Pa. Firefighters Call for Compensation Law
August 31, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
By Paul Paterra – TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Pennsylvania’s firefighters are lobbying for a proposed bill that could benefit their brethren who have been diagnosed with cancer.
The Cancer Presumption Bill assumes any veteran firefighter who develops the disease did so as a result of the job’s hazards, said Capt. Randy Dubich of the Jeannette Fire Department. Under the proposed legislation, the burden would be placed on the employer or municipality to prove that job hazards were not a major contributor to cancer for a firefighter who has served four or more years. Benefits would be disbursed either by the municipality’s insurance company or workers’ compensation carrier.
“We’re trying to get this bill passed not only for us, but for future generations,” Dubich said.
Dubich said firefighters are vulnerable “with all the hazards and the stuff we breathe out there, even with our breathing apparatus on — from the diesel fumes in our (department) garage to the by-products of combustion.”
Thirty states have adopted similar measures.
“It will give us protection when firefighters, both career and volunteer, contract cancer,” said Gerry Tedesco, a McKeesport firefighter and vice president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association.”They have the opportunity to submit a claim to workers’ compensation if they’re able to prove their cancer has occurred during the course of performing their duties as a firefighter.”
Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Scranton, is the sponsor of the bill that he said is “very personal” to him. A close friend, Robert Shea, a former Scranton firefighter, died of kidney cancer in January at age 39.
“When I was running, he asked me what I could do through contacts and legislators to ask for support of the cancer presumption bill,” Murphy said. “He knew this bill wasn’t going to be passed to help him. But he was concerned about his union brothers and sisters who contract one of these forms of cancer, that they and their families are protected and at least have the peace of mind that they will be compensated.
“We have an obligation to help all firefighters, both pro and volunteer, to make sure these people that work to protect our families are also protected,” he said.
The bill was approved in the House, 186-3, and is before the Senate.
But some legislators are hesitant to include volunteer firefighters.
“The only difference between paid or volunteer, as far as exposure is concerned, is one takes home a check and one does not,” said Tom Savage, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute. “If you’re exposed, you’re exposed. Anything you go to, you have toxic materials. … Even residential fires, everything is made of chemicals now.”
Murphy said the bill addresses that issue by requiring volunteer fire companies to report their calls to the state’s PenFirs program to qualify for compensation.
Residential smoke alarms to be provided in 17 Allegheny communities
August 31, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
The Allegheny County Health Department is offering free smoke alarms to residents of 17 communities with high fire rates.
Residents of these communities are eligible: Braddock, Collier, Duquesne, Etna, Forward, Homestead, McKeesport, North Braddock, Versailles and Wilkinsburg. Smoke alarms will be distributed in the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Allentown, Beltzhoover, Carrick, Hazelwood, Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington and Perry South.
Smoke alarms come with free installation and a fire-safety education presentation. To schedule an installation, call the Health Department at 412-247-7800.
Fire Rescue Headlines: Fatal Accidents, Fatal Camper Fire, Battle of Barrel Fundraiser
August 31, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Here are your western PA fire rescue headlines for Monday, August 31st 2009.
- A person was struck and killed by a vehicle on I79 in Muddy Creek Twp. Police are investigating why that person was on the highway. The driver of the vehicle was also injured. [WTAE]
- A pregnant woman was injured in a head-on collision on Sawmill Run Boulevard. She was going the right way when a suspected drunk driver going the wrong way crashed into her. [WTAE]
- A man died in a camper fire in Middlecreek Twp, Somerset county. His fiancee and children were able to get out safely. [WPXI]
- Dunbar hosted a battle of the barrel for James Albright, a firefighter in need of a liver transplant. [Tribune-Review]
Two Firefighters Injured in Ambridge Apartment Fire
August 30, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Story from WTAE.
AMBRIDGE, Pa. — Two firefighters were hospitalized Saturday after fire at an apartment building in Ambridge.
Residents managed to escape the fire in the 500 block of Melrose Avenue, and were receiving assistance from the Red Cross.
A firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and another was overcome by the heat.
A cause remained under investigation.
Follow Hoopie World on Twitter, Mailing List, & RSS Feed
August 28, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Be sure to follow Hoopie World on Twitter. You will receive site updates and other breaking news regarding western Pennsylvania firefighting and rescue topics. You can click “Follow” on the right side of the site pages in the Twitter widget, or you can go to http://twitter.com/HoopieWorld and click the follow button there.
I also would invite everyone to sign up for our mailing list on the top right of all pages of the site, just under the menu. This will allow you to receive emails when new articles and news stories are published. You can also subscribe to our RSS feeds, which will deliver our article headlines or comments from readers to your news readers, web sites, or portals like My Yahoo. Here are the links for the RSS Feed for News and the RSS Feed for Comments.
