An off-duty Wisconsin firefighter-EMT was killed Friday while clearing the scene of a collision as part of a speedway safety crew. River Falls Firefighter-EMT Eddie Nicholson, 62, died after a damaged bus rolled onto him in the aftermath of the crash at Cedar Lake Speedway, according to RiverTowns.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firerescue1

VIDEO: Twelve firefighters were injured in a fire and explosion in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday evening. As of Sunday afternoon, three have been discharged and eight remain hospitalized. The incident began with a fire that was first reported around 6:26 p.m. on Saturday. As firefighters were responding to the blaze inside the building at 327 East Boyd Street, the site of a butane honey oil supplier called Smoke Tokes, there was a “significant explosion,” said LAFD Captain Erik Scott.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCAL-TV CBS 9 Los Angeles

Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s major crimes division were working with the city Fire Department’s arson investigators to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the building Saturday night and scorched a fire truck across the street, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV 5 CW Los Angeles

Sunday is the beginning of National EMS Week when the U.S. recognizes those who serve in emergency medical services. According to the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), National EMS Week was started in 1974 by then-President Gerald Ford. This year in particular, the week is a good opportunity to honor the service that EMTs and paramedics provide to society in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, "one of the most daunting and demanding challenges our country has ever faced," a proclamation signed by President Trump on Friday said.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox Business

A Virginia 911 center is combining remote solutions with FirstNet connectivity as part of a multi-pronged strategy to ensure operational continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic today and to evaluate new technological options for the center in the future. Doug Campbell, deputy director of the Department of Emergency & Customer Communications (DECC) for the city of Alexandria, Va.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IWCE’s Urgent Communications

Early in the novel coronavirus pandemic, Nick Fugate figured he would probably get infected sooner or later. As a paramedic with King County Medic One, he and his colleagues were transporting gravely ill patients every day, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and urgency. Even now that hospitalizations have declined, Fugate puts his odds at 50-50.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Seattle Times

A stranded driver was rescued by first responders in West Allis Sunday, May 17 after heavy rain led to flooding along the Root River Parkway. The driver said his truck got stuck in deep water — with the whole street flooded. West Allis firefighters came out with a boat — and pulled the man to safety.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2020 7:43:41 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

Firefighters helped to rescue a resident of a Pleasant Prairie senior living facility Saturday, after a fire broke out at the apartment complex. At 7:40 a.m. Saturday, Pleasant Prairie police and fire departments responded to the Prairie Villa Senior Apartments, 9500 81st St., for a report of a fire alarm that had gone off, according to a Pleasant Prairie Fire and Rescue Department news release.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2020 8:59:39 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on Friday that burning permits remain suspended for debris piles, barrels, and grass or wooded areas. DNR officials say as the continuation of this permit suspension is to ensure the public remains safe from potential wildfires. The department notes that the spring season is a critical time for wildfires in Wisconsin to happen.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 10:26:15 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

After a total of 40 years in emergency response services, Black River Falls Fire Chief, Steve Schreiber, had his final day on the job. Out of those 40 years, Schreiber spent almost 34 of them working as an employee for the city of Black River Falls. In 1991, Schreiber joined the city fire department and in 2003 he was hired as the Fire Chief, where he has spent his last 17 years.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 7:23:33 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV NBC 13 Eau Claire

The Beloit Fire Department didn’t have to look far for its new leader, as the Beloit Police and Fire Commission promoted interim chief Daniel Pease following meeting on Friday morning. The commission voted unanimously to approve hiring Pease as chief after meeting in closed session for just under 10 minutes.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 8:48:02 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

Some recent fires with the common link of cigarettes have left more than 80 people in the community without a home. A release said Madison Fire Department has responded to at least six fires suspected or determined to be caused by improperly discarded smoking materials since February. The fires caused nearly $3 million in property loss.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 7:55:52 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

No one was injured, but a family was displaced in a fire this morning at Spring Isle Apartments, 1333 Wayland St. According to a press release from the Beaver Dam Fire Department, they were dispatched to a report of a fire inside the rental office around 4 a.m. “On arrival, fire and smoke were coming from the office area on the first floor of the building, extending into the second floor outside,” Beaver Dam Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Matt Christian said in the press release.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 7:43:55 AM - SOURCE: Daily Citizen

There are reminders everywhere. A sticker on the window of a fire engine. A painting on the wall of a fire station. A flag crafted out of discarded fire hose. A framed photograph of a flag-draped coffin. Mitch Lundgaard, a 14-year veteran of the Appleton Fire Department, was killed in the line of duty a year ago, on May 15, 2019, but his memory has endured in memorials scattered across the city's fire stations, and in the memories of those who worked with him.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 6:18:19 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

VIDEO: Firefighters battled a blaze that spread through an El Monte strip mall and resulted in a partial roof collapse Thursday night. Crews raced to the scene after getting a report of smoke coming from the strip mall in the 10100 block of East Valley Boulevard about 8:10 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV 5 CW Los Angeles

St. Louis County has nearly $175 million in federal grant money to spend in response to the coronavirus, but the county has been charging local first responders for masks. As some St. Louis County police departments and fire districts have found themselves shorthanded on masks and other personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 outbreak, the County Council approved $1.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Call Newspapers

The nationwide public safety wireless network that Congress created in 2012 because of failures seen during and after the 9/11 attacks is helping connect first-responders and public safety experts across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The law created an independent authority called FirstNet, provided $7 billion for it, and allocated 20 megahertz of bandwidth within the 700 MHz spectrum to create a nationwide interoperable broadband network.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Roll Call

Following House Democrats’ proposal of the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) on Tuesday, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) outlined possible impacts of the latest coronavirus aid package, and called upon fire and EMS professionals to contact their congressional representatives to support the legislation.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: EMS1

There might be no year where it is more vital to recognize the work of emergency medical services and paramedics, those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. National EMS Week is May 17-23. Whether they work at a hospital, with a fire department, for a private service or a med-flight operation, these brave men and women put their lives on the line with every call they respond to, never knowing if the person they help might be infected with a virus they might catch and take home to their own families.
- PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online

Firefighters report no injures and that residents can return home after their multi-family house in Monroe, Wis. caught fire Thursday afternoon. The Monroe Fire Department says crews responded to a report of smoke in the attic of a multi-family residence in the 2000 block of 9th Street around 1:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 6:09:50 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison