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 Los Angeles Fire Fighters Escape Gunfire Unscathed
November 20, 2009 – Los Angeles City, CA Local 112 fire fighters responding to a small wildfire on Halloween night narrowly escaped injury after being shot at en route to the fire ground. The fire was located near the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Read More...
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 Meet and Confer Rights Established in Mesa
November 20, 2009 – For 18 years, Mesa, Arizona, fire fighters have been fighting for the right to collectively bargain with their employer. On November 16, the Mesa City Council voted unanimously to grant them Meet and Confer rights. Read More...
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Whitby Fire Fighters Grow Moustaches for a Good Cause
November 20, 2009 -- Whitby's fire fighters are helping change the face of men's health by growing moustaches as part of a national campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer. "Cancer has affected everyone in some way, whether it is a family member or a friend or themselves," said Ken Van Staveren from the Whitby Professional Firefighters Association. "By becoming actively involved in this initiative, Whitby fire fighters are raising awareness of the prevalence of this disease."
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Phoenix Fire Fighters Aim to Smoke Out Tobacco Use
November 20, 2009 -- In an effort to change policy and become the first smoke-free union in the United States, the International Association of Fire Fighters, including the United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association, are encouraging members, their families and communities to take on healthier lifetsyles by quitting smoking. Read More...
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Columbus Safety Forces Unhappy With Budget
November 18, 2009 -- Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman's 2010 budget proposal didn't go over well with police and fire forces, whose campaigning helped win passage of the city's first income-tax increase since the early 1980s. In his $655 million general-fund budget plan, Coleman proposed adding 50 police officers and no fire fighters in 2010, even though Columbus expects a wave of retirements in 2011. "We went out and convinced the public that we needed the tax to maintain safety forces," said Jack Reall, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67. "There's no way" the mayor's plan lives up to that promise, Reall said. Read More...
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 News On 6 Anchor Trains With Tulsa Fire Fighters
November 18, 2009 -- Everyone knows fire fighters have a tough job, but what's it really like to crawl through a home filled with pitch black smoke, heat and fire? Tulsa News On 6 anchor Lori Fullbright found out firsthand when she went into a live fire while training with Tulsa fire fighters. Read More...
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 Ohio Fire Fighter Hopes to Protect Community Resources
November 18, 2009 – Cleveland, OH Local 93 fire fighter Todd Bloam was one of six candidates to win seats on the Village of Cuyahoga Heights Council. The village is a suburb of Cleveland. Read More...
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Arlington County Budget Cuts Could Impact Fire Fighter Safety
November 18, 2009 -- Proposed budget cuts could impact fire fighters' response time in Arlington. The county board is currently debating how to cut $40 million from the 2011 fiscal budget. IAFF Local 2800 fears plans to cut back in funding and staff would compromise the safety of both fire fighters and residents. "Our fire department, we have nothing left," said Mike Staples, president of the Arlington Professional Firefighters and Paramedic Association. "They're going to have to shut a company down; they're going to have to figure out which community to tell, 'We're going to have to shut your truck down.'"
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Apartment Fire Coincides With Hearing on Fire Fighter Layoffs
November 16, 2009 -- The timing was uncanny when a fire broke out the Lakeside Village Apartments. The City Council was in the midst of taking its first collective look at the budget proposal to eliminate eight full-time fire fighters. Read More...
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 Danbury Local 801 Candidate Wins Fifth Mayoral Term
November 16, 2009 – Thanks to the staunch support of Danbury, CT Local 801 fire fighters, Mayor Mark Boughton will be serving a fifth two-year term. On election day, Boughton earned 66 percent of the vote, defeating his opponent -- Gary Goncalves. Read More...
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 Four IAFF Locals Respond to Methanol Tanker Fire
November 12, 2009 – Four Connecticut IAFF locals were called to the emergency scene after a tanker truck was reported on fire on I-95 in Fairfield, Connecticut, November 9. The truck was said to be carrying 6,800 gallons of methanol, a highly flammable liquid. Read More...
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 Fire Fighters Organize Cycling Event to Fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease
November 10, 2009 – After two people close to Pinellas Park, FL Local 2193 fire fighters were diagnosed with Amyothrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Local 2193 members decided to do something big to help out. They organized a Tour de Vie, a bicycling event to benefit the ALS Association. Read More...
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Findlay Fire Fighters Jobs and Firehouse Saved
November 6, 2009 – Eighteen fire fighter jobs and a fire station are off the chopping block after Findlay, OH Local 381 fire fighters successfully campaigned to pass a .25 percent income tax increase.
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Springfield Voters Say Yes to Pension Sales Tax
November 6, 2009 -- Even when 90 percent of precincts were reporting a win for the three-fourths cent pension sales tax, City Manager Greg Burris was reluctant to acknowledge a victory. Mayor Jim O'Neal hailed the preliminary results -- showing 55 percent approval for the tax -- with a round of congratulations. "Everybody did this," O'Neal, heaping praise on the citizens task force members, City Council and staff gathered for a watch party. "I think we shocked some people." Read More...
