Scientists have identified seven new coronavirus variants that have emerged in the United States, according to a study awaiting peer review. All seven variants contained a similar mutation and were found to have emerged as early as July 2020. Scientists say it's not surprising that they're just now identifying new viral variants in the U.
- PUB DATE: 2/18/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

The snow squeeze on city streets is making it difficult for first responders trying to keep people safe. Driving through some city streets can be a game of inches for drivers. In some cases, fire trucks, which are about 8 feet wide, only have a few inches spare as they try to respond to an emergency.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 10:31:35 PM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

A Kenosha, Wis. man died Wednesday morning after suffering a medical emergency just after exiting a structure fire in Fountain City. The man, who was not identified, was one of two occupants of a multi-family structure located on South Main Street in Fountain City, according to the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Department.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 1:20:19 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

Federal investigators are expected to begin their work Wednesday at the site of a fatal plane crash in southern Wisconsin. Two people died Tuesday when a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville. Authorities say the plane went down in a swampy area and was partially submerged in ice and mud.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 6:40:59 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

UpNorthLive News has received the fire report involving the M/V Roger Blough while at its winter storage dock in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. According to investigators, the freighter caught fire during the early morning hours of Monday, February 1 at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. Lieutenant Matt Austad with the Sturgeon Bay Fire Department said responding personnel was able to enter the area by using the stairs of the neighboring freighter, James Barker, before moving across its deck to the Roger Blough.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Up North Live

VIDEO: Firefighters battled a large fire in Duncanville that could be seen from Texas Sky Ranger. The fire engulfed five townhomes at 1408 Crosspointe in Duncanville near Clark and Wheatland Road. Michelle Monterro's home was destroyed by the fire. She said her neighbors had work crews in the home doing some sort of repair work when the fire broke out.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Fort Worth

An agreement was reached Tuesday to protect firefighters with more safety on film sets throughout New York City Eileen Davidson, the widow of a firefighter killed on a movie set in 2018, has pushed hard for the safety crackdown. Michael Davidson, 37, was killed on the set of "Motherless Brooklyn" on March 23, 2018 in Harlem.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

Glasgow Assistant Fire Chief Adam Maulden said in his 19-years of service, he has never been as scared as he was Monday at a massive fire when that nearly killed his colleague. At around 4:30 p.m., the Glasgow Fire Department responded to a fire at Hughes HVAC Supply on West Main Street. The building is a complete loss.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNKY-TV NBC/CBS 40 Bowling Green

The Coal Township Rescue Squad's fire station was temporarily turned into a bakery as members continued a longtime tradition of making doughnuts for Fat Tuesday. "The amount of years I've been here and the last couple of years, this is the most I've seen us make," Kayla Hoffman said. The volunteer firefighters started cooking thousands of doughnuts at midnight and have been here all day.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNEP-TV ABC 16 Scranton

A 29-year-old firefighter who worked for departments in Iredell and Rowan Counties died from COVID-19 last week. Now his family at home and in the fire service have a message they want the community to hear. They spoke very candidly about taking COVID seriously. They say their hope is that their experience will save another family from having to go through the pain they have endured for the last five weeks.
- PUB DATE: 2/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTV CBS 3 Charlotte

A roof collapse at a gas station in Racine County leaves damage but no injuries, according to the Union Grove Fire Department. The fire chief said they’re investigating the cause of the roof collapse at Racine Petro at 717 S Sylvania Ave., but they aren’t ruling out whether heavy snow or construction inside was to blame.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 2:59:41 PM - SOURCE: WTMJ-TV NBC 4 Milwaukee

The area's unrelenting deep freeze caused problems for firefighters who battled a severe house fire Monday and for the family left homeless as a result. In a nearly six-hour effort in the frigid cold beginning at about 2:45 p.m., firefighters poured water on the stubborn blaze, which officials believe may have sprung from a wood-burning fireplace, on Oakdale Drive south of Lawnsdale Road in the village of Waukesha.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 1:18:01 PM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Eight families were displaced by an intense fire that destroyed a Passaic multi-family home Friday night. No injuries were reported. Flames blew through the roof, part of which collapsed less than a half-hour after the four-alarm blaze broke out on the second floor of the wood-frame building at Hope and Highland avenues around 8 p.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Passaic Daily Voice

PHOTO: The morning a Winter Storm Warning was issued for Austin and Central Texas, a fire truck in Travis County rolled over, injuring four firefighters. Austin-Travis County EMS confirmed to KVUE's Mike Marut that a Pedernales Fire Department truck rolled over at around 8:39 a.m. in the 16000 block of W.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVUE-TV ABC 24 Austin

In the public safety world, they are known as LODDs -- line of duty deaths. And now the biggest cause of those deaths in public safety jobs isn't from rushing into burning buildings or getting shot, it is from COVID-19. That's why researchers in the Triangle have developed a way to track coronavirus infections in the public safety group most likely to get them -- firefighters and emergency medical technicians.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVD ABC 11 Raleigh

A pilot program could leave first responders better equipped with additional training, tools and resources to handle the steady volume of mental health-related calls that come through emergency dispatch. After months of discussions that included behavioral health professionals and the safety forces, City Council put $100,000 into this year’s budget for a “hybrid” Crisis Response Pilot Program.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland.com

Broward County has invested millions in a new emergency response system experts say is helping firefighters and officers to respond to emergencies faster. “You as a resident at home when you call 911, you want the closest available unit to come handle your emergency,” said Sunrise Fire Rescue Chief John McNamara.
- PUB DATE: 2/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVJ NBC 6 Miami

A gas station attendant and a resident heroically sprung into action when a car near some gas pumps ignited on fire on Monday afternoon. According to the Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue, on Monday, crews responded to a report of a vehicle fire near some gas pumps at a local Fleet Farm gas station in Fond du Lac.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2021 9:42:01 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

It's been a busy winter for Milwaukee firefighters, and they were called out again Monday afternoon, Feb. 15. They battled the bitter cold while fighting a fire at Blessed Savior Church at 86th and Villard. The fire started on the second floor in an office area. As you can imagine, the cold and snow made the response much more difficult.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2021 5:25:12 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

Portage Fire Chief Troy Haase thought his career in firefighting was over when he retired in 2020 after seven years as division chief of fire prevention and public information officer for the Fond du Lac Fire Department. But an unexpected job change for his wife meant they decided to move more quickly than anticipated and Haase would find new work to occupy his time.
- PUB DATE: 2/15/2021 4:41:22 PM - SOURCE: Portage Daily Register