Thick smoke billowed from the vacant, crumbling St. Louis house, but Benjamin Polson knew homeless people might be inside taking refuge from the January chill.
So the 33-year-old firefighter went in. It cost him his life.
Eleven days later, three Baltimore firefighters died when an abandoned row home collapsed. - PUB DATE: 2/11/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMOV-TV CBS 4 St. Louis
Even with six years of fighting fires under his belt, Renard Cox approaches his job with the excitement of a rookie.
“I love it. I love putting this uniform on every day,” Cox said. “If you’ve ever been at this station when tones go off, it is a rush.” The veteran of the Richmond Fire Department thrives on helping strangers in need. - PUB DATE: 2/11/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVR-TV CBS 6 Richmond
States that recently announced plans to lift either indoor or school mask mandates have at least two things in common: Hospitalization rates are on the decline, and all except one have a larger share of fully vaccinated residents than the national average.
Most of the governors in those states have linked these metrics to their moves to lift some Covid-19 mitigation measures. - PUB DATE: 2/11/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN Health
While responding to an emergency on East John Street Wednesday morning, Champaign Fire Department’s Ladder 161 was involved in a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Neil and Green streets.
Police said a firefighter on Ladder 161 and the occupant of the second vehicle were both treated on scene and were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. - PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCIA-TV CBS 3 Champaign
PHOTOS: The new Westridge Commissary was a dramatic addition to Casper’s expanding edges when it opened in 1950.
The new shopping center was the second operation opened by Commissary Inc., which operated what was likely Casper’s first modern full-service grocery store on 442 E. Yellowstone.
By all accounts, the shopping center continued to stay busy with business as usual. - PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oil City News
Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even if the engines have been turned off.
The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years. - PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News
First H.E.L.P. and FirstNet, built with AT&T, have teamed up to provide dozens of communities and thousands of first responders with world-class mental health training through First H.E.L.P.’s #ResponderReadiness Workshop Series.
First H.E.L.P. Chief Learning Officer Joe Willis worked with AT&T to organize these training opportunities for first responders across the country. - PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Homeland Security Today
How did a late Portsmouth volunteer firefighter’s helmet end up in Ohio? No one can say for certain, but a few city Good Samaritans caught wind of its whereabouts and felt compelled to bring it back to the Seacoast
The family of former Portsmouth Fire Department “call man” Stanley Pizz, a Port City native who fought fires from 1955 through 1979, has been given his old helmet, slightly singed from experience and emblazoned with his last name on the back. - PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online
A massive apartment fire has been burning in northwest Oklahoma City since early Tuesday evening. Around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, crews responded to a fire at The Canton at Classen Curve near Northwest 63rd Street and Grand Avenue near the Nichols Hills area. The fire continued into Wednesday, and crews are still battling flames as of 8:45 a. - PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOCO-TV ABC 5 Oklahoma City
VIDEO: Trey McDaniel still wonders how much different his life would be if he stayed in bed one minute longer on Feb. 11 last year.
“You just play the events over and over and over in your head,” he said. “You know, ‘what could I have done differently?’”
He was driving down Interstate 35W South, his normal route to work at MedStar as a paramedic. - PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas
City residency requirements have been lifted for Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire firefighters.
That is the ruling of a neutral arbitrator who has determined the city did not have the right to restrict residency. The arbitrator has now issued a cease and desist order on the city’s enforcement of residency for its firefighters. - PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KDKA-TV CBS 2 Pittsburgh
When it comes to occupational hazards, few jobs are as dangerous as fighting fires.
“I fell through a floor once,” said veteran firefighter Michael Butkus. “High rise fires, those are the worst, and you don't think you're going to get out of there.”
Butkus has been with the Chicago Fire Department for three decades. - PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KJRH-TV NBC 2 Tulsa
PHOTOS: It started with an old black and white photograph from the Grand Junction Fire Department archives.
Next came about a half a ton of sheet metal.
Then it was time for Jeff Bates to go to work.
That was about three months ago.
On Tuesday, tucked under a weathered white cowboy hat, Bates and a pair of helpers installed the finished sculpture on the cinderblock wall of Grand Junction Fire Station No. - PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily Sentinel
PHOTOS: A fire burned 4 RVs early Monday morning.
There are no reports of injuries, but the fire displaced 6 people. Firefighters arrived before 5 a.m. to find two RVs at Blue Ox RV Park fully involved with fire.
"Upon our arrival, we went into defensive mode," Battalion Chief Ryan Bond said. "There was a significant amount of fire to where we couldn't go offensive and go inside, so we protected exposures and made sure it couldn't advance any further. - PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMTR-TV NBC 16 Eugene
Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency was the first in the state to use the new 911-eye system.
This system allowed dispatchers to receive videos and pictures from callers at the scene of an emergency using their mobile devices.
Assistant 911 Director Bradley Wilson said they had the program for roughly a week. - PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDTN-TV NBC 2 Dayton
On their left sleeves, Trenton firefighters have long worn a uniform patch they say is unlike other departments for its depiction of the Iron Fireman, a statue honoring their profession that has stood in the city for over 100 years.
The Iron Fireman, clutching a rescued child, is where the department, pre-pandemic, held annual ceremonies. - PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Jersey Advance - NJ.com
A Maine legislative committee signed off Monday on a proposal to try to help emergency responders better access mental health support.
The bill, LD 1879, establishes a presumption that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, police officers, emergency dispatchers and others who are diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder have the condition because of “extraordinary and unusual work stress,” a bill before the Maine Legislature states. - PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMTW-TV ABC 8 Poland Spring
Yakima County Fire District #5 is looking at nearly $70,000 in damages after a burglary at their storage station over the weekend left them with smashed truck windows, a broken door and missing firefighting gear and medical supplies.
Deputy Fire Chief Joel Byam said that someone might be able to sell the stolen medical supplies, but they will have a harder time finding someone to purchase firefighting gear on the street without notice. - PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews
A five story building under construction went up in flames and collapsed in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn Monday morning.
The building on Gates Avenue erupted in flames just after 5:50 a.m. Monday and quickly collapsed like a pancake, fire officials said.
One firefighter sustained a minor injury. - PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York
It’s been reported that many famous Americans served as volunteer firemen, some of whom were Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. After a large fire in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin formed the Union Fire Co. Buildings that his company insured were identified by a steel fire mark showing the outline of a wooden fire hydrant. - PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Maria Times
