Chicago firefighter Jermain Pelt, 49, died Tuesday morning in a fire on the city’s South Side. The fire broke out around 3:15 a.m. at a two-and-a-half story home at 12017 S Wallace Street. The fire extended to two neighboring houses. Firefighter Pelt was working an interior hoseline at 12019 S Wallace when conditions worsened and all firefighters were ordered out. Pelt went down as firefighters were exiting the building and two other firefighters extracted him. He was not trapped at any time during the fire, but the fire department is not sure the exact cause of his death. Two other firefighte ..read more

UConn police added extra officers, firefighters and other personnel to deal with the expected fallout from the UConn men’s basketball team’s appearance in the NCAA championship game Monday night. And they were not disappointed. After UConn clinched its victory, rowdy fans partied on the campus, knocking down 30 lampposts, setting fires and rolling over at least one vehicle, WTNH reports ..read more

Cliff Pinckard – cleveland.com COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus firefighter cadet who says she was sexually harassed by an ex-battalion chief will receive $250,000 in a settlement of a lawsuit. WCMH Channel 4 reports the settlement of the lawsuit includes a $25,000 payment to the woman from former Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Joe Richard, who was accused of sexually harassing the cadet. The cadet is one of three female cadets who accused Richard of inappropriate behavior, the Columbus Dispatch reports. In the lawsuit that was settled ..read more

By Phil Jose The first, and overarching, learning point in the Art of Reading Smoke curriculum is the concept that smoke is fuel. The reason is to help firefighters, company officers, and command officers understand their enemy, smoke. Now smoke is not a thinking, reasoning enemy with a will of its own, but it is still our adversary in the battle to save lives. A comprehensive understanding of smoke is necessary for the reading smoke process and to apply that process in the rapid decision-making environment of the modern fireground. To understand the concept of smoke is fuel a little better, w ..read more

By Christopher Feder When it comes to technical rescue, I live and work in two worlds: standby rescue and emergency response. My full-time position allows me to oversee a division for a private third-party consulting firm that delivers standby technical rescue and rope access teams for high angle, confined space, challenging access, and special work at height projects. In this capacity, I am tasked with visualizing the rescue job prior to deploying a team to support the project. Over the years, I have found various tools and techniques that have helped a great deal in not only the standby resc ..read more

By Al Duffy Congratulations! You studied hard and finally received the promotion you’ve been waiting for, company officer! Now is the time for you to step up and lead the crew assigned to you, along with molding them into the fine-tuned fire company you want them to become. One of the greatest challenges you will face in your new position of company officer is that of gaining the respect of your crew. The biggest thing to remember when it comes to gaining respect is that it must be earned and not given. You should not force your respect on your crew just because you now wear a bugle or bugles ..read more

By Marcella Blum and Matt Hanson As young firefighters, we learn of the many different tools we carry and the importance of using the right tool for the job. We quickly identify that as firefighters we are problem solvers, often modifying old tools to adapt to a new building construction challenge, new automotive trend, or simply a better way to do our jobs. Again, we are problem solvers. Recognizing the inherent challenges of the job expectations for first responders is key to building awareness of the appropriate tools to support a purposeful and sustainable career. To address these challeng ..read more

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Apr. 3—Honolulu firefighters extinguished a fire that broke out at a home in Hawaii Kai today. Ten units with nearly 40 firefighters responded to a 911 call of a fire in the 200 block of Ainahou Street at about 8:25 a.m. When crews arrived, they saw smoke and flames emanating from a single-story residence, the Honolulu Fire Department said. Crews brought the blaze under control shortly after 8:35 a.m. and extinguished it about 20 minutes later. No injuries were reported. The American Red Cross was contacted to assis ..read more

Joe Holleman – St. Louis Post-Dispatch Apr. 3—ST. LOUIS — Seven Robinson-Laney may have twice been a victim in the early hours of Feb. 26 — first by a hit-and-run driver who killed four of his friends in a crash, then by a St. Louis firefighter who has been questioned by police about a missing wallet and credit card. Along with the wallet, Robinson-Laney said, hundreds of dollars in cash and two gift cards he received days earlier for his 18th birthday have never been found. The north St. Louis resident questions why after more than a month after the wreck, no cha ..read more

FDIC Conference Director Diane Rothschild recently spoke with Battalion Chief Daniel Sheridan, Fire Department of New York, who is keynoting on “The Invisible Hand on the Fireground” at the FDIC 2023 Opening Ceremony Day 1, about the whole FDIC International “experience.” Diane Rothschild: How did you get into instructing in general? Daniel Sheridan: I always was a big proponent of drilling in the firehouse. When I was a firefighter in Squad 41, we drilled daily—sometimes twice a day. That same mentality carried over into all my ranks. (I know some members used to cringe when I was workin ..read more