Marin Firefighter News

In the classic holiday movie “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Jimmy Stewart’s guardian angel showed him that he was the “richest man in town.” Ventura County Firefighter Greg Chavez’ “Guardian Angel” has made him a rich man, too. Chavez, a member of Ventura County Firefighters Local 1364, has won the nationally broadcast American Inventor contest – and a $1 million prize – for his holiday fire safety device disguised as a Christmas tree ornament. His “Guardian Angel” design beat out five other finalists and literally thousands of entries to with the contest, which aired on ABC television on Wednesday nights.

If you're looking for something to make those firehouse menus really sizzle, have we got a hot product for you ... Palo Alto Firefighters Hot Pepper Sauce. Thanks to Palo Alto Engineer Lee Taylor and his special recipe of serrano and jalapeno peppers, a homebrewed pepper sauce has become an area sensation. Bottles are selling by the thousands, yielding huge donations to Local 1319's non-profit charitable fund.

When Larkspur fire captains Matt Cobb and Jim Clark saw the horrifying images of suffering coming out of Haiti after the January 12th earthquake, they knew they had to do something. What they didn't know was that, right up the road, San Rafael Captain Paul LeVeque - one of their brother firefighters from Local 1775 - was thinking exactly the same thing.

At the annual MDA "Boot Camps" in Southern and Northern California, departments from across the state came together to share best practices to ensure that the 2010 Fill the Boot Campaign is a huge success. CPF President Lou Paulson encouraged firefighters to support MDA and to continue filling their boots for the worthwhile cause.

San Diego Fire Chief Javier Mainar told city officials Wednesday that a cost-cutting plan to temporarily remove fire engines from service has lengthened response times around the city, increasing the risk of property loss, injury or death.