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Canandaigua City Council Decisions on Fire Fighters Called Murder
November 6, 2009 -- A trail of resolutions adopted by the City Council brings the City a step closer to eliminating more than half of its career fire fighters. A former firef ighter didn’t mince words in describing the actions. “You’re putting people’s lives at risk in Canandaigua,” said James Boyle Sr., retired president of a New York City chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, who lives on East Shore Drive. “It’s murder.”
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Fredericton Member Supports Disaster Relief Fund, Wins Signed Guitar
November 5, 2009 -- A member of Fredericton, NB Local 1053 who downloaded a rockin’ country tune to support the IAFF Disaster Relief Fund is the lucky winner of a special piece of music memorabilia. Read More...
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 Missouri Fire Fighters Help Unify Union Women
November 5, 2009 – Two Kansas City, MO Local 42 fire fighters have been elected to serve in leadership roles within the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). Read More...
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 Columbia Firehouse Cuts Play Key Role in Mayoral Race
November 3, 2009 -- Columbia mayoral candidate Steve Benjamin stood in front of television cameras across the street from the Devine Street fire station to call on City Council members to restore the department's budget cuts. Less than an hour later, City Councilman Kirkman Finlay, who is also running for mayor, e-mailed to reporters a five-step plan for improving fire service protection. Both moves were for the same reason: courting the endorsement of the Columbia Firefighters Association, a small but vocal group of the city's 2,200 employees that is helping to set the agenda at City Hall and on the campaign trail.
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 Eternal Flame Now Burns for Fallen Ohio Fire Fighters
November 3, 2009 – The memorial for Colerain Township, Ohio’s fallen fire fighters was a modest one until a local Boy Scout raised money to add an eternal flame. Boy Scout Austin Conn, 16-year-old son of Colerain Township Local 3915 fire fighter Steve Conn, chose the flame’s placement as his Eagle Scout Service Project (a mandatory step toward earning the Scout’s highest rank) after learning of the April 2008 line-of-duty deaths of Local 3915 member Robin Broxterman and fire fighter Brian Schira.
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 Anchorage Hosts First Fire Ops
November 3, 2009 – Anchorage, AK Local 1264 hosted 21 community leaders, including state senate and house members, local assemblymen, business owners and the media at its first Fire Ops 101 on October 23. Read More...
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San Bernardino Fire Fighters Offer Berdoo Bucks
November 2, 2009 – San Bernardino City, CA Local 891 fire fighters have launched their own economic stimulus program called Berdoo Bucks to help encourage area citizens to support area businesses.
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 Alameda Fire Fighters Provide Pro Bono Pumpkins
October 30, 2009 -- Members of Alameda, CA Local 689 hosted their Ninth Annual Pumpkin Patch. Fire fighters offered free pumpkins to children ages three to 10. Elvis was on hand to greet the children as they entered the patch and selected their pumpkins to take home and carve in time for trick or treat.
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Judge: City of New Orleans Must Pay Fire Fighters $13 million
October 30, 2009 -- A judge, a city attorney and members of New Orleans, LA Local 632 have agreed that the City of New Orleans has to pay the fire fighters union $13 million to satisfy a long-standing dispute between City Hall and the union over pay and benefits. Members of the union were encouraged by the agreement, but acknowledged the judgment satisfying the debt is not certain.
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 Springfield Fire Fighters Rally for Support for Pension Tax
October 30, 2009 -- More than 100 people turned out for a rally hosted by Springfield, MO Local 152 fire fighters to urge people to vote yes to support a police and fire pension fund tax. IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger joined fire fighters and state representative Charlie Norr (a former fire fighter), telling the crowd that fire fighters deserve to have their pensions because they face injury on the job. Read More...
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PG County Fire Fighters to Dole Out Treats for Functional Smoke Alarms
October 29, 2009 -- Prince George's firefighters will do some trick-or-treating of their own, walking door to door in county neighborhoods to check the smoke alarms in residents' homes. If the alarm operates properly, residents will receive coupons for complimentary popcorn and soda at AMC Movie Theatres. If the alarm does not operate, fire fighters will ensure the homeowner has a working smoke alarm before they leave.
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 Staffing Concerns for Troy Fire Fighters
October 29, 2009 -- Troy's Uniformed Firefighters Union said there is a big problem in the City that needs a solution. "The residents of the building next to us called for help at approximately 6:00 a.m. on the morning of October 24. When they called, Engine 2, the first new and nearest piece of fire equipment, sat in the station without any fire fighters to respond," says Union President David Paul. He says there are only three fire fighters at a time assigned to the station, and crews from the City's other stations took two to three minutes longer to respond, leaving the fire more time to expand out of control...burning out a staircase that contributed to the injury of fire fighter Ray Littlejohn.
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