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National Fire News

Wisconsin launches $1 million program to collect firefighting foam containing toxic 'forever chemicals'

Fire departments throughout Wisconsin will soon have the chance to safely dispose of firefighting foam containing toxic "forever chemicals" free of charge. The Department of Natural Resources announced the beginning of its foam collection program, which received $1 million in funding from the current state budget.
- PUB DATE: 10/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wausau Daily Herald - Metered Site

Kentucky firefighter gets new kidney after finding perfect match in fellow firefighter

VIDEO: A northern Kentucky firefighter is recovering after a fellow firefighter stepped up to donate when he needed desperately needed a kidney. It started when Newport firefighter Bob Hug had been struggling with kidney disease and was in desperate need of a kidney transplant for well over a year. He had been on dialysis for six months and through many ups and downs with possible donors and matches, but none had worked out.
- PUB DATE: 10/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLWT-TV NBC 5 Cincinnati

Puppy love: Therapy dog helps firefighters in Nevada reduce stress

“Happiness is a warm puppy.” That sentiment expressed by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz is just as true today as it was on April 25, 1960, when it first appeared in the comic strip “Peanuts.” And the firefighters, paramedics and reservists who work at the Boulder City Fire Department would be among the first to agree.
- PUB DATE: 10/21/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boulder City Review

VIDEO: Large commercial fire with pallets of hand sanitizer burns in Oklahoma

PHOTOS: A large commercial fire is burning southeast of Chickasha. McIntyre Law Chopper4 was over the structure early Wednesday afternoon. Pilot Mason Dunn says flames are shooting as high as 200 feet into the air. He also reports the blaze is burning very hot and is catching other items outside the building on fire.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFOR-TV NBC 4 Oklahoma City

Wisconsin fire department to no longer require U.S. citizenship for firefighters and EMTs

After a three year hiring freeze, the Madison Fire Department is accepting applications for full-time firefighters and EMTs, no longer requiring applicants to have U.S. Citizenship. According to a news release by the City of Madison Fire Department, "in spirit of inclusion and accessibility," this year's process will incorporate new approaches throughout the hiring process to minimize barriers that previously limited people from applying, like time constraints, and also adapting to a "changing economic and technological landscape since the Covid-19 pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Madison.com

VIDEO: Massachusetts fire department teaches fire safety in a new way

The Mansfield Fire Department posted an educational video last week to its website that teaches youths how to react in fire emergencies. In honor of fire prevention week, Mansfield firefighter David Kepleskey created a rap song and video in his firehouse featuring fellow firefighters Rick Landry, Jared Morse and Captain Will Cornell.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily Campus

'A national tragedy': 10 years ago, Big Tex went up in flames at Texas State Fair

Ten years ago Wednesday, Big Tex burned. And there was no saving him. A reported electrical fire sent the State Fair of Texas icon up in flames, nearly incinerating him into a heap of ashes. Only a fried skeleton of the famed cowboy and his waving hands were left in the end. And if you don't think Big Tex means a lot to some people, just go back and look at our coverage from the day it happened.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas

Researchers in Oregon create video game to prepare players for the next big earthquake

VIDEO: It's the gameplay with a play on words in the title: Cascadia 9.0 Researchers at Lewis & Clark College are taking interactive measures to make sure people know what to do in case of an earthquake emergency. In doing so, they've created a video game to pay homage to the notorious fault, the Cascadia Subduction Zone, and its potential to produce a magnitude-9.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVL-TV CBS 10 Medford

VIDEO: Man uses drone to help firefighters identify hotspots from massive Georgia apartment complex fire

People driving through Midtown Tuesday could probably still smell the smoke from a massive fire that destroyed an apartment complex on Monday night. The fire started in the Peachtree Walk Apartments, and damaged a number of businesses on 12th Street. Firefighters were finally able to knock it down with some help from a drone pilot who helped them identify the hotspots.
- PUB DATE: 10/19/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

