Late-July 1910 saw the Harbor beset by fires, not particularly unusual during the summer in small timber towns. It was the massive holocaust in Hoquiam on July 22, 1910 that killed two and injured many more that held the headlines when the substantial, picturesque four-story Hotel Hoquiam was reduced to rubble in an early morning blaze.
- PUB DATE: 7/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily World

VIDEO: Geiger Grade and Veterans Parkway have reopened after a large apartment fire broke out at a vacant complex in south Reno. According to the Reno Fire Department, the massive blaze was reported by several people at about 3:15 a.m. on Thursday. When crews arrived on the scene shortly after, there was heavy smoke and flames as a six-story building burned.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRNV-TV NBC 4 Reno

A person trapped nearly 100 feet off the ground in Waukegan no longer needs to descend on a ladder guided by a firefighter paramedic. People can now be rescued and lowered to the ground in a basket affixed to a crane mechanism attached to the Waukegan Fire Department’s newest piece of equipment. The Fire Department took possession of its $1.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune - Metered Site

For the first time in 108 years, Rockland's volunteer firefighters’ parade and convention will be canceled. Both events were casualties of the coronavirus pandemic. The Rockland County Volunteer Firefighters’ Association board of directors voted on Wednesday to cancel the convention. The annual parade, which was to be hosted this year by West Nyack Fire Engine Co.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Journal News (Lohud.com)

First responders providing emergency medical services routinely face high rates of depression, burnout and suicidal thoughts. The added stress of the pandemic is making it worse. Speaking at a Wisconsin EMS Association town hall meeting on Thursday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, said she is working with a group of Democratic senators on legislation that would boost mental health services in the COVID-19 relief legislation that’s being debated in Congress.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Public Radio

One of the leading doctors on the White House Coronavirus Task Force warned state and local leaders on a private phone call that 11 cities, including Cleveland, needed to take "aggressive" steps to limit the virus' spread, a report said. According to a report from the Center for Public Integrity, Dr.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKYC-TV NBC 3 Cleveland

VIDEO: Crews responded to a large fire burning at a tire recycling facility in rural Weld County on Wednesday evening. According to the Platteville Gilcrest Fire Protection District, the fire started shortly before 5:30 p.m. near County Roads 26 and 41. The location is northeast of Fort Lupton and southeast of Platteville.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KDVR-TV FOX 31 Denver

City leaders announced this month that noncriminal and nonviolent calls will be handled by social workers, not uniformed officers. The proposed program is a response to the demands for police reform from Black Lives Matter protesters. “Our citizens are asking for change,” St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway told the media during the July 9 announcement.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times

One of the scariest parts of the coronavirus pandemic is the idea that anyone could get infected at any time. With the virus circulating as widely as it is, anyone could be unlucky. But while we are all at risk of COVID-19 infection, we are not all at equal risk. You’re clearly more likely to get sick if you live in an area currently experiencing a surge in cases, like Florida, Arizona and Texas.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TIME

Traditionally, chaplains’ roles have been ceremonial; they are called upon for banquets, funerals, blessings, and weddings. They are well-meaning and primarily volunteer people of faith, having a heart and hand in assisting first responders and their local agencies. But the days of the ceremonial chaplain are over if we genuinely want operational effectiveness.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IN Homeland Security

When Asheville Fireman Mark Jameson returned to the fire station after responding to a particularly difficult call, the only thing that lifted his spirits was seeing Denali wagging her tail with excitement upon his return. “We had a call that was DOA, dead on arrival,” Jameson said. “It was an older woman, lived by herself, no one had seen her for a while, and she passed.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Smoky Mountain News

VIDEO: Emergency crews pulled a man who was trapped in a deep trench on the Northwest Side after about two hours of effort on Tuesday. The man, a construction worker, fell into the trench while his crew was excavating near Galm Road and Swayback Ranch. He was waist-deep in dirt, officials said after the dramatic rescue.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSAT-TV ABC 12 San Antonio

Buffalo Fire Officials say first responders were blocked while responding to an emergency early Sunday morning on Laurel. “We couldn’t pass through that intersection to get to the scene,” said Buffalo Fire Commissioner Bill Renaldo. Firefighters were responding to a call for a car into a house further down on Laurel.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBW-TV ABC 7 Buffalo

VIDEO: A special mural in honor of a volunteer for the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation is finally finished. It's for Patty Vallance who recently passed away. Vallance commissioned local artists, Wagon Burner Arts, to paint a mural honoring firefighters just one week before she went into the hospital.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOLD-TV CBS 13 Tucson

PHOTOS: Four Davidson and Randolph County firetrucks were damaged in three separate accidents over the weekend. The Westside Volunteer Fire Department in Asheboro responded to a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 73/74 northbound near Vision Drive on Friday night. At around 9:30 or 10 p.m., a vehicle hit their firetruck in the back, said Chief Racil Williamson.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Courier-Tribune

Convenience stores across America are joining together this Friday, July 24, to recognize the contributions of front-line responders, medical personnel and American Red Cross volunteers on 24/7 Day. The NACS Foundation’s 24/7 Day features a variety of free in-store offers from 18 different convenience and fuel retailing partners, most of which are available to doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, firefighters and American Red Cross volunteers.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Forbes

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday adopted legislation sponsored by Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Dave Joyce to ensure that families of first responders who die from or are disabled by the coronavirus get Public Safety Officers Benefit program payments for firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians who are killed or disabled in the line of duty.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland.com

VIDEO: Massive flames ripped through a farm in South Jersey overnight, killing nearly 300,000 chickens. The blaze broke out around 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Red Bird Egg Farm on the 100 block of Cemetery Road in Pilesgrove, Salem County. Crews battled the four-alarm fire all night and remained on scene Tuesday morning putting out hot spots.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KYW-TV CBS 3 Philadelphia

Two more injured firefighters from an explosion in downtown Los Angeles in May have returned to active duty. A total of 12 firefighters were injured in the fire that broke out in the Toy District on May 16. More than 230 firefighters responded to the scene. As firefighters were responding to the blaze inside the building at 327 East Boyd Street, the site of a butane honey oil supplier called Smoke Tokes, there was a “significant explosion,” said LAFD Captain Erik Scott.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCAL-TV CBS 2 Los Angeles

By the time the EMTs reached my hotel room in Austin, Tex., I was already unconscious on the floor. Moments earlier I had dragged myself to the phone and called for help as chest pains began to overwhelm me. I later learned those first responders resuscitated me more than once as they used their medical training to keep me alive until we arrived at the hospital.
- PUB DATE: 7/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News