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Dallas Fire-Rescue Changes Website To Rainbows Over SideCharlie Blog Post

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Well, what do ya know? After our first blog post and subsequent follow-ups asking that the photo on the front of Dallas Fire-Rescue’s website be changed – it finally happened. The original full size photo showing a firefighter not wearing any respiratory protection while surrounded in smoke with a link to their Respiratory Protection Program has been replaced with rainbows … and the removal of the respiratory program link. Coincidence? We think not! (more…)

Fired FF Alejandro Garza Accuses Austin Fire Department Of Disparity In Justice

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After a long, hard fought battle, former Austin Firefighter Alejandro Garza lost his battle to keep his job after being accused of posing nude in AFD gear on a dating website. The accusations came forth from the husband of the woman with whom Alejandro had an affair with. An arbitrator sided with the Austin Fire Department yesterday which led to the official firing. (more…)

Gilroy Fire Department (CA) Firefighters Post Series Of Prank Videos On YouTube

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Looks like someone over at the Gilroy Fire Department in California got a new video camera! Youtube account holder RJSILVIAJR (we will assume the firefighters last name is Silvia Jr) posted six simple pranks performed around the station. While simple in nature we over at SideCharlie.com got a good laugh from them anyway! Check out the videos in order after the jump … (more…)

Get A Grip! Apparently It’s Illegal To Touch Yourself In A Walgreen’s Parking Lot?

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Turns out that you can’t fondle yourself in a Walgreen’s parking lot and ask a woman (with an infant) to touch your genitals for money. It’s against the law. Just ask FF Joseph Phillips of the Collingdale (PA) Fire Department. The incident occurred in the lot on Chester Pike near MacDade Boulevard in Darby outside of Philadelphia. Phillips allegedly told the woman that she aroused him and that he was unhappily married. (more…)

Caught On Video: Kingsport (TN) Firefighters Rescue Woman From River

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Kingsport Tennessee firefighters were dispatched to a woman stranded on the roof of her car in the middle of the Holston River. Witnesses state the driver drove down a hill and into the river without ever slowing down. Our guess is that she was updating her status on Facebook. The entire rescue was caught on video by the Times News Online. Our favorite part of the video can be viewed at 1:01 of Troy Hall – a man with a huge bluetooth in his ear and no tooth in his mouth. He made us chuckle. Check out the video below … (more…)

Cleveland Fire Department’s Lt. Kevin Brady Survives Heart Attack, Sought Out Help

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Lt. Kevin Brady of Station 22, Cleveland Fire Department is featured today in a news story on WEWS-TV. In it, Kevin details how after a fire he felt, “a pain like I’ve never felt before” in his chest. Instead of ignoring it he told a paramedic in the station who hooked him up to the monitor to discover he was having a heart attack. Heart attacks are the #1 killer of firefighters in the United States. (more…)

NYC Law Firm Throws Firefighter & Daily Show’s Jon Stewart Under The Bus!

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SideCharlie.com has obtained a copy of the debut flyer that was provided inside the gift bags at the 2011 World Police & Fire Games fundraiser last week. The 8.5″ x 11″ handout depicts Firefighter Robert Keiley stricken with ailments as a 9/11 FDNY rescuer when in actuality he wasn’t employed until 2004.
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San Antonio Fire Captain Gets 60 Days Suspension Over Reckless Fire Response

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Fire Chief Charles Hood of the San Antonio Fire Department suspended three firefighters for traveling at an unsafe speed and not buckling up while racing to a fire on the Northwest Side last year. Firefighter Robert Arranaga, 30, was trapped and hospitalized with a broken neck and remains on medical leave. The crash destroyed Ladder 35 priced at $600,000. (more…)

The Ultimate Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Situational Internet Resource List

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This is a growing list of online resources from around the globe the provide the detailed, 24 hour coverage of the Japan disasters. If you are aware of additional resources that may be of use to humanitarian aid and responders please add them to the comments section below. We will be updating this list over the next few days. (more…)

Nevada Firefighter Makes $232,187 By Using Sick Leave And Working Overtime

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This goes in the category of ‘Who didn’t see this coming?’ A Clark County Nevada commissioner is calling for a criminal investigation into possible abuse of the sick leave and overtime systems by firefighters. This on the heals of an arbitrator chose Clark County’s new contract deal over IAFF Local 1908′s version which calls for a reduction of pay and benefits of 5.5 percent. Clark County is the home of the City of Las Vegas. (more…)

RAW VIDEO: Dramatic Apartment Fire Flare Up Thanks To A Dry California Tree

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A video first reported by Statter911 over the weekend, is from an apartment fire last Wednesday in the 900 block of East Jones Street near Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California. The most impressive part of the video is at 1:14 where a seemingly simple fire catches a typical dry California tree which dramatically helps spread the fire. (more…)

RAW VIDEO: Early Morning Los Angeles Fire Caught On Video By Neighbor

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An early morning fire out in Los Angeles caught by a citizen across the street from 1324 N. Sunderland Street in Echo Park. As first reported by the Fire Critic over the weekend this fire took 17 minutes to bring under control with 32 firefighters. (more…)

RAW VIDEO: Cell Phone Tower Fire Response And Mitigation

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Here is a fire response you don’t get everyday! A dual tier cellular phone tower with some sort of electrical fire extending from the base to the antennae. This tower fire occurred over the weekend and was located near the border of Wall, Tinton Falls and Neptune, New Jersey. (more…)

SHOT OF THE DAY: Ontario Firefighters Brave Cold To Extinguish Snow Plow Fire

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[fblike]KAWARTHA LAKES, ONTARIO, CANADA (Jan. 19, 2011) – Little Britain division firefighter Kevin Cunningham works to put out a fire that razed a City of Kawartha Lakes plough on Little Britain Rd. about 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011. The driver was not hurt. Photo courtesy Jason Edward Scott Bain. Send us your shots to pics@sidecharlie.com

VIDEO: Fire Cat Slides Down The Fire Pole!

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[fblike]Here’s something interesting for your Sunday afternoon. Check out this video of Mickey the Fire Cat from Fire Station 10 in Minneapolis who loves using the fire pole … (more…)