For all of our grousing about COVID fatigue, a few novel trends are clear one year into the pandemic. In the early weeks of 2021, Californians are staying home way more than we did in our pre-pandemic life. Even so, we're heading out to shop, dine and work far more now than in March 2020, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order, or the dark period that followed the winter holidays, when we hunkered down as COVID-19 caseloads exploded.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: US News

A 67-year-old man from rural Osseo was found dead Monday morning in a car that burned in rural Eau Claire County. Authorities have not yet released the identity of the man, who was found by firefighters and sheriff's deputies responding to a vehicle fire off Highway NN in the town of Otter Creek. Investigation revealed the driver likely suffered a medical emergency, which caused him to drive off the road and into the ditch, according to the Eau Claire County Sheriff's Office.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 4:23:09 PM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

PHOTOS: On Saturday, 43 members from nine fire departments in Racine and Kenosha counties, as well as a number of local farmers and agricultural workers, took part in what Kansasville Fire & Rescue Department Chief Ron Molnar called a “very low frequency, very high risk” training, practicing how to save someone stuck in a grain bin.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 1:48:06 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times - Metered Site

Fire destroyed a garage and damaged a home early Monday morning in Portage County. Fire crews responded around 12:15 a.m. to a home on Golden Road in the village of Plover, according to the Plover Fire Department. Fire Chief Mark Deaver said an attached garage was on fire, and it spread to the kitchen and upstairs of the home.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 8:38:29 AM - SOURCE: Stevens Point Journal

The Racine Fire Department on Sunday, March 14 responded to the scene of a house fire on Green Street near Goold Street. The call came in around 9 p.m. When crews arrived on the scene they located a fire in a second-floor bedroom. The fire was brought under control within 18 minutes of the initial 911 call and did not spread beyond the room of origin.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 5:01:09 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

VIDEO: Lynn firefighters dealt with low water pressure and frigid weather conditions as they worked to control a house fire early Monday morning. Firefighters were met with flames – and bitter cold temperatures – when they arrived on Linden Street. No one was in the home when firefighters arrived around 2 a.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBZ-TV CBS 4 Boston

VIDEO: You may see a new building — a tiny one — on the property of the Ridge Road Fire District’s Stoneridge Station. It’s a mini firehouse library stacked with resources for the community. Firefighter Brian Shannon says due to the pandemic, many fire departments can’t do something they love: head out to classrooms to teach kids about fire safety.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rochester First

The union that represents Cal Fire firefighters in the Riverside County Unit has filed a workplace-safety complaint with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, alleging that unusual levels of physical fatigue and mental stress have set in because of excessive overtime worked due to inadequate staffing.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press-Enterprise - Metered Site

VIDEO: A firefighter's job often entails more than just fighting fires, but what goes on behind the scenes isn't always apparent. The Fort Walton Beach Fire Department hopes to change that with a new platform for communicating with the public. People can tune in to the Fire Department’s new podcast every two weeks to discover more about its inner workings.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Florida Daily News

VIDEO: Two firefighters were killed in the line of duty while battling flames that destroyed Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District on March 13, 2004. Firefighter Richard Stefanakis and Battalion Chief Charles Brace, both 30-year veterans of the department, were killed during the five-alarm blaze that also injured 29 other firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPXI-TV NBC 11 Pittsburgh

Nine fire and EMS departments in Ozaukee County are answering more calls with fewer people, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which says the system needs repair -- and soon. If not for a strong working relationship, the situation could be even worse. Departments like Grafton have mutual aid agreements in place.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2021 7:36:29 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

One person is recovering from severe injuries after police rescued them from a burning building Sunday. According to fire officials, the Green Bay Metro Fire Department was dispatched to the 1100 block of E. Walnut St. around 4 p.m. Sunday after receiving a report of heavy black smoke rolling out of a two unit home.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2021 5:59:21 PM - SOURCE: WGBA-TV NBC 26 Green Bay

A local hospital in Green Bay is facing an estimated $100,000 worth of damages after a fire ignited in the building’s electrical service room on Saturday night. According to the Green Bay Metro Fire Department, just before 8 p.m., crews responded to an alarm activation alert at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center located on 1726 Shawano Avenue, in Green Bay.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2021 6:38:30 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

As COVID-19 vaccinations continue in the Stateline Area, the Beloit Fire Department has stepped up to host mobile vaccination events for homebound individuals in partnership with community organizations working in the Beloit area. The City of Beloit received around 84 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) as part of an effort to increase immunizations in the community.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 5:31:17 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

Chief Joseph Adamson of the Horicon Police Department has responded to many overdose calls in his career. He now carries Narcan with him everywhere. “You never know when you’re going to run into an opportunity to help save a life,” Adamson said. He was excited to help install one of the first public opioid rescue kits in Wisconsin inside the lobby of his station.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News 1

VIDEO: Colleen Walz shattered the glass ceiling to become the first female lieutenant in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire in 1995. Last week, Kari Burnham was honored in a ceremony as the second woman to hold the position. Burnham said, "This is something I love to do. It's like a dream come true." But why did it take decades for another woman to rise in the ranks? Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire chief Darryl Jones said, "It was an embarrassment not only that it took so long to promote a female to the rank of lieutenant to a company officer, but the number of females that we have on the job is way below the national average.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh

The public information officer for the Chesterfield Fire Company has been charged in connection with crash scene photos he took without permission and posted to his agency’s Facebook page last month, according to an arrest warrant. Steven E. Frischling, 45, of Carriage Hill Drive in Niantic, was charged with two counts of illegally taking or transmission by first responders of images of crime or accident victims, according to a warrant for his arrest.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

VIDEO: A doctor performed a field amputation on a worker who became ensnared in a conveyor belt at an iron company in Oklahoma City. The emergency situation occurred Thursday afternoon in the 1500 block of East Reno, near Reno and Martin Luther King Avenue. The worker’s hand became caught in a conveyor belt, suffering extreme injury and could not be freed without an amputation being performed.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFOR-TV NBC 4 Oklahoma

After years of minimal staffing and low budgets, Hopedale’s fire chief said this week that he has found a way to double the town’s number of firefighters at no cost to taxpayers. “The runs are coming in, the staffing isn’t,” Fire Chief Thomas Daige told selectmen this week, referring to emergency calls that need firefighters and EMTs.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milford Daily News

As world leaders grapple with how to efficiently and safely deliver COVID-19 vaccines to 8 billion people, the task of building vaccine-administration pods will fall to thousands of local hospitals, clinics, and community centers. There will be no “one size fits all” solution to this challenge; core design elements, based on basic principles of continuous improvement (or lean management), offer a roadmap.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Harvard Business Review - Metered Site