The following highlights some of the notable fires or building collapses in the lower Valley in the past 10 years... Sept. 11, 2010: Fire destroys the Housatonic Wire complex in Seymour. The building was slated to be the site of a new development. Jan. 6, 2014: A four-story Howe Avenue building opposite the Shelton end of the Derby-Shelton Bridge burns and collapses, leaving five injured and several homeless.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CT Post

The Madison Fire Department responded Monday morning to a blaze at an apartment complex on the city's north side. When firefighters arrived shortly before 9 p.m., they spotted the fire in the rear of the building and were able to quickly put it out. Nobody was hurt in the fire. Although, seventeen people live at the complex, in the 3700 block of E.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 9:16:25 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Chief Gary Ludwig, IAFC President and Chairman of the Board, asked Congress to support local fire and EMS departments as he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. During his testimony, Chief Ludwig highlighted the importance of local fire and EMS departments to helping victims of COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Survivors of COVID-19 are donating their blood plasma in droves in hopes it helps other patients recover from the coronavirus. And while the jury’s still out, now scientists are testing if the donations might also prevent infection in the first place. Thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with so-called convalescent plasma — including more than 20,000 in the U.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

Firefighters across Ohio are mourning the death of Russell Brode, the former president of Akron’s firefighter union, who they said died Saturday from what’s referred to as “occupational cancer,” or cancer he acquired through fighting fires. Brode, 54, spent years pushing for better care and training for Ohio firefighters facing the same risk from inhaling cancer-causing toxins released by smoke and other chemicals.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Beacon Journal

VIDEO: Over 150 firefighters battled a fire at a vacant building in Shelton. Crews were called to the vacant building on Canal Street around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, firefighters said. Firefighters from Shelton, Derby and Ansonia responded to the fire and it took more than 155 firefighters to help put out the flames, authorities added.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVIT-TV NBC 30 New Britain

The firefighter’s fraternity is a tight one. Due to the many perils of the job, they must rely on each other to remain safe while saving structures and lives. “There is a lot of trust there,” said third-generation Elk River firefighter Chad Kreuser. But for Kreuser and fellow firefighter Ryan Wolcenski, it’s grown to be so much more: Kreuser learned that he suffers from polycystic kidney disease and in rapid need of a lifesaving kidney transplant.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCCO-TV CBS 4 Minnesota

The Chippewa Falls Fire Department and Chippewa Fire Districts responded to a fire at an apartment building in Chippewa Falls around 4:25 a.m. Sunday morning in the 600 block of Island Street in Chippewa Falls. When firefighters arrived they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the back of the building and attic.
- PUB DATE: 6/14/2020 2:33:22 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV NBC 13 Eau Claire

Residents of a Kenosha apartment building are crediting 8-year-old Addilyn Holland with helping them safely escape a fire. The fire broke out at Windsor Apartments, 3825 89th Street, at about 10:14 p.m. Friday. The fire destroyed two apartments in the eight-unit building and caused smoke damage to others, displacing everyone who lives there.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2020 3:48:18 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

Fire officials were called to a report of a house fire near N. 24th Street and W. Keefe Avenue early Saturday morning, June 13. Firefighters found heavy smoke coming out of the first floor when they arrived shortly before 5 a.m. As the fire spread to the second floor, they called for additional crews to help fight the blaze.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2020 9:44:04 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

Thus far, the nonprofit organization Friends of the Appleton Fire Department has raised $97,000 for the purchase and restoration of Old Engine 5, a 1925 Seagrave pumper that served Appleton for 39 years. The total includes a $30,000 grant from the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund through the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 3:37:02 PM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

A Seymour family has been sifting through the ashes of their home. It burned down Monday night, for the second time in the last year and a half. The first fire was caused by a space heater. Firefighters are still investigating how Monday's fire started. "It’s a big blow, I mean, it’s still kinda sinking in that like everything that’s gone, you know,” said homeowner Nicole Hoier Everson.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 2:08:22 AM - SOURCE: WLUK-TV Fox 11 Green Bay

Two more people have been charged in connection with the June 1 fire at the Thelma Orr COP House that started in the midst of heated protests over the death of George Floyd. Anthony McNeil, 27, of the 900 block of S. Memorial Drive, and Jason Young, 30, of the 800 block of College Avenue, are both being charged with arson and burglary as a party to a crime.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 1:53:17 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

After more than an hour and a half of talking to city staff, an outside company and emergency officials, the city of Baraboo still hasn’t made a decision about the future of its emergency medical services. One obstacle for members of the Baraboo Common Council, as they met virtually Tuesday, was a lack of data, the result of bungled billing practices through the Baraboo District Ambulance Service, which is currently the service used by the city.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baraboo News Republic

Faced with continued financial shortfalls, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District has announced that it will take “new urgent measures” to maintain its limited operations and keep firefighters safe. ECCFPD Chief Brian Helmick said during a news conference Thursday that the department will only send firefighters into burning structures if lives are at stake, starting on July 1.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

As the United States begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, ample praise has been focused upon the nation’s emergency first responders – and rightfully so. Millions of nurses, doctors, firefighters and police have set their personal interests aside, routinely placing themselves and potentially their families at risk so that critical frontline medical services remain operational at a time when tens of thousands of Americans have been sickened and died from a disease with no known cure.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Great Falls Tribune - Metered Site

VIDEO: D.C. firefighters saved the day Thursday when they threw their bodies on two dogs who were attacking people while other members were fighting a fire in Southeast. D.C. Fire and EMS officials say they were in the 4000 block of South Capitol St. SE when two dogs began attacking residents in the area.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTTG-TV FOX 5 Washington, D.C.

A group of New York City emergency medical service workers who gave interviews to the news media, including NPR, are suing the city for allegedly retaliating against them after speaking about their experiences responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the federal court in Manhattan, four EMS workers allege the city is violating their right to speak on issues of public concern under the First Amendment, as well as their due process rights.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Public Radio

You would think driving back to the firehouse after a call would be the least exciting part of a firefighter's job. Well, not on Wednesday evening in the town of Wilson. A truck for the town of Wilson Fire Department was driving eastbound on Sheboygan County V after a call when a turkey flew through the windshield of the engine, according to Assistant Chief Steve Pautz.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2020 1:05:10 PM - SOURCE: Sheboygan Press

PHOTOS: This week marks the 12th anniversary of the start of the devastating 2008 floods in southern Wisconsin. Three people were killed and thousands of homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed as flood waters impacted 31 counties for almost a month. It was the worst disaster since the Great Floods of 1993 that hit the Midwest.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2020 10:50:46 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune