Free Republic

On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people were killed by terrorists. The terrorists were indiscriminate in their slaughter of lives—while the attacks were an attack on America, the terrorists did not care whether those they killed were exclusively American or not, nor did they care whether or not the victims were carrying a union card. In New York, there were first responders killed on September 11th, 343 of them from the FDNY, many of them who happened to be members of a union, the IAFF. Yet, in Racine, Wisconsin, the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 321 has made this...

Firefighters union accused of intimidation tacticsUpdated: Jun 28, 2011 1:04 PM EDT Public employee unions in San Diego are accused of using intimidation tactics to slow down signature drives to put a pension reform measure on the ballot next year. The firefighters union has the most to lose if the voters approve pension reform because new hires will lose the lucrative benefits that current firefighters enjoy. They, and others, have taken their cause to the streets. The unions are tracking down the locations of the signature gatherers, and their job is to keep as many people from signing as possible....

A group of New York City atheists is demanding that the city remove a street sign honoring seven firefighters killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because they say the sign violates the separation of church and state. The street, “Seven in Heaven Way,” was officially dedicated last weekend in Brooklyn outside the firehouse where the firefighters once served. The ceremony was attended by dozens of firefighters, city leaders and widows of the fallen men. “There should be no signage or displays of religious nature in the public domain,” said Ken Bronstein, president of New York City Atheists. “It’s...

Noticeably missing from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee's lengthy introduction of the city's "official family" at Friday's funeral of two firefighters was public defender and pension reform advocate Jeff Adachi. That's because Adachi, who had been standing with other dignitaries at the memorial outside of St. Mary's Cathedral, was asked to leave before the service started.According to witnesses, a large firefighter in uniform came up to Adachi and asked him to leave, at the request of a member of the fallen firefighter's family.When asked about the incident, Adachi confirmed that he had been asked to leave. "I had gone to...

ORANGE COUNTY, Florida (NBC) -- A Florida firefighter has been fired and another has been demoted in connection with a road rage incident in Orange County. Fire officials said a video was released showing Orange County fire engineer David Jordan driving a 15-ton truck and tailgating a car, whose driver wouldn't move over, last May 1. Investigators said Jordan nearly hits the car several times, even though he has room to go around the car. The car then gets into the left turn lane, which investigators said, by law it should have pulled off on the right shoulder and stopped...

JUSTICE SERVED? The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that the Chicago Fire Department must hire 111 black applicants who passed a firefighters entrance exam 16 years ago and pay millions of dollars to thousands more who took and passed the same test. Was justice served? An attorney for the group said that the 111 jobs would be filled from applicants who passed the 1995 test and that their pensions would be adjusted as if they’d been firefighters since 1995. Attorney Joshua Karsh also said that 6,000 other blacks who also passed the test will divide “tens of...

The most dramatic political development (in terms of state governance) so far this year has been the passage of anti-public employee union legislation in the Middle West. Next Tuesday, Wisconsin will give us our first look at the political consequences, when people there will vote in a statewide special election for a State Supreme Court seat. That election has become a de facto referendum on Governor Scott Walker's legislative (and anti-union) agenda. Our sources indicate that the Republican incumbent, who won the February primary vote in a near-landslide, no longer commands a majority in private polling and that turnout will...

I'm surprised they don't include images of dead bodies. No doubt firefighters perform heroic acts everyday - including that awful day in Oklahoma City when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. But to use images from that attack to oppose a law that would affect union collective bargaining procedures? NewsOK: [link] A state senator today blasted a firefighter union television advertisement as "horrific and tasteless" for using images of the Oklahoma City bombing to make a case against his bill. The advertisement by the International Association of Firefighters began airing today. It...

On the day that the bill passed the Wisconsin Assembly effectively ending 50 years of collective bargaining in Wisconsin and eviscerating the ability of public unions to raise money through dues, a new front opened in the battle for the future of Wisconsin families. Bagpipes blaring, hundreds of firefighters walked across the street from the Wisconsin Capitol building, stood outside the Marshall and Ilsley Bank (M&I Bank) and played a few tunes — loudly. Later, a group of firefighter and consumers stopped back in at the bank to make a few transactions. One by one they closed their accounts and...

