Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order #96 ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff in honor of Cpt. Kelly Lynn Raether of the Town of Ixonia Fire & EMS. Raether passed away on Nov. 26, 2020 after contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty as she responded to the emergency medical needs of a COVID-19 patient.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

The La Crosse Fire Department was on the scene in just over three minutes after receiving the call of a garage fire at 309 Rose St. around 3:11 p.m. Wednesday. Crews saw heavy smoke and fire coming from inside the garage and extinguished the fire in about an hour and a half. The garage had significant fire and heavy smoke damage, according to the La Crosse Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIZM News Talk 1410 AM

Wisconsin has reported nearly 500 deaths from COVID-19 in just the last 11 days. On Nov. 21, the state's coronavirus death toll passed 3,000. On Wednesday, it passed 3,500. The state Department of Health Services on Wednesday reported 3,777 new cases and 82 deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,502.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PHOTOS: It’s been 21 years since one of the most heartbreaking days in Worcester’s history. On Dec. 3, 1999, a blaze at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. claimed the lives of six Worcester firefighters. Each December since, the city has remembered the sacrifices of Lt. Thomas Spencer, Lt.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Republican - Mass Live

VIDEO: Fire crews were battling a blaze at a large two-story structure in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday evening, officials said. The fire was reported around 6:10 p.m. on the 500 block of East Ninth Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, where a number of fabric stores are located. Firefighters had moved to a defensive operation to battle fire, which was escalated to a “greater alarm” incident.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV 5 CW Los Angeles

Stefan Hofer’s ambulance company, West Trail EMS, in Mayville, North Dakota, has received only one or two calls that weren’t related to COVID-19 over the past two months. But he said the case count has ballooned by 20 to 30 percent because of the pandemic. At the same time, the company’s expenses have mounted, its revenue has cratered and its workforce is being decimated by the virus.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVE-TV NBC 10 El Dorado

The Essex Fire Department (EFD) is one of 20 fire departments in the country — and the only one in Vermont — to join a Drexel University study investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the mental health of first responders. The study is run by the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST Center) at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Saint Albans Messenger

The family of an FDNY captain, who died decades ago after fighting a major fire in Queens, is demanding his name be added to a memorial wall honoring those who died in the line of duty. Richard Meister says he never knew his grandfather, FDNY Captain Hans Meister, but he’s heard plenty of stories about the impact he had on other members of his family.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCBS-AM 880

A western Wisconsin community is rallying around its fire chief, who has been hospitalized with COVID-19 for 24 days. Fire Chief Don Kittelson is a third-generation firefighter who has served the Clayton Fire Department for 34 years. The small, rural village is about an hour northeast of the Twin Cities.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSTP-TV ABC 5 St. Paul

Two people were killed and a third person injured following a two-car crash in the 3500 block of Green Bay Road (Highway 31) Tuesday afternoon. The crash occurred at 3:42 p.m. in the southbound lane of Green Bay Road, according to Lt. Steven Beranis of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department. Minutes later, Somers Fire and Rescue personnel responded and transported two people to local hospitals, both of whom later died.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

Madison Fire Department brings back old technology with a tractor-drawn aerial ladder truck to meet modern needs. According to a release, a 107-food heavy-duty tiller aerial ladder from Pierce Manufacturing is serving Fire Station 1. The tiller is though to be the fourth tiller in the history of the Madison Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

Multiple fire departments responded to a large brush fire near Tichigan Lake Tuesday afternoon. Smoke could be seen from Highway 83, more than a mile away. A Mutual Aid Box Alarm System alert was reportedly called, bringing in aid from Waukesha and Kenosha counties, as well as from eastern Racine County, to help fight the blaze near the intersection of Bridge Drive and Marsh Road, which is north of the Tichigan Wildlife Area and northwest of Tichigan Lake.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times - Metered Site

The 20th annual Greater Beloit Shop With A Hero event has been cancelled this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Town of Beloit Police Chief Ron Northrop. “The committee decided to cancel it this year, but we are looking at all options going forward,” Northrop said. For nearly two decades, City of Beloit and Town of Beloit first responders, both police and fire staff, have come together for a day of Christmas shopping for families in need.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

The CDC's immunization advisory panel voted Tuesday to first give the COVID-19 vaccine to health care personnel and long-term care facility residents. Some firefighters feel they should have been included in that list. “I think it’s not the correct decision," Prince George's County firefighter and paramedic Theresa Alexander said.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV CBS 9 Washington DC

VIDEO: A former volunteer firefighter from Long Island just won big on ABC's "Shark Tank" for her new fitness device, which was inspired by her time as a firefighter. Sarah Apgar, of Port Washington, is the creator of Fitfighter and the Steel Hose. When Apgar joined the Halesite Volunteer Fire Department in 2012, she noticed the firehouse didn't have a structured strength training program.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

A huge floating fire station will make its permanent home in San Francisco early Thursday morning. A new Fireboat Station 35 will house the San Francisco Fire Department’s three fireboats and rescue watercraft, replacing the existing 105-year-old fire station on the Embarcadero, according to the city’s Public Works department.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle - Metered Site

Starbucks is giving thanks to first responders and health care workers on the front lines of the fight against the spread of COVID-19 with a free cup of coffee. As cases continue to rise across much of the country, Starbucks is offering a free tall brewed coffee (hot or iced) to front-line workers at participating U.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

PHOTOS: How many cities do you know of that showcase a caboose, fire truck and tractors in their downtown sector? There is at least one — the city of Winter Garden, which recently saw the return of an iconic piece of its fire department history. The 1954 American La France fire engine No. 1 is back in the space it shares with a 1907 citrus sprayer, 1948 railroad caboose, a Case grove tractor and a Fordson tractor — all surrounding the Winter Garden Heritage Museum.
- PUB DATE: 12/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange Observer

VIDEO: Fire Chief Michael Williams has seen and fought his fair share of fires in his 34-year career in Brockton. But when it comes to 2 1/2-story homes, few fires rival the difficulty of the one battled late Monday night in the city. "This is one of the toughest fires I've ever fought in a 2 1/2-story home," Williams said at the scene.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Enterprise News

An oversized, multicolored quilt, deemed the “Quilt of the Angels,” was draped over the altar at the Church of the Holy Family in Little Italy for Sunday’s 5 p.m. Mass. The names and ages of all 95 victims from the Our Lady of Angels School fire in 1958 are stitched on each patch. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Larry Furio, a survivor of the tragic blaze that resulted in stricter fire safety codes nationwide.
- PUB DATE: 12/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun Times - Metered Site