When nearly 100 new Chicago firefighters crossed the stage Thursday to shake Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s hand during their graduation, most of them did so after waiting — and fighting — for almost two decades to join the Chicago Fire Department.
About 6,000 African Americans were passed over because of the city’s discriminatory handling of a firefighters’ entrance exam in 1995. After years of lawsuits, a federal appeals court ordered the city last year to hire those who passed that exam — and they included 86 of Thursday’s 98 graduating firefighters, including …

Nearly a year after one of the most destructive wildfires in history ripped through Central Texas, hundreds of firefighters — including several from the San Antonio area — converged on a military base near Bastrop to learn how to better fight such infernos.
Bexar County Emergency Manager Kyle Coleman, who visited Camp Swift on Friday for an annual service for fallen firefighters during the two-week-long wildfire academy, said the base reminds him of how well San Antonio’s first responders worked as a team during the fire season that changed Texas’ landscape.
The biggest fire consumed …

The Cincinnati Fire Department is bigger – as of today. Today is the first day of training for 39 new recruits. Local 12 News Reporter Larry Davis says they begin training today after passing the test three years ago. Among the recruits-a woman and her little brother. 
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory welcomed the 39 recruits to their first day of training. City budget constraints delayed the process for three years after all passed the firefighter exam. 
This was a day Derek and Damara Hunt had long been waiting for. They are brother and sister. …

Everybody respects and admires the work firefighters do, but rarely do  we get a first-hand look at the lives of firefighters. Elected officials are the ones who basically are in control of the fire department’s budget, etc. Giving them a personal look at what firefighting really entails will make them understand better the selfless services firefighters offer each and every day. The “Mini Academy” hosted by the Marin Fire Department gave council members and other elected officials a rare glimpse into the what really goes into being a firefighter.
READ MORE: http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_21778725/firefighters-host-mini-fire-academy-marin-officials

The National Fire Academy is facing another budget cut for 2013. While that’s bad news, there still is a lot of good news coming out of the academy. Last week, I had a lengthy discussion with NFA Superintendent Denis Onieal about the state of the academy, changes to its outreach programs, its ability to support to fire departments and — you guessed it — budget cuts.
First, the good news: The NFA trained more than 110,000 first responders in 2011. Some classes took 10 minutes, others 10 days. They were delivered in classrooms and …

Sometimes, life plays tricks on you. Hank Bauer is now playing a few tricks himself – and having a wonderful time.
After he retired from military service, Bauer said, he chose work as a volunteer firefighter in Putnam and Morgan counties as a way to continue to serve in his community.
There, he met a fire safety clown named “Fireball,” aka Bill Carmen, and Bauer said he suddenly knew that’s what he wanted to do.
“I think it’s improved my life greatly, and I thank Bill for introducing me to it,” Bauer said.
With …

The Portland Fire Department is reviewing a training session last Thursday in which two new recruits were hospitalized.
The names of those involved have not been released, nor have their conditions, but the incident itself showed up on a national firefighter watchdog website, causing some controversy.
Acting fire chief, Stephen Smith, says the two recruits were transported to the hospital last week after falling ill during a running exercise.
Smith released a statement saying: “Two of seventeen Portland Fire Department recruits participating in a 3.5 mile group running exercise, which is part of …

“It was a challenge, especially being older. If I was in my twenties like everyone else in the class, it would have been easier,” Bob Berkstresser, 51, made the statement about a grueling 16-week, 594-hour police training academy.
Berkstresser just completed the class, allowing him to join the ranks of Rockford’s relatively new Department of Public Safety as a fully trained firefighter and police officer.
City Manager Michael Young described the achievement by saying, “This is one of the significant milestones we have accomplished as we move to the ultimate phase-in of …

 
UPDATE: THE Country Fire Authority will soon begin asking volunteers who leave the organisation to complete an exit survey.
This follows concerns being raised by some volunteers who say uncommitted new recruits were costing the service thousands of dollars and disheartening other members.
Volunteer trainers claim that in some brigades up to half of all new recruits, particularly in outer-Melbourne areas, end up “disappearing into thin air” within three months of completing training.
And sometimes they did not return protective clothing issued to them.
But CFA Training and Volunteerism executive director Lex de Man …

A Fire Academy of North Dakota firefighter died Saturday during an exploratory dive in preparation for a training exercise in a Minnesota lake.
Firefighter Jim Reardon, also a photographer for the academy, was on an was surveying the lake in preparation for the Aug. 18 dive when he died, according to a statement from Fire Chief Darrell Graf.
The USFA is considering Reardon’s death as occurring while on duty.
Read More:
 
http://www.firehouse.com/news/10755612/nd-firefighter-dies-during-dive-while-on-duty