A construction crew using Bobcat equipment struck a gas line in downtown Okauchee on May 12, according to Western Lakes Fire District Chief Brad Bowen. "There was active gas flowing so they evacuated the houses, basically a 300-foot perimeter until the gas company could arrive and shut down the flowing main," Bowen said.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 1:04:35 PM - SOURCE: Lake Country News

PHOTO: A heart-wrenching moment from the scene of this weekend’s devastating house fire in New Glarus demonstrates the impact a firefighter can have – even when they aren’t battling the flames. The New Glarus Fire Department shared the powerful photo on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, showing a little boy embracing the firefighter as his family was getting their first look at their burned-out home.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 11:58:43 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Two buildings suffered significant damage and a third was completely destroyed in a fire along the 3100 block of West North Avenue on Milwaukee’s west side Tuesday morning. Dan Lipski, a deputy chief with the Milwaukee Fire Department, said it appeared the buildings had been burning for a while before fire crews were called to the area at 3:45 a.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 5:48:26 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The 115th Fighter Wing is going to pay tribute to all of America’s heroes, including health care workers and first responders with a flyover with four F-16 Fighting Falcons, over the skies of Wisconsin on Tuesday, May 12. The flyover is part of Operation American Resolve, a nationwide campaign, designed to show appreciation for the thousands of heroes on the frontlines, as well as, citizens and neighbors who've been battling and supporting the COVID-19 response.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

In the middle of a pandemic that has taken the lives of 26 firefighters, the nation is losing more firefighters. COVID-19 related budget cuts -- in communities large and small – have resulted in the layoff or furlough of at least 935 fire department employees, including front-line firefighters, EMTs & paramedics.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

The Olathe Fire Station is the first EMS departments in the country to begin remotely monitoring coronavirus patients. The department has teamed up with a global tech company, Masimo SafetyNet. "There have been some hospital systems using it, but we are the first EMS agency," Olathe Fire Department Medical Director Dr.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDAF-TV FOX 4 Kansas City

A New Jersey Assembly panel advanced a bill that would help first responders and their families financially in the event that they are disabled or injured by COVID-19. Local law enforcement officers, state troopers, firefighters, and emergency medical responders enrolled in one of the three retirement systems associated with these professions are eligible for accidental disability benefits if they sustain a permanent and total disability resulting from a traumatic event that occurred on the job.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hudson County View

Some of the names are written in small, cropped print, others in swooping cursive. A few are flanked by hearts, and some accompanied by short notes scrawled in permanent marker. Each name written on the Berea Fire Department's pink truck is different, and each one has its story. "Stories of hope and courage," they're called by Assistant Fire Chief Alan Myers, whose own name appears a few feet above the truck's pump discharges.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Greenville Online

Fort Lauderdale and Broward fire-rescues’ newly released numbers confirm what many have suspected: More people are afraid to go to the hospital and, as a result, are dying at home. Records released Monday from Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue and Broward County Fire and Rescue found twice as many people were already dead when responders arrived at their home in April than a year earlier, and the pattern appears to be continuing in May.
- PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Florida Sun Sentinel - Metered Site

Despite scattered rain showers this weekend, elevated fire conditions continue today through Wednesday, especially in northern Wisconsin, where the fire danger is high to very high due to low relative humidity and slower progression of green-up. Fires under these circumstances can start easily and spread quickly.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 2:34:11 PM - SOURCE: Department of Natural Resources

Firefighters extinguished a garage fire Sunday night caused by a chicken heat lamp, according to a Town of Beloit Fire Department news release. The fire was reported at 8:35 p.m. Sunday, May 10, at 1832 Walters Road. Firefighters found flames inside an attached garage when they arrived and was assured by the homeowner no one was in the house, according to the news release.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 5:10:23 AM - SOURCE: Janesville Gazette

Deborah Coughlin was neither short of breath nor coughing. In those first days after she became infected by the novel coronavirus, her fever never spiked above 100 degrees. It was vomiting and diarrhea that brought her to a Hartford, Conn., emergency room on May 1. “You would have thought it was a stomach virus,” said her daughter, Catherina Coleman.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Washington Post

Nearly 60 people were displaced after a six-alarm fire tore through a Paterson neighborhood on Saturday night. The blaze was reported around 8:40 p.m. on Beech Street and spread to six houses, according to Paterson Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale. No injuries were reported among the residents, but a firefighter and police officer suffered minor injuries, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

VIDEO: What do you get when you combine a lamp stand, a timer and a germicidal bulb? According to a self-admitted "tinkerer", it's another weapon to protect firefighters and the public during the pandemic. Lt. Tom Carano, a veteran firefighter with the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, came up with the idea and built five of the devices-- one for each of the city's five fire stations.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEWS-TV ABC 5 Cleveland

U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

According to a report from The Associated Press, a state agreement allows for the names and addresses of those who test positive for the novel coronavirus to be released to first responders, law enforcement, and paramedics. News Channel 11’s Anslee Daniel spoke to the Washington County 911 director, Greg Matherly, who said that the list will be updated daily, with names regenerating every 30 days after testing positive.
- PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJHL-TV CBS/ABC 11 Johnson City

The Sheboygan Fire Department report that around 4 p.m. on Saturday, crews were dispatched to the 2200 block of North 8th Street for reports of a fire in a Sheboygan home. Firefighters say they arrived on the scene within four minutes of the initial report and found flames coming from the front porch of the residence.
- PUB DATE: 5/10/2020 6:48:58 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

Firefighters from multiple Dane County municipalities responded early Saturday morning to a house on County Highway J that was engulfed in flames. Around 4 a.m. Saturday, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters from Black Earth, Cross Plains, Belleville, Verona, Mount Horeb, Fitchburg, Madison and Middleton responded to the fire at 2712 County Highway J.
- PUB DATE: 5/9/2020 6:26:28 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

While many of us are "Safer at Home," the work of firefighters and first responders doesn't stop. So along with the dangers they normally see on the job, the coronavirus pandemic has been added to the list. Michael Wos of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin says every call could mean coming in contact with COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2020 10:16:38 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

The coronavirus pandemic has brought out a need, for many, to help others. And, after growing up in the home of a firefighter, a Fond du Lac native was inspired to support first responders in her new city. Empty streets are an unusual sight in New York City. For Fond du Lac native, Emily Shippee, and her boyfriend Charles Rockefeller, who has family ties to Appleton, living in New York City during this pandemic is surreal.
- PUB DATE: 5/8/2020 3:36:33 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay