not address what funds were used for those purchases.
Mr. Williams is individually named in the complaint because, as chief of the village’s fire department, it was his legal responsibility to return “all the money and property of such department … within ten days.” He was sent notice of this requirement on Nov. 2 after the fire department’s dissolution was complete.
Mrs. Randall included copies of the titles and/or registrations provided to her by the fire corporation for seven of the vehicles in the information she submitted to the court that all list ” Copenhagen VFD” — Voluntary Fire Department — as the owner, excepting one registration that contradicts the corresponding title, listing ” Copenhagen Fire Department Inc.” as the owner.
“I think that the court made a fair decision that both sides agreed to and we’ll move forward with the hearing,” Mrs. Randall said after the proceeding was adjourned.
“I think they wanted everything on a TRO (temporary restraining order). We didn’t want anything on a TRO,” Mr. Hannigan said.
They met in the middle.
“It’s probably what should happen more often in litigation,” he added.
Village Mayor Mark A. Souva and Deputy Mayor Kimberly R. Vogt sat with Mrs. Randall, while Mr. Williams sat with Mr. Hannigan, and Mr. Henry sat behind the counsel table.
A Maryland cardiology office received an unexpected call from a man who was supposed to come in for a heart stress test.
The man said he would need to reschedule. Why?
He had just won the lottery.
The 62-year-old retired firefighter picked up a $30 scratch-off from a convenience store the same morning he was supposed to see his cardiologist for a stress test, he told lottery officials.
He scratched-off the ticket when he got in his car, and as soon as he saw the winning prize, he knew he couldn’t go to the doctor.
In his hand was the $2 million top lottery prize from the Gold Rush instant ticket.
He told lottery officials he “called the doctor’s office to say that he was just way too excited and his heart was racing too fast,” for an accurate stress test on his heart that day.
He said was able to schedule a new appointment on a less exciting day.
The Crownsville resident and his wife are planning to use their millions to pay off bills, take a trip, invest and take care of their grandchildren.
There are two top prizes in the Gold Rush instant ticket sale left to be won.
A man who showed up at a garage fire last week in Unadilla wasn’t who he claimed to be.
Ethyn Clark, 18, said he was a Brighton Area firefighter and was there to help, according to ABC12.
Clark’s vehicle was outfitted with lights and siren that were activated when he showed up. Although several departments had been dispatched, his wasn’t one of them.
The real firefighters told a local police officer who found Clark had a helmet, safety vest, other equipment and a radio.
He was charged with impersonating a firefighter and using a receiver or scanner in the commission of a felony. He was released on $5,000 bond while awaiting another court appearance on March 3.
Feb. 21, 2023 Clearwater Fire Chief Schott Ehlers apologized: “These two did not perform to the standard of care that our citizens expect and deserve.”
Source firehouse.com News
Two Clearwater paramedics are off the street after a man they pronounced dead last week was breathing.
They were suspended by the department and the Pinellas County EMS Medical Director’s Office, WFLA reported.
The man they declared deceased is recovering in the intensive care unit and working with a speech therapist.
“His lips were blue and he was cold but I was doing CPR, and my friend was there and she was doing chest compressions. His chest was going up and down and he was making noises, so his lungs were working.” Phebe Maxwell told reporters.
She said the medics checked her dad’s wrist and told her he was gone.
“I’m like ‘He’s still breathing!’” Phebe told the reporter. “He’s like ‘No ma’am, he’s gone, those are just his body releasing gases.’”
And, they left.
Later, a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputy who went to the home to investigate Thomas Maxwell’s death saw that he was still breathing. But, Clearwater medics were not called to return.
A Largo ambulance crew rushed Maxwell to the hospital.
Maxwell is worried about the time lapse — 28 minutes from the initial call until Largo medics arrived.
“I’m frustrated, hurt and mad. I don’t know what this is going to do to my dad. I don’t know what kind of life he’s going to have now,” she said.
Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers told reporters: “Upon notification of this incident, we immediately removed both fire medics from their normal duties and discontinued their abilities to provide patient care, in conjunction with the county’s medical director.”
His statement continued: “On behalf of the city, I apologize for the actions and the inactions of our crew during this incident. We have strict policies and procedures in place that were not followed, according to our preliminary review. These two did not perform to the standard of care that our citizens expect and deserve.”
