John H. Oates, former fire chief of the East Hartford Fire Department in Connecticut, has been named the new CEO of the International Public Safety Data Institute by the organization’s board of directors. Oates replaces Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, who was appointed to lead the U.S. Fire Administration by President Joe Biden in October.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IPSDI

The holidays after losing a loved one can be a difficult time, which is why the Buchanan-based non-profit, Sirens and Salutes is honoring those who lost their lives this year in the line of duty. In front of the Buchanan Volunteer Fire Station, there is a white Christmas tree with a special meaning.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSLS-TV NBC10 Roanoke

PHOTOS: Oftentimes first responders must physically get out and open unmanned security gates in neighborhoods when there’s an emergency, but now technology is helping get them through much quicker. For all the unmanned gates protecting communities in Palm Beach County, for years now they’ve been required to have Knox Boxes.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPEC-TV CBS 12 West Palm Beach

A member of Dodge County’s volunteer emergency response team died of COVID-19 over the weekend, according to a Facebook post from the group. Paul Kohlman, who worked with the Dodge County Emergency Response Team (DCERT) since 2008, died Saturday morning from COVID-19 complications. In a Facebook post shared Monday, DCERT officials said Kohlman’s family is in need of financial assistance for his funeral arrangements.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 2:37:24 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

VIDEO/PHOTO: Christmas came early for Superior's firefighters. "If you would have asked me two years ago if I would have been working in a brand new fire station with two new ladders, I would have said you're kidding," said Battalion Chief Howard Huber. The Superior Fire Department has not one, but two new aerial ladder trucks.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Superior Telegram - Metered Site

One week since the Christmas parade tragedy in Waukesha, the city is working to honor the victims throughout the holiday season. The memorial at Veterans Park continues to grow, and blue lights are now shining throughout Waukesha. A moment of silence marked exactly one week from when Waukesha's Christmas parade turned into tragedy.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

VIDEO: Atlanta firefighters were back on Cheshire Bridge Road on Saturday after a fire broke out under an overpass less than a month after officials started demolishing another bridge on the same roadway. Atlanta Fire Company 29 shared videos of the fire where black smoke could be seen filling the sky.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PHOTOS/VIDEO: Christmas came early for Superior's firefighters. "If you would have asked me two years ago if I would have been working in a brand new fire station with two new ladders, I would have said you're kidding," said Battalion Chief Howard Huber. The Superior Fire Department has not one, but two new aerial ladder trucks.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Superior Telegram - Metered Site

The Pleasant Valley Fire District, with mutual aid from other area departments and community members, loaded 600 live Christmas trees onto two FedEx trailers for the annual “Trees for Troops” drive on Saturday, November 27. The trailers were loaded at Hahn Farm on Salt Point Turnpike. The nationwide movement began in 2005 when the National Christmas Tree Association formed the non-profit Christmas SPIRIT Foundation to unite local tree growers who were running small tree programs for troops.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mid Hudson News

The Seguin Police Department threw down a challenge to the Seguin Fire Department, along with its razors, to help raise money for a local teen and awareness about the cancer he is battling. The pair of city departments are in the midst of the No Shave November “Stache-Off.” The firefighters and police officers are tasked with growing out their best mustache, or beard, to raise money for Navarro High School senior Triston Brashears, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer last month.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seguin Gazette

Omicron, the newest coronavirus variant, is also the quickest to be labeled a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization because of its seemingly fast spread in South Africa and its many troubling mutations. Its emergence has already led to travel restrictions, high-level government meetings and promises by vaccine makers to start working on strain-specific vaccines just in case.
- PUB DATE: 11/29/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN Health

The American Red Cross is helping two adults after their building caught fire in Sun Prairie Sunday morning, the communications director for the Red Cross of Wisconsin said. Sun Prairie Fire officials say they received a call reporting smoke coming from a four-unit building on Broadway Drive around 8 a.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2021 6:05:33 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

A child using a lighter started a fire at a four-unit apartment on Main Street Sunday morning, according to the Dodge County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office said it got a report of the fire at about 7:30 a.m. The building was evacuated and firefighters quickly put out the fire. The apartment residents have been displaced because of smoke and water damage to at least two apartments, the sheriff's office said.
- PUB DATE: 11/28/2021 11:14:37 AM - SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter

Tenants of a small apartment complex are safe after a fire rendered the building a total loss Tuesday night. The Dewey Fire Department received a report of a fire on County Road DB, near Tiki Beach Bar & Grill at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dewey Fire Chief LeRoy Pukrop said. Four people lived in the complex, Pukrop said, and they were all able to make it out of the building.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 8:09:11 AM - SOURCE: Stevens Point Journal

Area municipalities are updating their safety precautions for their holiday events and parades in the wake of the mass casualty event that took place at the Waukesha Christmas parade Sunday night. Menomonee Falls has decided to cancel its parade scheduled for this weekend because of the tragedy in Waukesha, an alert said on the village website.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 5:50:42 AM - SOURCE: Greater Milwaukee Today

With the dust still settling after a red SUV mowed down Christmas parade marchers in a Milwaukee suburb Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens – including children – law enforcement and witnesses at the scene are praising first responders’ handling of the chaos that unfolded. Brayden Kowalski, 19, one of the witnesses at the scene, described the first responders’ professionalism as "wonderful" in an interview with Fox News.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX News

Every year, the Green Bay Metro Fire Department teams up to spread holiday cheer to Brown County teens in need. The department's 'Gifts for Teens' program collects gifts and monetary donations for teenagers who have signed up for Christmas assistance through the Salvation Army. “We started this program 10 years ago and it was just kind of a pass the hat program with the firefighters to raise donations for area teens who we found out just really weren’t supported in some of the other charitable giving drives here in town,” said engineer Chad Decker.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGBA-TV NBC 26 Green Bay

A raging house fire in Cranford, New Jersey claimed the life of one person and injured another, local authorities said. Chopper 4 captured images of the intense scene that unfolded on Beach Street near West End Place -- prompting several area fire departments to spring into action. One woman died and two other people who were inside had to be rescued by a neighbor after the flames were reported around 7 a.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

PHOTOS: With the dust still settling after a red SUV mowed down Christmas parade marchers in a Milwaukee suburb Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens – including children – law enforcement and witnesses at the scene are praising first responders’ handling of the chaos that unfolded.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX News

New research by Cassandra Kwon, a research assistant professor at NC State’s Textile Protection and Comfort Center, and former Ph.D. student Meredith McQuerry, who is currently an associate professor at Florida State University, suggests that many women firefighters may struggle with poorly fitting gear that is designed with the male form in mind.
- PUB DATE: 11/24/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Technician Online