The 91st class of 65 new Orange County Fire Rescue recruits marks the department’s most diverse class in history. Department officials say more than half of the members in the group are Hispanic, Black or Asian. Recruit Paris Nunn, a graduate of the University of Central Florida, is one of 19 women in the class.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Orlando

At 5:15 p.m. today church bells will ring downtown, not for the upcoming Christmas holiday but for a more somber reason — the 100th anniversary of the Lyons Union School fire that killed two young girls and destroyed the school. It will be exactly 100 years to the time when a fast-moving blaze tore through the William Street building, trapping and killing 12-year-old Helen Baltzel and 13-year-old Elizabeth Burns.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Finger Lakes Times - Metered Site

As health care workers and nursing home residents await the first syringes of the COVID-19 vaccine, few realize that when they will get a dose depends a lot on what state they live in. Though they’re first in line for the vaccine, some people in those groups may get vaccinated after people in other states who are deemed lower priority.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

PHOTOS: Dating back to 1938, the New Deal-financed Austin Central Fire Station No. 1 sitting at 401 East Fifth Street on the northwest corner of Brush Square is an unlikely gem of downtown architecture, one of the few really striking examples of the Art Deco subset known as Moderne or Streamline Moderne in the city’s stock of public buildings — unfortunately, great vintage design doesn’t necessarily mesh with the facilities requirements of modern firefighting, meaning the Austin Fire Department has tolerated a growing list of frustrations with operating out of the the aging structure despite its obvious historic merit to those of us not actually fighting the fires.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TOWERS Austin

The pandemic didn’t stop Pepin County residents from seeing Santa this holiday season. The Durand City-Rural Fire Department hosted it’s annual “Ride Along with Santa”. Flanked by firefighters. Fire truck hosting the jolly old fellow cruised through the streets of Durand. The firefighters handed out candy canes to people along the route.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 8:05:27 AM - SOURCE: WLAX-TV FOX 25 La Crosse

A report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum shows greater cooperation among fire departments in small communities could help address a shortage of first responders in the state. The report looks at fire and emergency medical services in the La Crosse area. Commissioned by La Crosse County and the La Crosse Area Planning Committee, it looks at opportunities for the departments to share resources given the growing need for services in many of the communities.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Public Radio

VIDEO: Four firefighters in Routt County suffered minor injuries after the fire truck they were in rolled off 200 feet down a steep embankment. The crash happened on Saturday after the firefighters were leaving the scene of a garage fire. The West Routt Fire Protection District responded to the home on Peak View Court to find the back of a garage on fire.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCNC-TV CBS 4 Denver

VIDEO: A paraglider dressed as Santa Claus was rescued after being caught in power lines in Rio Linda on Sunday. Santa was removed safely from the power lines near 7th Avenue after being trapped for over an hour, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. SMUD, the Sacramento Fire Department and California Highway Patrol units in North Sacramento were called to the scene for assistance.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS 13 Sacramento

VIDEO: Flames tore through the rectory of a Townsend church early Monday morning, sending a priest to the hospital with burns to his hands, officials said. The rectory of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, at 20 Highland St., still had flames shooting from the roof just after 5 a.m. and fire crews from several towns were called in to help as the fire, which started just before 2 a.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Telegram & Gazette

On Dec. 14, 1920, a shiny, new, red truck rumbled into Mount Vernon. It wasn’t Santa’s sleigh come to spread early holiday cheer, but was instead the newest addition to the Mount Vernon Fire Department — Skagit County’s first motorized fire engine. “It was something new and different than what a lot of people had,” said retired Mount Vernon firefighter Terry Hill.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Skagit Valley Herald

Many first responders in the Tampa Bay area say they won’t take the coronavirus vaccine. Local fire and police departments conducted surveys about the coronavirus vaccine, and a significant number of first responders say they are not taking it or are undecided. “It’s just so new and it’s been so highly publicized and so highly politicized, I think for a lot of our members,” said John Klinefelter, Clearwater Fire & Rescue Division Chief of Health and Safety.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFTS-TV ABC 28 Tampa

Afire in Wonewoc that destroyed a home near downtown was allegedly the result of arson and set by a juvenile, police say. According to Wonewoc Police Chief Mike Stahlke, the Wonewoc Fire Department was called to a house fire at 206 S. East St. in Wonewoc at about 8:30 p.m. Dec. 16. “First responders observed the house fully engulfed along with a separate smaller fire in a detached garage,” Stahlke said in a press release.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2020 7:58:18 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

There are no reports of injuries after a house fire in Oconto Thursday. At about 2:32 p.m., Oconto Fire Rescue crews were called to 225 Michigan Ave. Crews arrived to find smoke and flames coming from a two-story, wood frame home. The occupants escaped the home without injury. Crews used a hose line to fight the fire from the outside.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 6:22:38 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

An overloaded circuit on the second floor sparked an Uptown fire that damaged the Rockhead’s Comics & Games building. The fire began around 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16., at the structure at 2328 Roosevelt Rd. To battle the fire, the Kenosha Fire Department called in an additional two units, Fire Chief Charles Leipzig said Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Racine County Eye

VIDEO: History has been made in League City! The city's volunteer fire department now has it's first-ever all-female day crew. A photo of the five women, seen posing in full gear, was posted on the department's Facebook page on Wednesday. "These ladies are proudly representing Stations 3, 4 and 6! Way to represent and make history ladies," read the post.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 13 Houston

A 15-year-old boy faces a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a retired Chicago firefighter earlier this month outside a Morgan Park popcorn shop. The teen, who is not being identified because he is charged as a juvenile, was unarmed at the time of the shooting. He was with two other people who had guns when they confronted 65-year-old Dwain Williams Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun Times - Metered Site

VIDEO: Instead of Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer, a retired Redding firefighter has created his own handmade reindeer display in honor of first responders. Patrick Westrip created the eight not-so-tiny reindeer out of cardboard and paper-mâché and painted blankets on each one to honor different first responders such as firefighters, law enforcement, and medical workers.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRCR-TV ABC 7 Redding

One person is dead, two paramedics injured after a shooting Thursday morning in Pine Bluff. Officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of West 23rd Avenue at 4:30 a.m. and discovered the two paramedics suffering from gunshot wounds. According to Pine Bluff investigators a third individual, 22-year-old Kevin Curl Jr.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KARK-TV NBC 4 Little Rock

VIDEO: Fire trucks made at Rosenbauer USA, just north of Sioux Falls, are now featured in a new video game– and the company is giving away 250 free downloads this holiday season. Firefighting simulator The Squad just launched on Steam in November. This new worldwide video game features fire trucks made right here in South Dakota.
- PUB DATE: 12/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KELO-TV CBS 11 Sioux Falls

Anew report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum lays out that more collaboration of fire and EMS services in the La Crosse area could cut costs while improving service quality. Commissioned by La Crosse County a little over a year ago, the report examines what the best solution to a growing number of challenges area emergency service providers are facing might be.
- PUB DATE: 12/17/2020 11:37:37 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune