Rhode Island firefighters are counting on state lawmakers to guarantee higher-paying, tax-free disability pensions to firefighters who get any form of cancer. And it looks like they made a winning case to the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. Both the House and Senate Labor Committees have scheduled votes on Wednesday, during the lead up to next week’s special summer session, on bills that say: “Any type of cancer found in a firefighter is conclusively presumed to be an occupational cancer.
- PUB DATE: 7/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal

VIDEO: Water rescues near dams can be particularly harrowing as the churning waters known as "the boil" can pull in people and rescuers. The Elgin Fire Department is painfully familiar with that, after two of its own died in 1974 during a rescue near the city's dam in the Fox River. The department now has a new tool expected to enhance safety, a Waterwog 3 rescue boat made by Creature Craft that works well near low-head dams, fire officials said.
- PUB DATE: 7/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Herald - Metered Site

PHOTOS: On April 30, 2016, a United States Post Office letter carrier in Fall River, Massachusetts, left his truck to do a 20-minute loop by foot to deliver some mail. When he got back to the truck, the dashboard was on fire. The next day, on the other side of the country, a letter carrier in Chandler, Arizona loaded his truck with the day’s mail.
- PUB DATE: 7/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: VICE Media

Talk to federal disaster preparedness and response agencies like FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Guard and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration about training, and one thing comes to the surface repeatedly: Experiential training is the gold standard. To prepare their employees to do the work of saving lives in a disaster response situation, these first responders emphasize exercises that put their employees through their paces.
- PUB DATE: 7/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Federal News Network

The Beaver Dam Common Council tabled a vote on a possible fire department referendum for two more weeks after council members wanted time for more public input. Fire Chief Alan Mannel is seeking a referendum question on the November ballot to fund six new firefighter/paramedic positions for the city — to go from 18 full-time staff to 24.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 3:47:40 PM - SOURCE: Daily Citizen

A second person has died as a result of a house explosion Monday in the town of Wheaton. Dale Lambert, 66, and Belinda Wedemeyer, 68, were killed in the explosion, which destroyed the home at 7336 10th Ave. The cause of the blast is being investigated by the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office, Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, Eau Claire Sheriff’s Office, Eau Claire Fire Department, Eau Claire Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol and Chippewa Fire District.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 2:35:51 PM - SOURCE: Chippewa Herald

Three people are displaced after a lightning strike caused a fire in downtown Madison on Tuesday night. Crews were sent to 112 W. Wilson St. at about 6 p.m. after an occupant of the three flat apartment complex reported hearing an explosion. Several firefighters climbed up to the building’s roof and into a third floor window, which had smoke billowing out of its side.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 2:14:12 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

The misuse of fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend has accrued an estimated total of $179,000 worth of damage in the City of Green Bay. According to the Green Bay Metro Fire Department, crews responded to seven fire calls in relation to firework use over the holiday weekend. No deaths or injuries were reported in relation to these incidents, but a total of $179,000 worth of damages was done as a result.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 4:47:58 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

VIDEO: Twenty-six years ago, 14 firefighters were killed on Storm King Mountain, near Glenwood Springs. To honor the memory of those heroes, about a dozen members of the Craig hotshots crew hiked up the Storm King Memorial Trail on Monday. The Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center shared photos of the hotshots at the memorial.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCNC-TV CBS 4 Denver

PHOTOS: Extreme midday heat made work very difficult for Indianapolis firefighters as they battled a house fire on the city's southeast side. One firefighter was seriously injured. According to Indianapolis Fire Department Public Information Officer Rita Reith, thick black smoke from the fire at the house on Timberfield Lane could be seen one mile away.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRTV ABC 6 Indianapolis

VIDEO: Fire crews responded to an intense vehicle fire located in a building in Tappahannock. At 6:38 p.m., the Tappahannock-Essex Volunteer Fire Department responded to the report of a vehicle fire inside the old Tappahannock Ford building located on Church Lane near Hoskins Creek. During the attack, crews say several large explosions occurred, sending debris hundreds of feet away and was heard over five miles away.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond

Each year, NFPA collects data on all the firefighter fatalities in the US that resulted from injuries or illnesses that occurred while the victims were on-duty. The term on duty refers to: Being at the scene of an alarm, whether it is a fire or non-fire incident (including EMS calls). Responding to or returning from an alarm.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

COVID-19 has changed many aspects of life for all of us. It's also causing a well-known Brown County 911 dispatcher to call it a career sooner than planned. The pandemic pushed Tracy Ertl into early retirement from what she calls a mission, not a job. "I've helped deliver babies over the phone. I've talked people out of taking their lives.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 7:45:17 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

Looking back at the holiday weekend, numbers show it was a busy weekend for first responders in our area. Over the holiday weekend (from Friday to Sunday), the Brown County Emergency Dispatch Center fielded 174 calls related to fireworks. That’s almost as much as they fielded in all of June this year.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 3:45:30 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

A house incurred extensive damage and firefighters coped with trying conditions due to the hot weather at the scene of a fire Monday afternoon. Caledonia and South Shore firefighters were dispatched just after 2 p.m. Monday to the residence located at 6821 Beechnut Drive, just south of Six Mile Road.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 3:44:00 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

Fire officials were called to a house fire near S. West Avenue and Richard Street around 10 p.m. Sunday, July 6th for a report of the smell of smoke in the building. Upon arrival crews found smoke coming from the roof of a two-story, four-family building. Fire crews immediately entered the building and assisted one resident out.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 1:30:39 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

Improperly discarded fireworks caused a house fire on Madison’s west side Sunday night, according to a release from the city’s fire department. Crews were dispatched to a home along the 400 block of Seven Nations Drive around 11 p.m Saturday for reports of a porch on fire. Firefighters arrived to find flames and smoke coming from the front of the house, the release said.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 10:03:40 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

A fire destroyed a detached garage and caused significant damage to the exteriors of two homes on Appleton’s southeast side Sunday evening. Firefighters found the two-stall garage engulfed when they responded to the report of a fire on the 1200-block of S. Walden Ave. at 6:45 P.M. They had the fire out in 10 minutes, but it took another 45 minutes to cool down the hot spots.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 5:51:13 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

The Houston Fire Department said its firefighters are running on empty as they try to keep up with the city’s pandemic surge. HFD Chief Sam Pena said about 300 firefighters are in quarantine. Pena said the ones not in quarantine are overworked and there is no end in sight. “Yes, they’re being stretched thin, and yes, they’re being overworked and it is stressful for them,” Pena said.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHOU-TV CBS 11 Houston

VIDEO: An Oakland fire crew was delayed on making an emergency medical call July 4th evening when an unruly mob near Lake Merritt blocked its path and climbed onto the engine. The incident was captured on a video released Sunday night on the Oakland Firefighters Facebook page. The video showed a crowd gathered around an Oakland fire truck at the intersection of Lakeshore and Brooklyn Avenues on the east side of Lake Merritt.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco