Fire officials say one person has died following an accident in Sheboygan on Tuesday involving a kayaker. According to Sheboygan fire officials, crews were called to the Deland Park area for a kayaker that was in the water at 11:40 a.m. When crews arrived, they were able to find witnesses, who gave them directions to where the kayaker had last been spotted.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 3:42:55 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

Calling all artists! Madison’s Fire Station 6 is searching for a local artist for a mural project using repurposed materials in the station. The firefighters at the south side station, located on West Badger Road, are looking to beautify the building through the work of a local artist or artists, according to a press release from the City of Madison Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 8:42:50 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

PHOTOS: A massive fire burned in downtown St. Paul early Tuesday morning, apparently destroying a hotel under construction across from the Xcel Energy Center. The flames were more than 40 feet high at one point and visible on freeway traffic cameras nearby. Fire officials said shortly after 5 a.m. that a substantial part of the blaze had been knocked down.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Minnesota Public Radio News

According to the UC Davis Fire Department, nearly 25% of its firefighters are wearing gear that doesn’t fit them. UC Davis Fire Chief Nathan Trauernicht told FOX40 Monday that he is calling on uniform manufacturers to do better. “They need to have maximum range of motion, and at critical times, they have to be able to make critical movements, and if that doesn’t happen, it puts all of us in danger,” Trauernicht explained.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTXL-TV FOX 40 Sacramento

The bad news: COVID-19 appears to be filling hospitals throughout the South and the Southwest with patients with a deadly, highly contagious disease. The good news: The federal government is now publishing a COVID-19 hospital bed occupancy map that looks terrible. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been trying to track COVID-19 with a weekly collection of maps, tables and charts based largely on the data sources and methods used to track influenza.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Think Advisor

City Council has tabled a proposal to hire, for the first time, part-time firefighters to beef up the Fire Department staff, instead opting to seek a tax increase that would pay for additional full-time firefighters. The Strongsville Fire Fighters Association, the union representing firefighters here, opposed hiring the part-timers, saying it would undermine the professionalism of their department.
- PUB DATE: 8/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Cleveland.com

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