The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "US Fire Administration" ...
-
What's Wrong with the Hydrant?
In the investigation, it was revealed that “hundreds of fire hydrants” were not meeting minimum standards for water flow. This prevents firefighters from adequately fighting a fire and requires more time to extinguish a fire. Further, the investigation revealed a number of problems including a water system “looking like clogged arteries, firefighters struggling in aging rural communities”, and lower costs were more important than finding a solution.
Tags: fire chief; fire department; safety; housing; US Fire Administration; water supply; fire victim
-
"Safety for Sale"
The Federal Aviation Administration is under fire after WFAA-TV reveals that thousands of aircraft mechanics licensed by the FAA, had "questionable" training. The poor training and slow reaction by the FAA could be connected to two deadly airplane crashes. The series also revealed that repair facilities hired foreign mechanics through "immigration loopholes" who were unqualified and often could not speak English.
Tags: FAA; Federal Aviation Administration; diploma mills; U.S. aircraft mechanics; mechanic training; foreign mechanics;
-
Politicizing the Justice Department
McClatchy's Washington Bureau found that "White House political operatives had intervened in the firing of nine U.S. Attorneys." In their places, were appointed attorney's who agreed with the administrations.
Tags: Justice Department; Senate; U.S. Attorney; Congress; Alberto Gonzales; Karl Rove; Paul McNulty; David Iglesias; Bush administration
-
Firefighters Arriving Late
"Firefighters arriving late," is an investigation into the Tucson Fire Department and their lack of consistency in acceptable emergency response times. Though the national standard is five minutes or less, the TFD only meets that standard about half the time. The slowest response time usually occur in the fastest-growing area of Tucson, and the fire department is too underfunded to keep up with the growing population. Using a number of different databases from the local fire department, as well as the National Fire Protection Association, Branan was able to analyze the problem and discover that Tucson isn't the only fire department unable to meet national standards.
Tags: Tucson Fire Department; National Fire Protection Association; response times; US Fire Administration
-
Fire Hazard: Bush Leaves Nuclear Plants at Risk
Cusac's investigation looks into fire safety protections at several U.S. nuclear plants, as well as the Bush administration's decision to make fire safety a lax issue. The article points out the fact that this decrease in fire protection comes at the point when Al Qaeda's interests are in targeting unidentified nuclear power plants. From the IRE questionnaire: "This article discovered that the reason the Bush Administration was making such a move was because many plants were already in violation of the law and because the nuclear industry threatened widespread rebellion if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tried to enforce the law."
Tags: fire safety protections; Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Shearon Harris; Progress Energy
-
Opportunity of Exploitation?
These stories deal with how a company, Maxi Staff Inc., used promises of good pay, great housing and the chance to escape poverty and high unemployment to recruit laborers for Puerto Rico to work in U.S. meat processing plants. The stories revealed how, once they were in the United States, the laborers' dreams turned to dust and they found themselves in an unfavorable economic situation. The company charged recruits for the recruits' flights to the U.S. They were put in substandard and unsanitary housing. Workers made less money than they had originally been told, often making less than $100 for a 40-hour week. Recruits who fell ill or got injured on the job were fired and evicted from their housing with 48 hours notice.
Tags: Maxi Staff Inc.; poverty; unemployment; Puerto Rican Laborers; U.S. meat processing plants; U.S. Department of Labor; Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration; Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources; Ronell Industries; Empire Kosher; Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; Catholic Social Services; Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations; Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church; U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division; OSHA; Puerto Rican recruits; Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition
-
Keeping Secrets
Pitting Bush's FOIA's initiatives on the line of fire, U.S. News carries out a five-month investigation detaling a series of initiatives by administration officials to effectively place large amounts of information out of the reach of ordinary citizens. In line with this, they scourge through federal documents, speak to Congressional staff and analyze Presidential directives. The story is an in-depth look at how FOIA laws have been clinically violated in the garb of ensuring security after 9/11.
Tags: Guantanamo Bay; Joseph McCormick; Dan Bartlett;
-
U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy's Troubling Performance
The Associated Press reveals that five-term congresswoman, Karen McCarthy, has a pattern of skipped votes, high staff turnover and questionable office spending. For years she had missed important votes on the floor and in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She hired, fired and lost aides at a seemingly dysfunctional rate. Her legislative record shows she passed only one bill in eight and a half years. And she was trying to stick taxpayers with a campaign consultant's bill in violation of House rules. McCarthy announced her retirement one month after AP broke the allegations.
Tags: Congress; Missouri Rep. Karen McCarthy; House Energy and Commerce Committee; taxpayers; House of Representatives; House Administration Committee; legislative record; campaign bill; campaign credit card; travel itinerary; votes; Congressional Observer Publications; Congressional Management Foundation; House spending records; National Conference of State Legislatures; Select Committee on Homeland Security; National Taxpayers Union; campaign consultant; campaign funds; personal spending; House Ethics Committee; Ways and Means Committee
-
Police Corps
"The enemy: rising crime in urban America, coupled with police brutality and corruption. The man with answer: a former Robert F. Kennedy aide who had turned crime crusader. Eventually heeding the constant lobbying of Adam Walinsky, Congress finally created the Police Corps training program to create an elite generation of sophisticated, college-educated officers. But with lax oversight at the U.S. Department of Justice, state and federal program administrators relied on Walinsky for guidance. The result: a rogue program that after $54 million had put only 246 cops on the street. What's more, Walinsky's influence took a controversial path of militaristic, boot-vamp style of training, including sleep deprivation, Hell Week endurance tests and live-fire over cadets' heads."
Tags: police training; FOIA; criminal justice; Florida State University; university graduates into neighborhood cops; Outward Bound training style; character; commando; ROTC for police; sleep deprivation; National Institute on Justice
-
Holes in the emergency net
The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports that "Illinois residents have no reliable storehouse to use to determine whether their emergency workers are getting to them quickly enough. An examination of 1997 and 1998 data from more than 200 departments in northern Illinois found many of the average response times on record with the state fire marshal are inaccurate. Comparison checking is impossible and checking with a department directly is not easy. Several would not provide the Daily Herald with the requested average response times data or did not acknowledge a Freedom of Information Act request."