If you have any questions or need help setting any of these up, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@hoopieworld.com.
Blood Drive For Dorothy Vay
August 27, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
I have a special request for everyone to support this blood drive. Dorothy Vay is our Ambulance / Medical Coordinator at Lincoln, a medic, and lifelong asset to the community. She has always thought of others before herself, and now is time to help her. Please see the flyer for more details (click on it for a larger size).
The event is on September 11th, 2009 from 1:00pm to 7:00pm.
Your participation is greatly appreciated.
Web Design Tip – Please Keep the Music Silent
August 27, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Ask anyone that knows me, and they will tell you I’m on the computer and internet all the time. I swear my laptop is attached as a third arm of mine sometimes. I know many of the visitors to Hoopie World run their own firefighting or departmental sites, so I thought I’d start giving some web design tips from time to time.
My first tip, is half tip – half rant. I know many feel very strongly on this topic and it can really harm your site and chances of people sticking around and checking it out if you don’t follow my advice. My advice is to NOT have embedded music on your site. Embedded music is the music that starts playing as soon as the visitor goes to your site. There is nothing more annoying, or more likely to cause visitors to click away from your site than to have music start blaring out you once a visitor lands on your site.
One reason its a bad idea is that if the visitor doesn’t like the particular song, it already puts a bad taste in their mouth, or ears in this case, while thinking and visiting your site. Another reason is that the music player usually slows down the pages loading, which in turn frustrates the visitor. Yes, with broadband connections pretty standard this days, its less of a concern, but it still causes a site to lag a little bit. Lastly, its an old fad that isn’t necessary anymore. It was neat back in the late 90’s to see what you can do with your web sites, but its really not necessary now. People are listening to their own mp3s or Ipods, watching streaming shows and sporting events, and watching tv in the background while surfing (I could name about 12 other things that I’m usually doing while surfing) and they really don’t need to be bothered with music that in all likelihood they aren’t going to like.
Now, if you are running a band site, or have audio that you would like to share with the visitors (like our fire dispatch audio section), link to the files and let the visitors stream them or download them ON THEIR TERMS. None of this force fed automatic stuff. Please do not say, well all they have to do is hit the stop or pause button to stop it. Most visitors are not on the site long enough to find the button if music starts playing.
So please, for a lot of people’s sanity, and to make your site better, remove the automatic music from your web site.
Fire Rescue Headlines: Barn Fire, House Fire, Mock Disaster, Physical Rescue
August 27, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Here are your firefighting and rescue headlines for Western Pennsylvania, for Thursday, August 27th.
- There was a two alarm house fire in Kennedy Twp this morning on Sunset Drive. [WPXI]
- The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating a huge barn fire at the Montour Heights Country Club this morning in Moon Twp. At this point, the fire does not appear to be suspicious. [KDKA]
Moon Twp - photo by KDKA
- Pittsburgh International Airport held a mock disaster drill yesterday. Per the FAA, a mock disaster drill must be completed at least once every three years. [Tribune-Review]
photo by Joe Appel/Tribune-Review
- Ten vehicles were damaged by fire at Taylor Auto Repair & Sales in the Overbrook section of Pittsburgh yesterday. [Tribune-Review]
- Also Tuesday into Wednesday, crews in Lincoln were called to assist with rescuing a male out of the woods in Dead Man’s Hollow. A firefighter suffered a leg injury due to a chainsaw during the rescue. The firefighter is home resting after receiving treatment at a local hospital. [WTAE]
Fire Rescue Headlines – August 26th, 2009
August 26, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Sorry folks, after typing up the headlines 3 different times and losing the whole article 3 times, the local headlines are going to be omitted today. The blog software has a mind of its own today unfortunately and I’m too tired to fight with it. We’ll pick back up with the headlines tomorrow.
Fire Rescue Headlines: Hopewell Fire, School Fire, Fatal Cycle MVA, Fawn #2 News
August 25, 2009 by FF184 · Leave a Comment
Here are the western Pa firefighting and rescue headlines for Tuesday, August 25th, 2009.
- Shortly before 3am crews were called to Ridge Avenue in Hopewell for a fully involved structure fire. A family escaped the fire and no injuries were reported. The state fire marshal is investigating the cause. [WTAE]
- In Chartiers Twp, a man repairing a silo had an apparent heart ache and died. [WTAE]
Chartiers Twp - photo by WTAE
- Firefighters in Brookline had to extinguish a suspicious fire at the Pioneer Education Center last evening. Pittsburgh public schools go back in session next week. [WPXI]
- Yet another area fatal motorcycle accident in Springhill, Fayette county yesterday. [Tribune-Review]
- And finally, Fawn #2 fire department received animal oxygen masks from Invisible Fence. The article also discussed their new brush truck that was recently put into service. [Valley News Dispatch]
