Marin Firefighter News

As Australia's wildfires claimed the lives of over 180 people, new concerns are being raised about that country's highly controversial "Stay And Defend" fire policy. Scores of those who perished in the blazes were residents that stayed behind to protect their property or evacuated too late. Residents armed with garden hoses were ill-equipped to protect themselves against the ravaging blazes that tore through towns and were fanned by hot winds and drought conditions. 

Affirming its tentative ruling from last week, L.A. Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix has tossed out a lawsuit by the Orange Co. Board of Supervisors seeking to take away negotiated retirement benefits. Rejecting legal arguments that the payments are unconstitutional, Judge Bendix affirmed a judgment favoring the Orange County Deputy Sheriffs  two months before the case was set to go to trial. The decision is a major victory for retirement security and yet another stinging defeat for anti-retirement ideologues.

The California fire service -- management and labor -- have come together to reaffirm the core principles of fire and emergency response in the state's wildland-urban interface. FIRESCOPE and the California Blue Ribbon Task Force have issued a joint statement repudiating the Australian so-called "stay and defend" model. If you're in California, the advice is clear: Prepare, Leave Early, Follow Evacuation Orders.

A 19-year San Bernardino City firefighter is being mourned as a larger-than-life figure following his death Monday as a result of an off-duty accident. Captain Creighton Nece died in a Palm Springs hospital a week after being injured in an off-road vehicle accident. The 53-year-old Nece was a former smoke-jumper and hotshot who once bought a gold mine. Memorial services will be held Tuesday, March 10 at 11:00am at "The Packing House," 27165 San Bernardino Ave., Redlands.

Sacramento Fire Capt. Jeff Helvin and his crew took over six minutes to reach a burning home in Sacramento's North Natomas. Not because the firefighters were slow. That's just the time needed to get a firetruck to large swaths the sprawling Sacramento community north of Interstate 80 that sprung from nothing over the last decade. Nowadays, about four of every 10 North Natomas residents live in spots firetrucks can't reach quickly.