Minneapolis (MN) Fire Department Lays Off 10 Firefighters

From the Star-Tribune:

Ten Minneapolis firefighters got calls from Fire Chief Alex Jackson on Tuesday telling them they are losing their jobs as the result of state budget cuts.

Even more firefighters might have gotten laid off, but Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson said they're urging the council to dip into the city's reserves for $1.75 million to save 31 additional firefighter jobs and avoid any police layoffs.

While Rybak and Johnson blame the Legislature for skimping on local government aid, a frustrated fire union President Mark Lakosky put the blame on Rybak. The number of sworn firefighters has dropped from about 469 in 2003, which was Rybak's first budget, to 401. He warned that firefighters will be stretched even thinner and it will take them longer to respond to emergency calls.

"It's amazing how public safety has been cut each year under Rybak," Lakosky said. "But when there's some fluff program, he finds money for it."

The layoffs were no surprise. Rybak's budget anticipated 32 layoffs in the Fire Department this year, but he and the council put money aside to keep them on the payroll if the city got its full allotment of local government aid. The Legislature froze local government aid at last year's level, meaning the city received $23.5 million less than Rybak had hoped.

The firefighters who lost their jobs have been on a layoff bubble almost since their hiring in 2008. One of them, firefighter Johnathon McClellan, said his mind went blank when Jackson called: "You go through all the training and go through the firefighter hoops in hopes of doing a career. When you go through all that, you don't anticipate that this is going to happen."

Read more HERE.

Unattended Candles Started MN Fire that Killed 6

From the Star Tribune:

Candles lit for an evening meal on a three-season porch were left burning and then started the fire at a New Ulm, Minn., bed and breakfast that killed six people early this month, according to investigators' findings released Monday.

The Bohemian Bed and Breakfast fire July 2 has been ruled accidental.

The determinations were made by the New Ulm Fire and Police departments and the state fire marshal's office.

"Based on witness statements and fire patterns ... the fire built energy before breaking into the home through the picture windows of the TV and the grand staircase area," read the report, submitted by state fire marshal investigator Denise DeMars.

Firefighter, 23, Collapses and Dies at MN Fire Hall

From the Star Tribune:

A 23-year-old firefighter went to exercise at his central Minnesota fire hall, collapsed and died, authorities said Tuesday.

Glenwood firefighter Matthew Chan died Monday evening, said Police Chief Dale Danter.

While a cause of death has yet to be determined, Danter said that there is "nothing criminal in nature or suspicious" about Chan's death and there were no signs of trauma suggesting an accident of some sort.

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