Sacramento, CA | Busy morning Downtown commute interrupted Tuesday morning when a vehicle crashed into a building. Close to 7:30 Tuesday morning, the busy downtown commute was interrupted when a woman driving east on J Street, reportedly felt sick and passed out behind the wheel. Her vehicle hopped the curb and crashed into "Patino Building" at 1010 J St. The driver was transported to hospital via paramedics.

Investigative & Lifesaving Gear to Honor Fallen on 9/11 A volunteer neighborhood association in North Natomas collected over $6,600 using old-fashioned community fundraising to purchase equipment for their nearest fire and police stations in anticipation of the upcoming ten year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and to honor the sacrifices of hundreds of public safety personnel who perished on that day. The gifts will be presented to captains of the police and fire departments in a ceremony at the association's fourth annual National Night Out celebration in Witter Ranch Park on Tuesday evening. Witter Ranch Community Alliance, which covers nearly 1,400 detached homes and over 4

Sacramento, CA | A level 3 Hazmat situation shuts down a large industrial area in South Sacramento. Budget weakend hazmat team has to reach out with unusual mutual aid requests.  Wednesday morning, the Sacramento City Fire Department was called to Mike and Sons Inc, in the 8500 block of Elder Creek Road, for a commercial trailer fire. When firefighters arrived “they realized the doors were shut and there was a very pungent odor; so they turned this into a level three hazmat which is the highest level of hazmat response that we have”, Niko King, Assistant Chief for Sacramento City Fire Department stated. As things progressed, they contacted the shipper and the property owner discovering t

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision last week to make major cuts to public safety brings police and firefighter jobs into the spotlight. Six City Council members said they intend to raise the number of brownouts or alternating closures of fire services from two to four. While the city has no plans to lay off firefighters, the public debate over possible cuts to public safety begs the question: How much do firefighters in the city get paid? How do their benefits work? The brownouts may be part of the final budget the City Council is expected to approve on June 21. The city is facing a $39 million deficit. The Sacramento Press published a guide to police officers’ pay and be

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement. Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services. A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions. Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

If you thought the last few budget hearings on proposed budget cuts to the city’s parks, police and fire services were heated, just wait until June 7. At the close of a nearly four-hour budget meeting on proposed cuts to the Sacramento Fire Department Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously decided to discuss the cuts again on June 7. But the June 7 meeting will be different from previous hearings because the council decided it will discuss all the controversial budget cuts – to the Parks and Recreation, Police and Fire departments – at that time. Councilman Rob Fong said the cuts should be discussed all at the same time because the city does not have enough money to prevent cuts to

About 150 firefighters and their families protested the city’s budget proposal Tuesday night to cut $9.1 million from the Sacramento Fire Department. As part of press conference held to protest the cuts, the fire department staffers stood in a large group outside City Hall to show their opposition. The city is facing a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The idea to make cuts to the Fire Department is included in the budget plan proposed by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka. Final decisions on the budget will be made by the Sacramento City Council next month. A group called Protect Sacramento, led by Sacramento Area Fire Fight

Sacramento, CA | Fists and bottles fly early Saturday morning at Parlare Euro Lounge, leaving one person in serious condition. Just around midnight Saturday, a fight started at the Parlare Euro Lounge on the corner of 10th and J Streets in downtown Sacramento. “The fight spilled out from the club into the street. One of the security guards was hit in the head with a bottle, subsequently fought with the original suspect who in turn, turned and fought with another suspect who was also hit with a bottle,” Sargent Wendy Brown, Sacramento Police Department stated. Later the area was deemed a tapped off crime scene with CSI collecting evidence and photos as one of the injured person’s conditi

Layoffs of about 100 police officers and nearly 50 Fire Department staffers are listed as possible budget cuts in the city’s proposed 2011/2012 budget, scheduled to be released Friday. The city released a summary of the budget recommendations from Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka late Thursday afternoon. The budget was largely put together by previous Interim City Manager Gus Vina, who resigned last month.  The city manager’s office recommends that police officer cuts should be made in the department’s special units. The summary said that 167 full-time employees would be cut in the police department. Of the 167 employees, 98 are sworn police o

Sacramento, CA | An alleged drunk driver crashed into an occupied taxi cab early Saturday morning in Downtown Sacramento, next to City Hall. Early Saturday morning, at the intersection of I St. and 10th St., a drunk driver crashed into an occupied taxi cab. Two people were transported to the hospital in critical condition, a third was transported with minor injures. Being struck by the alleged DUI driver, the taxi cab careened across the front lawn of City Hall and came to rest on against a light pole and across the sidewalk next to the steps of City Hall. After being given a field sobriety test and refusing to take an in field breathalyzer test, the driver was arrested for DUI. See m

