More than 5,000 people honored the lives of 157 firefighters and paramedics who died in the line of duty during the past year at the 27th annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial service in Colorado Springs on Sept. 21. As each fallen firefighter’s name was called, a bell was rung and family members were presented with ceremonial folded flags.

Fire Fighters (IAFF)  Local 230 invited elected officials and attendees of Netroots Nation, a conference for progressives and activists, to take part in a basic firefighting class at its training facility in San Jose, Calif. Participants climbed ladders, operated fire hoses and Jaws of Life, performed CPR and navigated through a warren of dark, tight corridors—all while wearing full firefighting gear.

We at the AFL-CIO would like to wish you a happy, healthy and safe 4th of July. 

In case you missed it, here's our July 4th shopping list (if you're running out to the store at the last minute) and some grill and fire safety tips brought to you by the Fire Fighters (IAFF). 

If you plan on shooting off your own fireworks, here's a great Facebook graphic from IAFF on fireworks safety.

Nineteen Arizona firefighters, 18 from an elite wildfire unit, were killed Sunday in an out-of-control blaze about 80 miles north of Phoenix. The members of the Prescott Fire Department’s Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew team were dispatched to the front lines of the Yarnell Hill fire to establish a fire line to try to slow fire that reportedly had wind-driven flames as high as 20 feet.

Working families had a strong presence at the annual Netroots Nation conference for progressive activists, with several unions co-sponsoring the event, numerous labor-sponsored events and displays and 30 panels with themes about workplace rights or union activists as speakers. Netroots Nation is the largest annual conference of progressive activists and has grown well beyond its initial creation as a get-together for lefty bloggers and fans of the Daily Kos website. 

James Gilbert is director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council.

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. Many Americans will enjoy a day off with family and friends, perhaps at a barbecue or baseball game. Those times and the memories that are created are precious and should be celebrated. Since 1868, this holiday has served as a moment when Americans remember the men and women of the military who lost their lives to preserve our freedom.

In that spirit, I ask that you take time this weekend to do something with your family to pass along the tradition of remembrance. All across the country, there will be ceremonies at many of the 131 Department of Veterans Affairs cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration honors veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our nation. To find out where and when a wreath-laying is happening in your area, go to the National Cemetery Administration’s website.

Union members in Swampscott, Mass., this week showed just how grassroots democracy works when a coalition of unions from the North Shore Labor Council mobilized to turn back an attack on public employees’ health care and retirement security.

Not everything is OK in Oklahoma and as far as Sooner State working families are concerned, that includes the extremist and corporate-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  This afternoon hundreds of union and community activists will join the Fire Fighters (IAFF) for a rally and march in Oklahoma City to ALEC’s annual meeting at the city’s Cox Convention Center.

A live stream of the rally, which will include IAFF President Harold Schaitberger, will begin at 4 p.m. (CDT).  

What youngster hasn’t had a thought or two about being a firefighter? And in a world where role models are sometimes hard to find, what kid doesn’t look up to the men and women who put their lives on the line, almost every day?

Recently in Erie, Pa., members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 293 and Engine 8, 4th Platoon of the Erie Fire Department, hosted an open house for several dozen grade school students.

Members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) locals are part of the emergency response team on the scene in West, Texas, following last night’s massive explosion at a fertilizer plant that killed as many as 15 people, injured 160 and left many missing, including a member of Dallas IAFF Local 58, who lives in West. IAFF sends us this report.

Hazmat teams from IAFF Local 478 in Waco, Texas, and IAFF Local 2505 in Killeen, Texas, and other emergency service personnel are responding to the scene of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, which has killed as many as 15 people, including several firefighters, according to reports.