The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday expanded its list of risk factors that make people more likely to develop severe illness or die from COVID-19. The update comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections rises to record levels in the United States, driven by alarming spikes in Florida, Texas and other states across the South and West.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News

The coronavirus pandemic didn't get in the way of a special birthday celebration in Kenosha Sunday, June 28. Dozens came out to recognize a retired firefighter on his 90th birthday. Will Rice retired in 1993, but still has a lot of friends with the Kenosha Fire Department, and on Sunday, they celebrated him in a big way.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2020 7:42:47 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

One man was killed and another seriously injured after a motorcycle crash in Waukesha County on Saturday afternoon, June 27. It happened near WIS-67 and CTH-ZZ in the unincorporated town of Ottawa. Authorities with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office said an investigation into the crash is ongoing, and drugs or alcohol are not believed to be a factor in the crash at this time.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2020 5:27:35 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

The Wausau fire department’s 2nd district has a brand new station on the west side of town. This brand new fire department replaces and old one that dates back to the 1970s. This one is modern. “This is a day that will be remembered for a long, long time,” said Tracey Kujawa, Chief of the Wausau Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 7:40:50 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

One of the proposals in La Crosse’s 2021-2025 Capital Improvement Budget is a public safety center. The building would combine elements for both the fire and police departments in La Crosse. The top priority for the La Crosse Fire and Police Departments is to protect and serve the community, but they first need the resources to do so.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 6:56:53 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

Two people were displaced from their home after a fire engulfed a home on the 1400 block of Emilie Street, Thursday evening. When firefighters arrived on scene they found flames engulfing the back of the home. According to the Green Bay Metro Fire Department, they were able to quickly extinguish the fire on the outside of the home.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 1:49:16 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

PHOTOS: A garden style apartment building on Spa Road partially collapsed on firefighters Thursday afternoon in Annapolis as they were battling a blaze that had enveloped all three floors, city fire officials said. One Anne Arundel County firefighter was injured in the fire, Capt. Aaron Edwards, fire department spokesperson, told The Capital.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Capital Gazette - Metered Site

A McDowell County volunteer firefighter was arrested for murder and arson Thursday after authorities say he set a blaze that led to the death of a fellow firefighter. Robert Lee Beckner, 36, of Iaeger, is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson, according to a criminal complaint filed in McDowell County Magistrate Court.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Every year on June 30, the mountain community of Yarnell remembers the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in 2013's Yarnell Hill Fire. Last year, the annual service drew nearly 150 people to a memorial park in the center of town. But this year's 7th anniversary remembrance is taking place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Arizona Republic

A senior citizen held at gunpoint an Orange County firefighter who’d entered her home to check on her well-being Thursday morning, before releasing him unharmed, according to Fire Rescue spokeswoman Carrie Proudfit. Though shots were fired at first responders during the incident, no one was injured, Proudfit said, adding that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is not currently planning to pursue criminal charges.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel

A handful of Nashville Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The president of the International Association of Firefighters has some concerns. “The ideal situation wouldn’t be to close a station, if you need to quarantine all personnel from that station, then do it," said Mark Young.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVF CBS 5 Nashville

The Suring man who died Sunday night following a crash has been identified as Zachary R. Zahn, 44. He was the fourth person to die in a motor vehicle accident in Oconto County this year. Zahn had served a decade on the Suring Fire Department, and was named a captain in January, said his cousin, Suring Fire Chief Mark Zahn.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 1:49:43 PM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

Gerard Washington is well aware of the issues that have plagued the Menomonee Falls Fire Department in the last year. But the village's new fire chief said that when he cleans up those issues, the community will see a gem. Since last June, concerns have been raised over fire vehicles being sidelined by repairs, a lack of staffing, leadership and communication issues, prompting the then-assistant chief to say the department was in "crisis.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 1:38:30 PM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin’s natural resources policy board has given the agency approval to begin drafting rules to restrict the use of firefighting foam containing hazardous chemicals known as PFAS. The Natural Resources Board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve parameters for an emergency rule that will determine, among other things, how and where fluorinated foam can be tested and disposed of.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 4:56:06 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

City public safety officials and Mayor Bill Peduto on Wednesday showed off a new “silent” alarm system that alerts only the fire and EMS stations that are being dispatched to the call, rather than blasting the call on a radio for every station and first responder on duty to hear. The $2.8 million, decade-in-the-making alarm system will cut down first responders’ stress levels and streamline services, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post Gazette

VIDEO: A man working atop the iconic Fresno State water tower had to be rushed to the hospital today after being overcome with heat, eventually going into cardiac arrest. "The extended work period up on top there, the strenuous work that they were doing with the heat and the high humidity today, it just overcame him," said Battalion Chief Mike Gibson of the Fresno Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KFSN-TV ABC 30 Fresno

There are continued calls to keep two Baltimore City fire units from closing, the closures are proposed as part of city budget cuts. Firefighters and their families held rallies on Wednesday to voice those calls in public. Firefighters, both active and retired, held rallies outside two fire houses in the city, protesting the proposal to take two engine units out of service permanently, due to city budget cuts.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAL-TV NBC 11 Baltimore

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its latest forecast of expected U.S. coronavirus deaths, predicting that between 130,000 and 150,000 Americans would die of the novel virus by July 18. The updated forecast put out by the CDC Wednesday consists of a combination of data from over 20 national models, which also predict an increase in fatalities in several states over the next four weeks, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah, which the CDC says will exceed the number of reported deaths of the last month.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

The state Natural Resources Board has unanimously approved allowing the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to begin drafting regulations to enforce restrictions on firefighting foam that contains chemicals known as PFAS. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, are chemicals that are found in products ranging from firefighting foam to nonstick cookware.
- PUB DATE: 6/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Public Radio

Authorities are investigating a suspected arson in the Village of Salem Lakes that took place Wednesday, June 24. Kenosha County sheriff's deputies and Salem Lakes Fire Department responded to the area near 286th and Wilmot around 3:09 a.m. for a report of vehicles on fire near a home. First responders located two vehicles on fire in the driveway and fire on the exterior portion of the home.
- PUB DATE: 6/24/2020 1:47:35 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee