Line of Duty

The State of Kentucky has fined the Campbellsville Fire and Rescue Department $25,000 following it’s investigation into the Ice Bucket Challenge related death of Captain Tony Grider last August. The incident occurred as firefighters were assisting the Campbellsville University marching band by spraying them with water from an aerial platform as part of an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser.

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Today’s burning question: Our union has been fighting for a cancer presumption provision in our collective bargaining agreement for years to no avail. We have even started working at the state level to get legislation enacted. Isn’t there a way we can force the city to accept the obvious: that firefighting increases the risk of contracting cancer?

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The City of Seattle has agreed to settle a suit filed by a firefighter who claims his captain permanently damaged his hearing by blowing the siren when he was close by it. Firefighter Rodney Bingham filed suit against the city ...

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The firefighter-victims of a fatal Christmas Eve ambush in upstate New York in 2012 have filed suit against the estate of the alleged shooter, his accomplice who purchased the weapons for him, and the store from which the weapons were ...

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The case of Syracuse firefighter John Williams who was terminated because of a diabetic condition, is headed to an appellate court. Williams was terminated after a series of incidents of lightheadedness in 2011 culminated in a vehicle accident. In 2013, ...

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The Colorado Court of Appeals handed down an important cancer presumption decision last week involving a Denver firefighter who was diagnosed with leukemia. Firefighter Russell Andrews was diagnosed with chronicmyelogenous leukemia (CML) in 2010. The city sought to deny him ...

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A Vallejo, California firefighter who suffered second and third degree burns while trying to save a victim’s life has filed suit following his dismissal in November 2012 alleging the city illegally retaliated against him. Todd Milan filed the suit against ...

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The City of Baltimore has reached settlement in the wrongful death case of a trainee killed during a live-fire training exercise in a vacant building in 2007. Racheal M. Wilson, age 29 and the mother of two, died on February ...

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  A Kingston, New York firefighter injured in the line of duty last December, has filed a notice of claim stating that his injuries were the result of the department’s failure to provide him with a bail-out system. Firefighters Thomas ...

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The widow of a retired firefighter has filed a second lawsuit over his death claiming it was related to exposure to asbestos. The kicker… she is claiming that the exposure occurred while he was working for a plumbing company, not ...

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A St. Petersburg, Florida firefighter has successfully challenged a pro-employer worker’s compensation reform that limited the duration of temporary disability benefits to 104 weeks. Bradley Westphal was injured in the line of duty on December 11, 2009. He ran out ...

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A Lawrence, Massachusetts firefighter who was denied a disability pension for an asthma condition, has been terminated. Tim Atwood, 49, a Lawrence firefighter since 2004, was terminated last week. He has been out of work since January 11, 2012, when ...

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Today’s Burning Question: In 2002 I was granted a disability pension for a back injury I sustained on the job. In 2010 the pension board began trying to revoke my pension under a law that allows them to terminate it ...

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The jury in the first of two wrongful death lawsuits brought against E-One, E-One dealer Hall Mark Fire Apparatus, and the Kilgore Fire Department has concluded that the defendants were jointly responsible for the 2009 deaths of Kyle Perkins and ...

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