New York firefighters focus on health and safety training at Syracuse conference

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — As the nation mourns the loss of 1,000 firefighters who died in the line of duty this year, including 67 in New York alone, fire chiefs from across the state are gathering in Syracuse to brainstorm new ways to enhance safety.

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The conference aims to teach firefighters new training and techniques, such as decontamination processes to remove carcinogens from their gear, in hopes of protecting both current and future firefighters.

Brandon Vantreese, a younger firefighter with MacBoston Truck 18 for Fallen Firefighters, emphasized the importance of sharing experiences and ideas.

"You see a lot of guys with a lot of different experiences and a lot of different stories an