Quick takes
PGFD volunteers call it “the last straw”: An audit is changing the way the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department distributes Maryland grant money and the volunteers are crying foul. With the possibility the county fire chief will decide who gets what and when, the vice president of the volunteer association tells STATter 911 this will bring the demise of the volunteers. Bill Smith calls it the third source of funding cut off in the last year. We have comments from both sides in this latest dispute. Click here for the details.
Fire chief charged with arson: The district attorney says 33-year-old James Smith, the fire chief in Fallsburg, NY, just wanted some training for his firefighters during a slow time. The fire was started on August 29 in a bungalow at a Jewish summer camp in Sullivan County. Chief Smith, elected in April, is the caretaker at the camp and lives next door to the burned building. Smith was arrested Wednesday. His 44-year-old uncle, Edward Smith, was arrested on Tuesday for the same fire. Uncle Edward is also accused of drawing racist and anti-Semitic slurs on a road in town. Read more from recordonline.com. Pictures are here and here.
Dead CAD: That’s what happened in Dallas for about an hour on Thursday hindering police and fire dispatchers. Click here.
PIO and comment writer now see eye-to-eye: Sacramento FD PIO Capt. Jim Doucette made his case and now the person who blasted him rethinks his position. Click here to see what I am talking about.
Fire inspectors fired in Chicago: Eight accused of taking money have been let go and two others have retired. Read the story.
Mutual aid is priceless: That’s what fire chief’s in Mercer County, NJ think. They don’t like the idea of one township wanting to charge another for mutual aid responses. Read the update.