Sacramento, CA | Club goers leaving a local club escape fallen tree incident with minor injures and damaged vehicles. Late Saturday night, as Azukar Lounge at 16th Street and J Street was winding down and club goers filled the parking lot heading to their cars, a large tree collapsed landing on one occupied, damaging others and pinned a female to the ground. Several bistanders worked together to get the tree off the girl as resue crews responded. The victim was transported to the hospital via paramedics with minor injures.  Occupants of the vehicle struck by the tree were unharmed and able to exit the vehicle without further incident.  For more weather impact photos and stories, CLICK H

Through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program, the Sacramento Fire Department was awarded $5,606,864 to hire 27 firefighters and restore two fire companies. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District was awarded $5,470,824 to hire 24 firefighters. The SAFER grant is awarded annually through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase their cadre of frontline firefighters. The goal is to assist local fire departments with staffing and deployment capabilities so they may respond to emergencies whenever they occur, assuring their communities have adequate protection from fire and fire-rel

The Sacramento Fire Department expects to hire 27 firefighters and end its “brownouts” soon, thanks to a $5.6 million grant from the federal government. The grant to the city fire department and a $5.4 million grant to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District were discussed at a Thursday morning press conference held by Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) and local fire officials. The Metropolitan Fire District, which covers Sacramento and Placer counties and the cities of Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova, will hire 24 or more firefighters with its funding, said Metro Fire Chief Bill Sponable. The city fire department has two rolling brownouts in effect, which means that certain

This morning just before 10 a.m. Sacramento Regional Dispatch center received multiple calls reporting an apartment fire with explosions. Fire crews from both Sacramento and Sacramento Metro Fire Departments responded and arrived within minutes to find fire blowing out of an upstairs window. The apartment was occupied at the time of the fire and officials were informed that citizens assisted one adult male occupant from the apartment that was on fire. Quick actions of the fire crews kept the fire from spreading to adjacent apartments; however during the fire operations Sacramento Police were requested to respond to restrain the resident from attempting to re-enter the apartment while it w

Sacramento, CA | A drunk driver with passengers collides head-on with a Taxi minivan leaving several injured in Midtown early Thursday morning. At approximately 1:47 am Thursday morning, a black compact car collided head on with a taxi cab minivan at 20th and N Streets in Midtown. Occupants in both vehicles were injured and transported to area hospitals with non threatening injuries, per Sacramento Police department.   more from this incident and about Midtown DUI checkpoint >>

Sacramento’s city and county governments confronted grim budget situations throughout 2010. The city faced a $43 million budget gap, while the county struggled with a $181 million hole. Local government employees felt the pain of budget cuts: Sacramento County laid off about 380 employees during the summer. The county also slashed 29 positions in its engineering department in September. The county will no longer hire engineers for those spots. City officials laid off 12 workers represented by Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 447, city spokeswoman Amy Williams said in September. The layoffs occurred after talks between the city and the union failed. However, the city’s job loss situation

Today Sacramento Firefighter-Paramedic Robert Walters will receive the Silver Governor’s Medal of Valor Award for a successful rescue mission completed while serving in the California Army National Guard. Staff Sergeant Robert Walters and 3 other crew members were successful in the rescue efforts of a 14-year-old boy scout member that was trapped under a ten-thousand pound bolder on June 26, 2008 in Fresno, California. Robert Walters is a nine year veteran of the Sacramento Fire Department and continues to serve in the California National Guard. He is an eleven year veteran of the California National Guard. The Sacramento Fire Department is proud to have such a member within its organiza

As we approach Thanksgiving Day the Sacramento Fire Department would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy holiday; in addition to providing you with several safety tips to ensure your holiday is also a safe one. Each year many fires and other emergencies occur from un-attended cooking or burning fires. Therefore we are asking that you consider these tips as you enjoy your holiday. ·Turkey roasters’, remember to use a pan large enough to contain the grease that is produced from a roasting turkey. ·If you are going to sleep or leaving your home, make sure all cooking appliances are off. ·Outdoor cooking should occur outdoors and NOT in a garage or under a low covered patio

At approximately 4:04 A.M. Sunday morning Sacramento Firefighters responded to reports of an apartment building fire at 8010 Pocket Road. When crews arrived they found heavy fire coming from the front door and rear balcony of an upstairs apartment unit. The fire quickly spread through the attic, affecting a second upstairs unit, causing fire commanders to request a second and third alarm response. This brought over eighty firefighters to the scene The occupant of the apartment where the fire started was awakened by a smoke detector, enabling him to escape his apartment without injury. Fire crews assisted evacuating other occupants that had not yet evacuated the eight, unit building within

The Sacramento City Council will decide later this month whether to bill at-fault drivers in collisions requiring an emergency response. The city has released its draft ordinance for charging fees for emergency services. The fees for emergency responses would charged to all at-fault drivers, including residents and non-residents. Fire Department responses to car wrecks would include a range of fees. On the low end, the city would charge $435 each time the department responds to an accident. A major wreck, meanwhile, could cost at least $2,000 in fees. Council members are expected to discuss the ordinance at their Nov. 23 meeting, said special projects manager Mark Prestwich. City staff