City of Burlington Fire Chief Alan Babe has an important message for Racine County residents who look to help first responders as the area continues to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Babe, selected from among many chiefs in Racine County, narrates a public service announcement through county social media feeds and on YouTube about stopping COVID-19 transmission.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MY Racine County

VIDEO: A bang and a bright light woke up the quiet residential street. It was 1:30 a.m. in Carlisle, and a crashed car was burning. “We were the very first to be on scene,” said Grace Snyder, an EMT with Cumberland Goodwill EMS. Snyder is now being called a hero for her actions on the scene. The 18-year-old has only been at Cumberland Goodwill for six months.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPMT-TV FOX 43 York

PHOTOS: The CityHawk variant of Urban Aeronautics' Cormorant military VTOL aircraft has taken a step towards being used in emergency medical service (EMS) applications. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with New York-based Hatzolah Air in August 2020, the non-profit medical transport organization has now preordered four of the aircraft.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Atlas

VIDEO: A family of seven is without a home after flames engulfed their house Thursday morning. Crews say they arrived at the scene in the 7400 block of Greenwell Street around 9:15 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7 to find a home and three vehicles ablaze. Four residents were home at the time of the fire and were evacuated from the home with the help of a neighbor, firefighters say.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAFB-TV CBS 9 Baton Rouge

A retired North Bay paramedic is helping other medics manage their work-related post-traumatic stress through a non-profit group she founded. Officers who respond to emergencies from fires to protests can literally bring their work home. Former paramedic Susan Farren says that stress built up over time can haunt them in forms like depression, stroke, even suicidal thoughts.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

A couple of years back, when a boat ran up on the rocks off Hess Pier in Atlantic Highlands, the borough’s fire department dispatched its ladder truck to the scene. The old 1985 Grumman Aerial Cat, with its 102-foot reach, came through. “We swung the bucket out across the water to pick people up who were stranded on the boat,” said firefighter Ed Cetron, who assisted in the rescue.
- PUB DATE: 1/8/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Asbury Park Press - Metered Site

VIDEO: An intense fire early Thursday morning caused significant damage to the New Light Church in Pleasant Grove. Dallas firefighters were called to the church in the 9300 block of Elam Road just before 1:30 a.m. and found flames burning through the roof. The fire was moving so quickly through the large one-story building that firefighters were forced shift to a defensive attack, fighting the fire from outside.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Fort Worth

VIDEO: An appeal filed on behalf of Wilmington firefighters killed and injured in a 2016 Canby Park arson has been denied by a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge. The lawsuit, filed against Wilmington and two previous mayors and fire chiefs, sought compensatory damages, including for loss of life, lost wages and emotional injuries.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Delaware Online - Metered Site

VIDEO: Firefighters in Alachua County have created new coins to honor the accomplishments of crew members. The first recipient of the Chiefs Challenge Coin was Lieutenant Larry Stewart who advocated for the creation of the awards. He has served the department for more than 30 years. The second recipient is Captain Karem Scott-Kotb who designed the coins.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCJB-TV ABC/CW+ 20 Gainesville

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that at least 21 people have had a severe allergic reaction after receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. All of the patients have recovered. The reaction, called anaphylaxis, can be life-threatening, and must be treated immediately with an emergency injection of epinephrin, often given via EpiPen.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

From simple beginnings, starting with three hose companies and 75 volunteer firefighters, the Hollister Fire Department can now boast of four dedicated fire stations, each filled with specialized firefighting equipment. The department recently reached its 145th anniversary on Dec. 27. The city was founded when Colonel William Welles Hollister split with his partners in the Flint-Bixby ranch, with Hollister taking the area of the ranch that became the city of Hollister in 1872.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Benito Link

VIDEO: Firefighters put out a four-alarm fire that tore through an apartment in Upper Manhattan Tuesday night. According to the FDNY, firefighters responded to of a four-alarm apartment fire at Post Avenue in the Inwood section around 7 p.m. Citizen App video shows firefighters battling the fire. They say the fire was located in an apartment on the top floor of the six-story multiple dwelling at the address.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

Tanya Crabbe has been with the Los Angeles Fire Department for 12 years and a paramedic for four. Crabbe says the job has its challenges, but our current COVID-19 surge has her hanging on by a thread. "It's a tremendous amount of pressure. I only have so many resources with my knowledge and experiences and certifications and my equipment, but if the hospital is unavailable, I just don't have the resources that that patient may need," said Crabbe.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KABC-TV ABC 7 Los Angeles

Lowcountry authorities arrest a man accused of intentionally coughing on a Burton firefighter. Shawn Patterson faces charges of assault and battery, and a violation of county ordinance on outdoor burning. The firefighters were investigating a report of an unlawful fire on Patterson’s property. According to documents, Patterson told firefighters to “get off his damn property.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAV-TV NBC/CW+3 Savannah

VIDEO: An Albuquerque fire crew is being recognized for saving two lives. In mid-December, the crews of Station 16 and Battalion 3 responded to a house fire near Academy and Wyoming. As they were battling the fire, members of the team also went inside the smoke-filled home, found the couple who lived there and brought them out to safety.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRQE-TV CBS/FOX 13 Albuquerque

Personnel safety is Hillsborough County Fire Rescue's highest priority. So they're getting new equipment to make sure crews are protected. The newest addition to firefighter safety in their cars are Active Air Purification Systems. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue is installing 63 of them in fire trucks, ambulances, ladder trucks and other vehicles.
- PUB DATE: 1/6/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTSP-TV CBS 10 Tampa

Due to the pandemic, the city of Oakland is facing a huge $62 million budget deficit this year. So far, one of the proposed cuts drawing the most heat is to the Fire Department. With all the revenue it’s lost during COVID-19, Oakland has some difficult choices to make. Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Administrator Ed Reiskin sent a letter to city employees last month saying without massive cuts, “…the General Purpose Fund will be insolvent before the end of the fiscal year… Even the City’s emergency reserve will be completely exhausted.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

The Baltimore City Fire Department said history was made in 2020 as the department recorded its lowest number of fire fatalities in the history of the department, according to Fire Chief Niles R. Ford. Reaching a historic low, the department confirmed that there were only seven fire fatalities in 2020.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAL-TV NBC 11 Baltimore

For want of $500 in repairs, the Porter County Courthouse was destroyed by fire on Dec. 27, 1934. It was a spectacular fire that changed the face of downtown Valparaiso. Firefighters from as far as Gary and LaPorte raced to Valparaiso to fight the fire. A LaPorte firefighter’s face was frozen while driving the firetruck without a windshield in subzero weather.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Indiana Times (nwitimes.com) - Metered Site

PHOTO: Nineteen-year-old owner/operator Dylan Mercier is waiting to get his unique Mack Vision out on the road. The St. Anne, Ill., firefighter and owner/operator purchased the 2005 truck with his dad, Ralph, a little over a year ago, and it didn’t take long for his vision to become a reality. “I purchased a firefighter costume for the Mack bulldog on the hood, and after that, I knew what needed to be done,” Mercier said.
- PUB DATE: 1/5/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fleet Equipment Magazine