Volunteers

A former Texas firefighter who was sentenced to ten years in prison for arson, has been charged with burglarizing his former firehouse months after his release on parole. Kyle Harmon was arrested yesterday after he was observed on security video entering the Cameron Gardens firehouse on two occasions and taking fuel.

Read More »

A deaf Idaho volunteer firefighter who was terminated for insubordination in 2019 has filed suit claiming disability discrimination under state and federal law. Matthew Burgoyne filed suit today against the Rock Creek Firefighters Association, Inc. and the Rock Creek Rural Fire Protection District accusing both entities of discrimination.

Read More »

Two members of a New Jersey fire company have been arrested and the fire company shuttered as authorities investigate allegation of financial improprieties. Mizpah Fire Chief Jay Davenport II and Craig Paxton have been charged with official misconduct, conspiracy and theft, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner.

Read More »

The City of Little Falls, Minnesota has agreed to settle a pregnancy-maternity discrimination suit filed by an on-call firefighter for $50,000. Lisa Lintner filed suit June 30, 2020 claiming that the city’s refusal to award her pension service credit for 2018 due to her maternity-related leave violates the state’s Pregnancy and Parental Leave Act

Read More »

Today’s Burning Question: Our volunteer fire department has our own Facebook page and the fire-police have a page they created on their own. Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t the Facebook page belong to the creators, not the fire department? In other words, the fire department cannot make the fire-police get rid of the page, can they?

Read More »

It didn’t take long for the public to express outrage over the fact that a ladder company on Long Island was driving around displaying a large Confederate Flag earlier today. It also didn’t take long for the fire department to take immediate action to address the situation.

Read More »

The family of a fourteen-year old who died after suffering an asthma-attack that left him brain-dead on life-support, has filed suit against Monroe County and a county dispatcher that they claim mishandled the 911 call. Bobby Reyes experienced difficulty breathing on September 21, 2019, prompting his mother, Sarah Jones, to initially help him search for his inhaler.

Read More »

The president of a volunteer fire company in Virginia has been charged with embezzling more than $373,000 over a three-year period. Virginia Hoskings has been charged by the Prince William County Police Department with stealing the funds between April 2016 and July 2019, while she was president of the Dumfries Triangle Volunteer Fire Department.

Read More »

A volunteer firefighter and his Connecticut fire department are facing a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of the death of a pedestrian in 2019. John E. Murphy died on March 14, 2019 after being struck by a vehicle driven by Kevin Roman in New Milford, Connecticut.

Read More »

A career firefighter in a combination fire department in New York who was terminated after an altercation with volunteer firefighters, has lost his federal court lawsuit. Brian McNamara filed suit in 2016 claiming his termination from the Long Beach Fire Department was connected to his activities as secretary for the Long Beach Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 287.

Read More »

A volunteer firefighter in Iberia Parish, Louisiana is facing charges that he set a vacant house on fire on the 4th of July. Kentrelle Beasley, Jr., age 18, was charged with simple arson following an investigation by the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s office.

Read More »

A volunteer firefighter from Indiana is facing arson-related charges in a series of fires that occurred overnight. Jake Dougherty, 18, a volunteer with the Whiteland Fire Department, is accused of setting three homes that were under construction on fire in the early morning hours today.

Read More »

Sometimes I feel like I can write the headlines and the story before they occur, and just fill in the details later. That is certainly the case today. Three firefighters in two states are facing disciplinary actions following offensive protest-related social media posts.

Read More »

The Iowa Supreme Court handed down a ruling last week dismissing four counts of arson against a volunteer firefighter, holding that a plea agreement in an earlier arson case was a binding contract that prosecutors could not simply rescind. The case involved Chance Ryan Beres, a volunteer firefighters with the Montezuma Fire Department.

Read More »