Five people will be interviewed later this month for the Kenosha Fire Department’s chief position. The city received 13 applicants for the job, narrowing it to five for interviews scheduled for Aug. 31. On Sept. 22, the candidates are scheduled to go through a second assessment with an outside agency helping with the job search, said LaVetta Buckley-Hunter, city deputy director of human resources.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 1:43:41 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

On August 16, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The IAFC and Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) company, today announced the winners of the 2016 IAFC Fire Chief of the Year awards at Fire-Rescue International (FRI) in San Antonio, Texas. Chief Willard H. “Bill” Halmich, Washington (Mo.) Volunteer Fire Company, was named volunteer Fire Chief of the Year and Chief Harry Beck, Mesa (Ariz.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

Six firefighters became entrapped by the "Blue Cut" wildfire while defending homes and assisting evacuations in the Cajon Pass area Tuesday, officials said. The six firefighters were part of the two San Bernardino County Fire Department and assigned to the Swarthout Canyon – west of Cajon Pass. They were able to shelter in place in a nearby building, SBCF spokeswoman Tracey Martinez said.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSWB-TV Fox 5 San Diego

A Wyoming, Michigan firefighter says he was fired last week because city officials didn't want him to work as a paid-on-call firefighter for Jamestown Township during his off-duty hours. Thomas Saladino was fired Aug. 10 after 23 years in Wyoming. He said Department of Public Safety Chief James Carmody and City Manager Curtis Holt were upset that Saladino advocated for a "two-hatter" protection law – which allows firefighters to work in multiple fire departments.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLIVE.com

American flags were removed from three fire trucks in New York on Tuesday sparking heated discussion on social media and disappointment from union members. Arlington Fire Chief Tory Gallante was directed by the Board of Fire Commissioners to remove the flags from the backs of the trucks during Monday's meeting.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Poughkeepsie Journal

Firefighters experience post-traumatic stress disorder at rates similar to what's seen among combat veterans, according to a new report released Tuesday by the International Association of Fire Fighters. While firefighters aren't exposed to the same type of trauma soldiers see in a theater of war, elements of their daily job can be traumatic with the sheer volume of calls, the nature of the job and the possibility of losing a colleague in the line of duty, said Alvin White, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association who was in Las Vegas for the association's convention.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Fire destroyed a large shed Monday in the Town of Hamburg. The shed collapsed at Double P Dairy about an hour after the fire started. Traffic was reduced to one lane on County Road A, as crews fought the blaze. Firefighters say the owners of the farm were not at the scene when the fire started. Five different fire departments responded to the blaze.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 9:39:17 AM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

You may have seen them: on Thursday and Friday, a procession of firefighters braved rain in their annual Fill the Boot fundraiser, to help combat Muscular Dystrophy. More than 20 members of the Fond du Lac Fire Department Local 400 fanned out across downtown to collect donations from passing cars and pedestrians.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 7:50:46 AM - SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter

On August 10, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

PHOTO: An early-morning fire damaged two homes in Milwaukee's Uptown neighborhood on the northwest side. It's unclear whether the fire, reported at around 4 a.m. Tuesday at 50th and Wright, is related to the recent spate of violence in the adjacent Sherman Park neighborhood. An official with the fire department said flames were shooting from a vacant home when they arrived.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

A northwest Louisiana firefighter who traveled to Baton Rouge to help with flood rescue efforts is believed to have accidentally discharged his weapon, wounding another firefighter, according to officials. The incident happened Monday night in the 9000 block of Greenwell Springs Road. Investigators say the bullet first hit a boat and then hit the fireman.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSLA-TV Shreveport News 12

A California man was arrested Monday on arson charges for allegedly sparking a wildfire that exploded over the weekend, destroying more than 175 homes, businesses and other structures in a small town, authorities said. Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, of Clearlake was arrested Monday on 17 counts of arson and is in jail.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox News

As a Philadelphia firefighter, Steven Mesete often is required to spring into action at a moment's notice, abruptly sending his heart into rat-a-tat mode. "You can be sitting still, and then running at 100 miles an hour," he said. One day last week, Mesete ramped up his cardiovascular system in a much more controlled fashion, walking on a treadmill with wires stuck to his chest and a cardiologist standing nearby.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philly.com

Chief Michael Jensen is leaving Unified Fire Authority, an agency under investigation over bonuses it approved for him and three others. During a two-hour closed-door meeting, Jensen said, he and the agency's board had a "long, good discussion" and agreed on a "mutual separation" in the best interest of Unified Fire Authority (UFA).
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune

NASA’s new artificial intelligence — capable of running on a cellphone — could soon put Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana to shame. The hope for the AI, named AUDREY, is to be deployed in the field to help save first responders’ lives by making split-second recommendations in dangerous situations, NASA officials said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News

On August 15, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On August 14, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

An overnight fire destroyed a shed and about 1,000 bales of hay. Firefighters from five area departments responded to the fire, which was still smoldering after sunrise Monday. It was called in about midnight, and town of Gillett firefighters arrived to find it fully engulfed, Chief Dale Reichwald said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 7:45:45 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

The recent use of a drone by the Barron County Sheriff to aid in locating the body of Dennis Meyer, the suspect in the recent murder-suicide in the Town of Round Lake, is the first time such an unmanned aircraft has been employed in a Sawyer County search. Sawyer County Search and Rescue member Mel VanWey owns drones and was asked to use his during the nighttime search for Meyer, but he declined because his drones do not have a thermal imaging camera and are unable to fly in the rain.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2016 7:06:23 AM - SOURCE: Sawyer County Record