Firefighters

Bronx firefighters were kept busy starting early Saturday, February 6. Three Bronx residents died in three fires started within 18 hours of each other. The first two house fires happened scant hours and blocks apart, according to the New York Daily News. The first fire, on Beach Ave. in Parkchester, claimed the life of 64-year-old […]

A probationary firefighter sustained severe burns over five percent of his body when he fell through a collapsing floor while fighting a three-alarm house fire on Staten Island. As the New York Daily News reported, “Lawrence Wasser, 23, suffered second and third degree burns to his hands after he fell from the first floor of […]

Noise-induced hearing loss is often an insidious condition that develops so slowly over time that you hardly know it is happening. In fact, your friends or family are likely to notice your hearing loss before you do. But once someone points out that you aren’t picking up on sound cues as well as those around […]

As a rule, lawyers should stay out of politics. So—we would never suggest who someone should vote for. However, when we hear something said that isn’t true, we feel a moral obligation to set the record straight. Following his victory at the Iowa caucus, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz addressed a room of supporters to celebrate […]

An October 4 explosion in Borough Park, Brooklyn, that leveled a three-story building and killed two women was first feared to be the result of a gas leak. When a preliminary inquiry ruled out that possibility, FDNY officials conducted an extensive investigation, finally concluding that intentional acts led to the explosion and fire. One of […]

The recent injury of a Eureka Springs, Arizona firefighter may help FDNY personnel looking to avoid respiratory injuries at fire ground. According to a September 29 news report from KSFM, Rod Wasson had to spend weeks in a burn unit after removing the mask of his self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) while fighting a fire on […]

Barasch & McGarry represents thousands of firefighters who, through their career, suffered permanent hearing loss as a result of the constant exposure to high decibel sirens without proper protection. Mike Barasch said: “This case, as well as others that are pending throughout the country against the manufacturers of the sirens who failed to provide proper […]

Firefighters responding to emergencies have become the emergency, due to poorly designed door handles on a new line of rigs that have led to several cases of crushed thumbs. Attorney Dana Cohen of Barasch & McGarry is representing five firefighters in a lawsuit against the City of New York. Each suffered a gruesome and painful […]

Statistics on line-of-duty deaths in 2014 contained some good news for the firefighting community. The National Fire Protection Association reports that fatalities were down significantly from 97 recorded deaths in 2013 to 64 in 2014. Seven vehicle fatalities was the second lowest total over the past 30 years, and those were volunteer firefighters. Among career […]

Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro recently announced that Con Edison and the National Grid had donated $150,000 to the Department. One hundred thousand dollars will go toward the purchase of 86 new portable gas detectors, as part of the Department’s plan to provide each of its 198 fire stations with a device. The gas detectors will […]