The majority of calls Honolulu firefighters respond to are medical ones, and many are suspected COVID-19 cases. But the head of their union said the Honolulu Fire Department is making those sickened or quarantined prove they were exposed on the job. If they can’t, the union said, they could be denied benefits.
- PUB DATE: 8/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hawaii News Now

PHOTO: A farm in Massachusetts is paying tribute to the first responders who sacrificed their own safety to help others during the coronavirus pandemic. This year's corn maze design at Schartner Farm in Bolton serves as a thank you to first responders. Along with the words "Thank You," the maze features the Star of Life, which represents emergency medical services personnel; a police badge; a firefighter crest and the caduceus, also known as the Staff of Hermes, which is often used as a symbol of medicine.
- PUB DATE: 8/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

It’s been almost eight months since Chinese scientists identified the coronavirus and doctors are still discovering new symptoms that can ravage the body and leave lasting damage months after recovery. While more than 813,000 people have died from the disease, most of the more than 23.6 million people with confirmed infections have recovered.
- PUB DATE: 8/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNBC

Dorchester County firefighter and Summerville resident Dave Moore is planning to walk 100 miles across the Lowcountry in 48 hours to raise money for U.S. veterans, families of fallen heroes and local first responders. According to a news release from the Travis Manion Foundation, Moore will start his trek at 7 a.
- PUB DATE: 8/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Berkeley Independent

As Madison police used chemicals and less lethal weapons to disperse crowds damaging downtown buildings Monday night, proposals moving through the city’s legislative process would seek to limit those tools. Madison Fire Department Chief Steven Davis said this equipment is needed, at times, to “protect life, protect property.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 7:56:33 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times - Metered Site

The Sparta Area Fire District responded to a house fire late Monday night in Sparta. On August 24 at 11:49 p.m., crews were dispatched to a fire at 114 South Thayer Street. The initial call reported everyone was out of the house, but when firefighters arrived at the scene, Sparta Police Officers were rescuing a resident from the roof.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 1:00:46 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

VIDEO: A huge fire broke out at an apartment building that is under construction in central Phoenix early Tuesday morning. Video from the scene shows massive flames engulfing the building north of 12th Street and Indian School Road. A large plume of black smoke could be seen for miles. Capt. Todd Keller with the Phoenix Fire Department said it is a two-story apartment building that has been under construction for about seven months.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KASW-CW6 & KTVK-3TV (azfamily.com)

PHOTOS: When Jeannette fire Chief Bill Frye and Mark Scalzitti were junior firemen, they would jump on the back of a 1965 Mack fire engine to respond to calls. Too young to drive it at the time, both have fond memories of getting suited up in the fire station and riding Engine 6 through town, the siren blaring.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

VIDEO: Lubbock Fire Rescue is partnering with the Texas Tech Whitacre College of Engineering to help improve firefighter safety. Their current project is developing a safer firefighter helmet to help mitigate the risk of traumatic head injuries while on the job. Lt. Brady Robinette said what spurred this research was the tragedy on Jan.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KJTV-TV FOX 34 Lubbock

People living in some of the largest U.S. cities and their surrounding areas face the highest risk of contracting COVID-19 in the near future, according to a new set of online dashboards created by researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. The risk analysis model used by the website examines more than 3,000 U.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The University of Texas at Austin

Back in April, in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a national shortage of protective N95 masks. Ryan Githens and Joe Webster, both engineers for Oceaneering, an engineering and applied technologies company with offices in Hanover, used their design skills to create a workaround solution to keep first responders in their community safe — an adapter that allows firefighters to use their SCBA masks as an N95 filter, "protecting their respiratory system and face from potential exposure to the virus," Githens said.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun - Metered Site

Dozens of business owners are cleaning up after a night of unrest in Kenosha. Protesters broke windows and started fires after police shot Jacob Blake, 29, multiple times. Vandals torched dozens of vehicles at a car dealership. A former employee recorded video of the scene. "All cars are done for.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 11:21:57 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

Officials from the city and town of Milton on Wednesday took another step toward possibly consolidating fire services with Janesville by agreeing to drill down on the cost and what an agreement would look like. The two communities last met jointly in 2017 to discuss an intergovernmental agreement to expand shared services between their fire department and the Janesville Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 9:02:05 AM - SOURCE: Janesville Gazette

VIDEO: Hundreds of firefighters battled a six-alarm fire at a warehouse in the Tioga-Nicetown section of Philadelphia Sunday morning. Fire Commissioner Adam Theil said that about half of all on-duty firefighters were at the scene battling the blaze at a warehouse on the 3300 block of Stokley Avenue.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

PHOTOS: IMPD is investigating after a woman was killed when her car collided with an IFD fire engine at the intersection of Shelby Street and Southern Avenue Sunday morning. Around 10:45 a.m., the IFD truck was responding, with lights and sirens activated, to a possible residence fire on Sumner Avenue.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTHR-TV NBC 13 Indianapolis

VIDEO: A group of DeKalb County firefighters showed off their musical skills during a recent jam session. In a video posted to Twitter, DeKalb County Fire Company 23C jammed together to Carlos Santana's "Maria Maria" in a "post workout jam session." A group of DeKalb County firefighters showed off their musical skills during a recent jam session.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAGA-TV FOX 5 Atlanta

The budget Austin City Council approved on Aug. 23 for the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year comes with a number of different investments in Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. Much of the discussion around Austin’s new budget revolved around the ways the budget begins a process of transitioning around $150 million dollars from the Austin Police Department into other areas of public health and safety over the course of the next year.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAN-TV NBC 36 Austin

New York's first responders were given an unusual warning this week, a first since the Sept. 11 terror attacks: skip this year's in-person anniversary events. In a letter addressed to members of the FDNY, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro cautioned against the department's members attending anniversary events this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the safety of everyone, especially retired members and families of 9/11 victims that are at a greater risk due to health and age.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

Authorities are investigating a brush fire that closed down Riverside Drive in Allouez early Saturday morning. Green Bay Metro Fire says it was dispatched for a report of a brush fire near HWY 172 and Riverside Drive at around 5 a.m. On arrival, the first crews found a 25 x 50 foot shed on fire and spreading to surrounding brush and grass.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2020 5:43:19 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

The Stoddard Bergen Fire Department Firefighters Labor Day Picnic Fundraiser will not be held in the Stoddard Village Park this year. According to a letter that was sent to members of the community and published on the fire department’s website, the decision to cancel the 61st annual event was made “based on several factors, all of which could impact the health and safety of our community: Roadwork construction on Hwy.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2020 1:04:01 AM - SOURCE: Vernon Broadcaster