Category: In The News

Jan. 9, 2023 Danbury firefighters were lauded for their tireless efforts to serve citizens during the pandemic.

By Rob Ryser Source The News-Times, Danbury, Conn. (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 6—DANBURY — The city will pay firefighters a $3,600 bonus and health department staff a $2,000 bonus for going to work when the rest of Connecticut was locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is giving a morale boost for those who were out there on the front lines every day fighting through COVID pandemic,” Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito said Thursday. “Those that stepped up and provided the services we needed and exposed themselves to the COVID pandemic deserve our praise.”

The COVID-19 bonuses for the city’s 114 firefighters and another 100 civil service workers in City Hall and the health department bring the total Danbury has spent on pandemic pay to $2.5 million from federal emergency relief funds known as the American Rescue Plan Act.

Earlier this year, Teamsters in Danbury received $2,000 COVID bonuses as part of a new contract, and the police officers received $3,600 each in COVID pay as part of their new contract.

The bonus pay harkens to a harrowing period not long ago before rapid testing and vaccines came to the rescue when returning to normal seemed uncertain. Schools, work and most other places of public interaction were shut down. Across Connecticut, 11,800 people have died due to COVID-19.

“Police and fire and staff at City Hall still had to provide us with the services we needed, and the Teamsters still had to plow the roads,” Esposito said. “We praise these men and women. Having the opportunity to help them out (with bonus pay) makes us feel good.”

Chip Daly, president of the city’s firefighters’ union, said the bonus pay was meant to be more of a symbolic recognition of the city’s appreciation than actual hazard pay.

“There’s a lot of days members of the fire department go above and beyond the job and don’t get just compensation for it, but we don’t do this to get rich,” Daly said. “Our members went above and beyond the call of duty to care for our community during this unprecedented pandemic and we appreciate the fact that the city is recognizing them for it.”

Under an agreement approved by the City Council on Wednesday, Danbury municipal workers will receive $1,200 in bonus pay, except for those who work in the Department of Health and Human Services, who will receive $2,000 bonuses.

“It is well deserved,” said Paul Rotello, the City Council’s Democratic Minority Leader. “(Health and Human Services Director Kara Prunty) and her predecessor was waste deep in this, as was their staff.”

Danbury is the latest Connecticut city to hand out COVID bonuses with American Rescue Plan money. In April a majority of the Bridgeport government and public schools workforce receiving bonuses of up to $1,500 for being on the job during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, for a total of $5 million.

Danbury City Hall received $32 million in federal relief money, meant to bail out loses caused by COVID-19 and jump-start the economy. The city has earmarked $21 million, leaving $11 million unspent.

Jan. 8, 2023 Paxtang Fire Company No. 1 has been suspended by the borough council after the membership refused to suspected the chief was charged with theft.

By Jonathan Bergmueller Source pennlive.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Paxtang Borough Council has suspended the Paxtang Fire Company No. 1 from responding to fires after the volunteer agency refused to sideline its fire chief who was accused of stealing thousands of dollars on an unrelated HVAC job.

The move prevents all Paxtang Fire Company trucks and firefighters from responding to fire calls in the borough or providing assistance on fire calls in Swatara Township, the borough announced in a press release sent Friday night.

The news release came shortly after PennLive published a story about Dauphin County investigators charging Matt Lemmon, the Paxtang Fire Company Chief, of stealing $36,000 from a Harrisburg business through an unfinished HVAC job.

Court records said Lemmon took $72,000 for the job, delivered about $35,000 in equipment but did no installation, and kept the remaining money while ignoring them for two years.

The Paxtang Fire Company refused to immediately suspend Lemmon from its ranks in light of the charges, according to the Paxtang Borough Council.

“Public safety is paramount, and due to the inaction of the Paxtang Fire Company, the Paxtang Borough Council has no other recourse,” Keldeem Zellers Stambaugh, the Paxtang Borough Manager, said.

The Swatara Township Fire and Rescue has been Paxtang Borough’s primary fire service since Aug. 1, 2022, and will continue to provide services for Paxtang Borough with assistance from other mutual aid partners.

Paxtang Borough declined to comment further on the situation.

Other municipalities in Dauphin County could continue to call on the Paxtang Fire Company 1 for mutual aid unless they also decided to take action to remove the company from the dispatch list of responders, known as a “box card.”

This removal occurs months after Paxtang Borough Council shifted primary fire services over to the Swatara Township Fire Rescue to make up for a declining trend in volunteer firefighters.

Residents who spoke out against the contract with Swatara Township said they preferred Harrisburg Fire Department, and were concerned Swatara Township would close Paxtang’s fire house.

Jan. 8, 2023 Firefighter Tim Belcher donated a kidney to John Scott Sexton, the 7-year-old son of a colleague at the Lexington Fire Department.

By Karla Ward Source Lexington Herald-Leader Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The 7-year-old son of a Lexington firefighter is recovering from a kidney transplant made possible by another member of the fire department who donated his kidney.

John Scott Sexton, whose dad is fire department Lt. Joe Sexton, received a kidney donated by firefighter Tim Belcher, the Lexington Fire Department announced in a Facebook post.

“The Lexington Fire Department is a family,” the department said in the post. “We celebrate each other during our happiest moments and lean on each other during the most challenging times. FF Belcher selflessly gave a part of himself to help John have a chance to live a normal life and be a kid again.”

The fire department said the surgery, performed at a Cincinnati hospital Tuesday, was successful, and both donor and recipient were recovering there Thursday.