Los Angeles - Thousands of mourners gathered today for a funeral at the downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to remember Los Angeles firefighter Glenn Allen, who was killed battling a blaze in the Hollywood Hills. "Glenn Allen was a beloved husband, father, brother, and son, a 36-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, who like his father before him, dedicated his life to the most selfless public service there is -- saving other people who find themselves in harm's way," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said during his eulogy. "He was a giant on the force." The funeral...

San Diego, Calif., Jan 31, 2011 / 01:12 pm (CNA).- Members of the San Diego Fire Department have won a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city for being forced to participate in a local gay pride parade in 2007. On Jan. 26, the California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by the city and instead upheld a lower court ruling in favor of the firefighters. The move ends a several-year legal legal battle for four firefighters who lodged a complaint against San Diego for being forced to participate in the city’s gay pride parade in 2007. Although the...

Those of us who have worn the uniform and their families know what God, sacrifice, duty, honor and country are all about. I humbly ask my fellow veterans, service personnel, law enforcement, firefighters, first responders and their families to give generously to FreeRepublic so that it might survive and thrive in a world constantly threatened by socialism, communism, totalitarianism and other threats to our freedom and liberty. The recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona and the Left's attempts (before the victims were in an ambulance) to blame conservatives, the Tea Party Movement, talk radio and Governor Sarah Palin just illustrates the...

PASADENA, Calif. -- Thousands of volunteers were hard at work in Pasadena and Irwindale getting the floats ready for the 122nd Rose Parade Presented by Honda, but one float in particular is much more than just a float. "It's a dream come true for me. This is something I've wanted to do for nine years," said Jerry Thomsen, a firefighter specialist. When America was attacked more than nine years ago, a group of Los Angeles firefighters headed to Ground Zero to help, and Thomsen was among them. Now he and his L.A. firefighting buddies are honoring their fallen comrades in...

(CNN) -- A 27-year-old mother surrendered her baby girl to firefighters in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, authorities said Saturday. She told firefighters at Fire Station 46 that the newborn was just six hours old. The firefighters accepted the girl, wrapping her in a blanket. She was healthy and did not appear to have been neglected or abused. Firefighters named the newborn Noel, in honor of the Christmas holiday...

PROVIDENCE — Two management-level firefighters are back among the union ranks, at their request, an action decried by two City Council members who say it was done to increase their pensions. With the lower rank of first-class firefighter, the near-retirement employees can benefit from the 3-percent compounding cost-of-living-adjustments provided to union members hired before July 1, 2010. They will also receive pension benefits based on their higher, management salaries if they retire now. (Pension benefits are based on the highest of the last three years of service.) “It is quite clear that the voluntary reduction in ranks just granted these...

Tennessee house in ashes after homeowner 'forgot' to pay $75 fee Firefighters in rural Tennessee let a home burn to the ground last week because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee. Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in the Sept. 29 fire, along with three dogs and a cat. "They could have been saved if they had put water on it, but they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. The fire started when the Cranicks' grandson was burning trash near the family home. As it grew out of control, the...

A vet said Moses was unharmed by the ordeal Firefighters in the US state of Oregon have had to use all their shovelling skills to do a delicate job: dig a camel out of a sinkhole. They were called by the Clackamas County owners of the 1,500lb (680kg) animal, named Moses, who said they were simply unable to free him. The rescuers had to dig for hours to rescue Moses, whose long skinny legs were deep in the mud. A veterinarian later checked the animal and said he was unhurt. The firefighters got a call from the animal's owners late...

In the days after 9/11 I remember reading a poem here on FR about the Firefighters who died in the Towers. Each stanza began with "Up Up"... shouted the Leutenant, bellowed the Captain, the Chief... the final stanza began: Up Up called the angels... can you help me find it? thanks

9 city firefighters, paramedics to jog in N.Y. 5K honoring firefighter killed on 9-11 With the benefit of hindsight, it's not a fair question to ask if other firefighters would do what Stephen Siller did that awful day. We know it cost him his life, along with 342 other New York firefighters and paramedics at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Siller was off duty and on his way to play golf, but when he heard about planes hitting the towers he drove from Brooklyn toward Manhattan. When he found the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel shut down, he abandoned his...

Oakland, California - (Helmet Cam) Firefighters performed rescue breathing on a dog that was found unconscious/unresponsive in a house fire.