firefighters

Trump’s Executive Order Is Making It Harder to Hire Firefighters

Federal firefighters are not exempt from the hiring freeze.

Watch Duty App Creator Says He’ll Never Pull an OpenAI

Gizmodo spoke with the creator of the app that provides vital alerts about evacuations.

California Passes Law to Help Inmate Firefighters Pursue Professional Careers in the Field

Amid the flames ravaging the state, California on Friday finally took a step to recognize the important contributions made by incarcerated firefighters over the years. A new law removes barriers that block inmates from pursuing professional firefighting careers after completing their sentences, giving them a second chance at life after prison. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed…

Is Border Patrol Arresting Firefighters in California During Wildfire Season?

An official with U.S. Border Patrol sent out a tweet on Tuesday, claiming the agency had arrested ten “illegal aliens” in El Centro, California after some were allegedly caught with fake Social Security numbers. Strangely, the Border Patrol official said the suspects had claimed to be firefighters who were certified in Oregon. Is Border Patrol…

The Climate Danger of Kamala Harris’ Prison Labor Legacy

We finally have a woman of color on a major party ticket. Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his vice president is historic and something to celebrate, but she still deserves scrutiny. This coupling makes some important climate battles especially hard if Biden wins the White House. But Harris’ past treatment of incarcerated…

U.S. Firefighters Die in Plane Crash While Battling Australian Fires

Three American firefighters died in a plane crash while battling Australia’s bushfires in the state of New South Wales on Thursday, according to authorities in the region. It’s not immediately clear what caused the firefighting air tanker to crash. The firefighters, who have not yet been identified, were flying in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules when…

California Is Blaming Prison Reform for Incarcerated Fire Fighting Labor Shortage

Every time a dangerous wildfire breaks out somewhere in California, fire crews race to battle it. Incarcerated people play a major role in this effort; the state has about 2,600 incarcerated people fighting wildfires under the state’s fire camp program. Over the past four years, the state has had trouble recruiting for this program. The…

Verizon Pats Itself on the Back After Throttling Firefighters in California

The first rule of 2018 is to greet any accusation of foul play with an assertion of exactly the opposite. Verizon has certainly gotten the memo. In August, the company was criticized for throttling the “unlimited” data plan of firefighters battling record-setting blazes in California and now it has a slick new ad campaign about…

Woman With Face ‘Completely Covered With Bees‘ Stung 200 Times

A woman in Lake Forest, California, was hospitalized after she was attacked by a swarm of bees on Monday. According to local ABC and Fox affiliates, the woman is a housekeeper in her 50s who was working at one of her clients’ homes when she was attacked. The homeowner said the housekeeper went out to a…

Watch a Firefighter Ride a High-Powered Hose Thrashing Around Like a Raging Bull

Among the many dangers firefighters face at work each day, those high-powered water hoses have enough pressure to cause some serious damage if they ever got loose. But they also make for an entertaining makeshift carnival ride that looks far more aggressive than any sketchy mechanical bull you’ll find at a Western-themed bar. At times this…

Firefighters Open Hydrant, Find It Stuffed With Fish

Some brave Canadian laddermen recently showed up to put out a grass fire, but their hoses weren’t getting any suction from the hydrant. Why? Because it was stuffed with fucking fish! No the fish weren’t literally fucking in the hydrant. It’s just the craziest damn thing that fish somehow ended up in the fire hydrant…

A Firefighter Is Captivated By Flames In This Gorgeous Animated Short 

In Wildfire, a firefighter is utterly captivated by the flames which surround her, and it’s an obsession that begins to spill into her personal life. This short film is brilliantly animated, and it’s a beautiful, poetic affair: a firefighter who can’t seem to escape a morbid fascination with the flames that she’s supposed to fight…

$75,000 Offered To Find Drone Operators Who Interfered With Firefighters

After three separate instances of drones grounding firefighting efforts, a Southern California county is getting serious about finding and punishing their operators. San Bernardino County Supervisors have offered a $75,000 reward which they hope will entice people to come forward with information about the quadcopters in question. Drones have delayed firefighting aircraft in three different…

Firefighters Can’t Help People In Burning Cars Because of a Stupid Drone

A giant wildfire currently spreading through Southern California’s Cajon Pass is burning cars on the freeway in what the San Bernardino County Fire Department is calling a “multi-casualty incident.” But the firefighters also issued a report that due to a drone seen flying in the area, they couldn’t get their helicopters to the scene right…

Detroit’s Under-Funded Fire Departments Use a Soda Can For a Fire Alarm

Where absent money leaves gaps, ingenuity fills in. Nowhere is that more true than in Detroit’s fire departments, where, as Detroit Free Press reporter Tresa Baldas shows us, a soda can full of jangling coins and screws alerts the Motor City’s long-suffering heroes when there’s an emergency. The system is brilliantly simple: A soda can…

The Rise and Fall of the Fireman’s Pole

Imagine this: it’s 3:30 in the morning, and you’re deep in some pillowy dreamscape. All is calm; all is serene. Then, a piercing alarm whiplashes your senses: you’re awake now, scrambling in the darkness with ten equally frazzled men. In a flurry, boots are pulled on, helmets are snatched off shelves, and you’re flying down…

Using Explosives to Put Out Wildfires Is Actually a Great Idea

Picture this: a drought-fueled wildfire is heading for Los Angeles, and fast. Millions of lives are at stake, and water can’t stop it. When suddenly, a helicopter—armed with what can only be described as a giant cannon—flies straight for flames and BOOM. There’s an explosion, and the fire’s gone. This Michael Bay movie of a…

Firefighters are badass, no question about it. Just look at this image taken by Airman 1st Class Meagan Schutter—it can be a poster for movie. Airman 1st Class Ross Keserich enters a firefighting training scenario Jan. 24, 2014, at Yokota Air Base, Japan. Firefighters practice making low-entrances to ensure they are safe from the heated…

This Firefighter Is Writing Google Glass Apps to Help Save Lives

Google Glass sure has its fair share of dumb applications, but some projects mercifully seem to balance them out. Like the apps put together by Patrick Jackson of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, a firefighter who’s writing code to help rescue teams save time—and lives. https://gizmodo.com/20-questions-about-the-new-google-glass-app-sex-with-g-1505217011 So far, he’s built apps that route incoming emergency calls…

Google Glass for Police Brings Us Closer to a RoboCop Reality

Ok Glass, you can hear the cop now. Take a picture of that license plate. Try: Ok Glass. Record a video of this five alarm fire. Or even: Ok Glass. Search: gunshot wound treatment. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that Google Glass could be a valuable tool for first responders. And now, the…