John Scott’s mom, Katie Sexton, said in a June 2021 interview that John Scott, then 5, was a healthy, energetic little boy until he developed an infection from the O157 strain of E. coli. None of the rest of the family got sick, and the family didn’t know how John Scott became infected, but as a result of the illness, he suffered kidney damage from hemolytic uremic syndrome.

“We went from a perfectly healthy child to a kid that has end stage renal disease,” Katie Sexton said at the time. “There is no cure for renal disease.”

She said he had also developed other medical complications, including high blood pressure and anemia, because of the kidney disease.

“Our lives changed in an instant,” Katie Sexton said.

John Scott was ultimately placed on the organ donor registry, and the fire department said “his family began the agonizing task of actively searching for a living donor and getting tested themselves.”

But it was through their “extended family” at the fire department that a match was found.

“On his own, and without telling Lt. Sexton, FF Belcher got tested as a potential donor for John and was discovered to be a match,” the fire department said. “Since the donor testing process is completely anonymous, the Sextons had no idea the match for their son was another Lexington firefighter.”

When the family learned of the connection, Joe Sexton wrote in an email to the department that he was “speechless, humbled, and forever thankful for the selfless act that Tim is willing to do for my son,” the fire department shared. “I have no words to express my gratitude to Tim and his family.”

Belcher told WKYT that “it was a no brainer. I felt like it’s something we all would do or should do.”

John Scott will remain in the hospital for a few weeks, and Belcher will be off work for six to eight weeks recovering, the television station reported.

The fire department said the Cincinnati Fire Department had also stepped in to provide support for both families.

“Since the surgery took place out of town, members of the Cincinnati Fire Department, Station 19, have provided meals and checked in on both families throughout this week,” the fire department said. “The Lexington Fire Department is our family, but we are reminded that family extends beyond our own department by the thoughtfulness and care shown by the Cincinnati Fire Department. This is not the first time they have taken care of one of ours, and we are humbled and grateful for their support.”

Jan. 7, 2023 Suffolk Fire & Rescue officials said the small plane crashed in field and sparked a brush fire that took several hours to contain.

By Hannah Eason Source The Virginian-Pilot Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SUFFOLK, Va. — Two people were killed Saturday in a plane crash that caused a large brush fire in Suffolk, according to local and state officials.

The small passenger airplane was fully engulfed in flames after the crash, state police said, causing a large brush fire in the 3900 block of Carolina Road. Firefighters located the plane crash about a quarter mile away from Carolina Road.

The crash caused a large area of trees and brush to catch fire, threatening homes in the nearby area.

The “rapidly-progressing” fire was spreading across approximately 35 acres of open field and forest, according to a release from Suffolk Fire & Rescue. All residents were safely evacuated.

Police say the crash occurred at 12:16 p.m. Shortly after 3:45 p.m., the Suffolk fire department marked the fire as contained.

The 3900 block of Carolina Road will remain closed until further notice.

Jan. 7, 2023 Maroa Fire Chief Larry Peasley collapsed at the fire station on Dec. 7.

Source Firehouse.com News

Almost a month after Fire Chief Larry Peasley collapsed at the Maroa Countryside fire station, he has passed away.

Peasley, 76, was getting his gear on at the station for a mutual aid response to the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department on Dec. 7 when he collapsed.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration statement, he suffered cardiac arrest and other firefighters began performing CPR on him immediately. 

He was taken to the hospital where he was being treated until he died on Jan. 4.

Peasley served the department for more than 40 years, according to a statement they released.

A visitation will be helo Jan. 9 at Calvert’s Funeral Home in Clinton, IL. The funeral will be Tuesday, Jan. 10th at 11 .a.m at the Maroa Methodist Church.   

Jan. 6, 2023 Orange County firefighter Matt McMahon, who was diagnosed with PTSD, was terminated a second time after he refused to work a paramedic shift.

Source Firehouse.com News

An Orange County Fire Rescue firefighter if fighting to get his job back after being diagnosed with PTSD and being terminated for a second time. 

Matt McMahon, a former U.S. Marine, joined the fire department in 2006 as a firefighter/EMT. 

After seeing the life-saving measures that firefighter/paramedics carried out, McMahon funded his own paramedic license, according to WFTV.com.

“I became a firefighter and an EMT, which is exactly what my pre-employment contract states, so I was not a paramedic [when I started],” McMahon said. He attended 52 weeks of training, plus 100 clinical hours in order to obtain the license. 

As his career went on, the interactions as a paramedic began to weigh on him. 

“It was a 19-year-old kid, who had decided to take his own life. My son was probably at that point 14, just started his high school years,” McMahon told the television station. 

As the calls continued, “I remember becoming increasingly more anxious with my son,” McMahon recalls.

He asked his supervisors if he could drop is paramedic and resume working as a Firefighter/EMT in February 2021.

According to a lawsuit, the department allowed the move and shortly after, he was terminated. 

“Instead of proceeding with [an] interactive process and discussing other options or accommodations, he was charged with violations of county policy, operational regulations, OCFR rules, and standard operating procedures,” Attorney Rachel Rodriguez wrote.

He filed a grievance and was reinstated with the condition that he maintained his paramedic license. At that time, he had been diagnosed with PTSD and was attending therapy.

He was terminated when he refused to work a shift where he was assigned in a paramedic role.

“It wasn’t necessarily me I was worried about, it was the citizens of Orange County,” McMahon told the television station.

“That one time I ask for help, not asking for a dime, not wanting to medically separate and take 30 grand or whatever they’re giving out, I just want to go back to being an EMT … ‘we don’t care about him,’ that’s how I felt,” McMahon said.