Firefighters with the Orlando Fire Department who have recovered from COVID-19 are donating plasma. The Orlando Fire Department and OneBlood have teamed up for a plasma drive where firefighters and their family members who've recovered from COVID-19 can donate plasma. "As the cases surge throughout our service area, the need for convalescent plasma has reached new heights," said Susan Forbes, with OneBlood.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOFL-TV FOX 35 Orlando

The man accused of starting a fire that destroyed a west-side laundromat and flower shop has taken a plea deal. Azeez Aleem Hakeem was in Marathon County court Monday afternoon for a plea hearing. In June Hakeem withdrew his original plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to have a plea reset on Monday.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 8:00:03 PM - SOURCE: Fox Sports Wausau 1390AM

Madison firefighters helped rescue an unconscious driver who was pinned inside their vehicle following a crash. Dispatch received a call around 2:15 p.m. Saturday in the 800 block of Atlas Avenue. Crews responded to the scene two minutes later. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found a vehicle with massive front-end damage against a tree and smoke was coming from the engine.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 3:45:08 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

Crews have knocked down a fire on Madison’s west side Monday afternoon, officials said. Madison Fire Department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster said there were multiple 911 calls reporting smoke seen coming from an apartment in the 900 block of Magnolia Lane. Firefighters arrived at the scene minutes later and had the fire knocked down just after 1:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:43:08 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

The Green Bay Metro Fire Department says hoarding conditions impacted crews as they battled a fire at a west side home Monday morning. “Firefighting efforts were hampered by hoarding conditions and residents are reminded to not accumulate materials in your home as it delays entry and exit into the structure,” reads a statement from Green Bay Metro Fire Battalion Chief Dave Kolz.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 6:47:51 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

VIDEO: A cavalry of firefighters and response crews had to go into defensive mode as they battled a massive fire at a southwest Houston business that went to three alarms and destroyed an HFD ladder truck. Explosions continued to erupt hours after the fire broke out some time before 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 7800 block of Westpark Drive near Hillcroft.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 14 Houston

Josie Harris Robinson and her husband are both front-line shift workers in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. She's a nurse and her husband, Aaron Robinson, is a Wilmington firefighter. They both had to scramble, with just six days notice, to figure out a new way of life when a required shift change took effect for firefighters on July 1.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDEL 1150AM & WDEL.com

A smartphone app that tracks COVID-19 symptoms has collected information from more than 4 million people worldwide, and is giving doctors a closer look at the different symptoms patients are experiencing. The variety of different symptoms people are exhibiting with COVID-19 is startling. "I've seen more varied presentations of COVID that anything I can think of in my career so far," said Dr.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGO-TV ABC 7 San Francisco

The FDNY has formally prohibited the use fire hoses to disperse unruly crowds, following several weeks of civil rights protests and rioting across the city that left several police officers and civilians injured. “While the vast majority of these (protests) in NYC have not involved the response of the FDNY, there is the potential for civil unrest, or acts of violence causing immediate danger to our members,” reads an order obtained recently by the New York Post.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Staten Island Live

VIDEO: The Duxbury Fire Department has become the first in the country to have its firefighters wear biometric rings. The rings can monitor vital signs, including pulse, temperature and sleep cycles. They could help detect early warning signs of coronavirus. They are also designed to withstand the rigors of a tough job.
- PUB DATE: 8/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBZ-TV CBS 4 Boston

Madison firefighters local 311 will not agree to reopen their contract according to Mahlon Mitchell, President of local 311. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway has asked for city departments to cut their budgets across the board. To achieve these cuts, she has raised the issue of reopening the contract with the local.
- PUB DATE: 8/2/2020 12:41:38 PM - SOURCE: WORT-FM 89.9

At the fire department in Somers, there is not much they have not seen at least once. But for one firefighter, something remarkable happened twice. It seemed to be just another early Sunday morning at the fire station in Somers, but then..."12:30 at night, we got the call out to the 1800 block of Sheridan Road for a woman in labor," said Firefighter Brandon Dzibinski.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 3:40:49 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

The Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) has added a new fire truck to its fleet. Equipped with the most up-to-date technology, the truck will give students and firefighters in the region an opportunity to learn and practice the skills they need. WITC is encouraging any of the 109 fire departments in the district to coordinate fire service training with the college.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTBX 93.9 FM

VIDEO: Flames jumped from unit to unit as a fire engulfed a North Coventry Township, Pennsylvania, apartment building, displacing 100 residents and leaving at least seven people, including three firefighters, hurt. The three-alarm fire started at the Ashwood Apartments on 782 Worth Boulevard shortly after 7 p.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCAU-TV NBC 10 Philadelphia

First responders with the Reedy Creek Improvement District have launched a legal battle to collect workers compensation benefits after being tested and diagnosed with COVID-19. Michael Grant, a paramedic with Reedy Creek since 2018, tested positive with the virus “on the job” on July 3 and quarantined at home for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended 14 days.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Orlando

Four years into his budding career as a firefighter, Glenn Ericksen was used to putting out routine fires in apartments, single-family homes and small businesses in Arlington Heights. Then in the early morning hours of July 31, 1985, he and his co-workers at the firehouse got the call they'll never forget: A fire had broken out in the Horseman's Lounge at Arlington Park.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Herald - Metered Site

For over a month Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell serenaded the streets of Manhattan from the window of his Upper West Side apartment to honor frontline workers who were fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. The cause, meaningful to the 62-year-old as he was diagnosed with coronavirus in late March but has since recovered.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNYW-TV FOX 5 New York

More than a year and a half after the Camp Fire, the documentary Rebuilding Paradise is finally being released to the public on July 31. The documentary, directed by Academy Award-winner Ron Howard, depicts the 2018 fire and the rebuilding efforts of the Ridge through the eyes of those who lived it. KRCR spoke with the former mayor of Paradise, Steve “Woody” Culleton, who is featured in the doc.
- PUB DATE: 7/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRCR-TV ABC 7 Redding

The family of a Green Bay toddler calls their little boy a walking miracle after they say he survived six minutes with no pulse and no breath after he choked on a piece of bread. His parents and first responders credit each other for saving the life of Gamaliel Martinez. ”I don’t remember if he died in the ambulance or in the house, because we noticed when he was in the house, he had no pulse,” recalls Mayra Martinez, Gamaliel’s mother.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2020 6:48:06 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

The Wisconsin State Patrol says the driver of an SUV that crashed into Mirror Lake Wednesday evening was rescued, taken to the hospital and arrested for an OWI. Troopers say around 5:20 p.m., they received multiple complaints about an SUV driving erratically. Witnesses reported the SUV had gone off the roadway and crashed into a barrier and sign.
- PUB DATE: 7/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV ABC 27 Madison