Remembering the 23rd Street Fire that killed 12 firefighters in New York

PHOTOS: On Oct. 17, 1966, 12 firefighters were killed in what was the deadliest day for the New York City Fire Department until the 9/11 terror attacks. Two chiefs, two lieutenants and eight firefighters lost their lives as they tried to battle a fire at 22nd St. by entering a building on 23rd St. before it collapsed.
- PUB DATE: 10/19/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News - Metered Site

New for firefighters: A guide for talking with doctors

A newly published guide is intended to help firefighters talk with their health care provider about the unique health risks they face on the job. Developed by the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the First Responder Center for Excellence, the Provider’s Guide to Firefighter Medical Evaluations details the physical challenges firefighters face and how they impact health.
- PUB DATE: 10/19/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Safety and Health

University tests new technology to help seniors during California's Great ShakeOut, future disasters

What do you do when there’s an earthquake? Drop, cover and hold on, says the Earthquake Country Alliance, a “public-private-grassroots” partnership made up of people, organizations and regional alliances geared around raising disaster preparedness in the face of earthquakes and tsunamis. Orange County residents may receive text alerts Thursday morning, encouraging them to do just that and take cover as part of the statewide Great California Shakeout.
- PUB DATE: 10/19/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Pilot - Metered Site

New fire rescue units hit the streets in Florida city

The first of more planned advanced Critical Care Rescue Units are operating on Jacksonville’s streets now, funded from Jacksonville’s 2023 budget. Along with the usual advanced life-saving equipment when someone is injured in a fire, crash or other incident, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s two new rescue units also carry high-level critical care medications like blood clot stabilizers and drugs to lower rapid heart rates.
- PUB DATE: 10/19/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJCT-FM 89.9 Jacksonville

VIDEO: Fire Devours New York Industrial Complex, Ignites Air Quality Concerns

A monstrous fire devoured a factory in Queens' Long Island City early Tuesday, spewing thick black smoke into the air as bright orange flames leaped into the pitch-black sky overnight. The blaze erupted at a commercial laundromat on 30th Street, near Hunters Point Avenue, around 2:30 a.m. and quickly escalated, triggering a fourth alarm -- which means more fire companies are called in -- a few hours later.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

South Carolina Firefighter Cancer Health Care Benefit Plan gives out nearly $1 million in first year

Tracy Williams got started in the fire service at a young age. “They asked me if I wanted to be a part of the junior program. Well, I said yeah just something new, getting ready to get out of high school I’ll just try it. From that day on, I’ve been hooked,” he explained. That was nearly 40 years ago for the current Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal at the Westview-Fairforest Fire Department in Spartanburg County.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHNS-TV FOX 21 Greenville

Machine learning-based solution could help firefighters circumvent deadly backdrafts

VIDEO/PHOTO: A lack of oxygen can reduce even the most furious flame to smoldering ash. But when fresh air rushes in, say after a firefighter opens a window or door to a room, the blaze may be suddenly and violently resurrected. This explosive phenomenon, called backdraft, can be lethal and has been challenging for firefighters to anticipate.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tech Explore

Emergency responders in California urge people to prepare for the next 'Big One'

33 years ago the Bay Area was rocked by the Loma Prieta earthquake. Experts warn it's not a matter of if a major quake will strike again, it's a matter of when. First responders have an important message. Emergency responders are urging all of us to take this time to reflect on the past, and prepare for the future.
- PUB DATE: 10/18/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVU-TV FOX 2 Oakland

VIDEO: Warehouse fire in Indiana

Evansville and Henderson fire crews are on the scene of a business fire at the corner of East Franklin Street and Morton Ave. Firefighters say they saw smoke coming from the Morton Warehouse as they approached the building and were able to determine it was coming from the warehouse. Evansville police are also on the scene.
- PUB DATE: 10/17/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEHT-TV ABC 25 Evansville

Retired New Mexico firefighter brings awareness on Instagram

A recently retired firefighter is using social media to give people a front row seat to the local action. From car fires, truck fires, house fires, Albuquerque firefighters have seen it all. “Wildfires are a big thing here now, hazardous material calls, medical calls, the old fallen and I can’t get up thing.
- PUB DATE: 10/17/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOB-TV NBC 4 Albuquerque

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