"It's not unusual to have an overdose every day," says the Rockford Fire Department's Mobile Integrated Healthcare manager Shannon Kopp. "We're seeing it a lot." Winnebago County has the highest overdose drug problem in the state per capita. The Rockford Fire Department is trying to reduce those numbers through its "Knock and Talk" initiative.
- PUB DATE: 2/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIFR-TV CBS 23 Rockford

New York City lost two more of its bravest to 9/11-related illnesses. Retired firefighters Paul Deo, Jr. and Richard Jones both died Friday, joining hundreds of other first responders who succumbed to diseases contracted at Ground Zero in the days and weeks after the Twin Towers fell. ”Nearly two decades later, our FDNY family continues to lose remarkable men and women who never wavered in their commitment to protecting life and property in our city," said FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
- PUB DATE: 2/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Firefighters are known for being there to help in an emergency, but who’s there when firefighters need help? It’s a question one Milwaukee firefighter named Joe Flick has asked himself a lot. It inspired him to launch an organization called Ignite the Spirit Milwaukee. “I do believe we're all kind of cut from the same cloth,” Flick said about his fellow firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2020 6:41:09 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

An ambulance carrying a patient was involved in a crash on Milwaukee's north side. Firefighters say it happened at 6th and North shortly before 9:00 p.m. Friday. The fire department says it is a private ambulance. Two paramedics inside and a patient were sent to the hospital with minor injuries.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 9:03:37 PM - SOURCE: Today's TMJ4

Members of the Milwaukee Fire Department paid their respects to one of their own. Darrin Jones, 53, served nearly three decades on the department. He died unexpectedly on Feb. 1. Friday, a procession of fire trucks escorted his casket to the Krause Funeral Home for the visitation. “Everybody’s missing Darrin,” said Brent Jones, Lieutenant with MFD.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 3:38:46 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

he Merrill Fire Chief says one person is in stable condition following an overnight house fire in Merrill. Crews responded to the 100 block of East Riverside Avenue around 1 a.m. Friday. Chief Josh Klug said house is still standing but the first floor is badly damaged. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 6:39:24 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

Some Sacramento city leaders up in arms over the airing of a reality television show that follows Sacramento firefighters and paramedics on the job. A&E's "Live Rescue" features first responders in cities and towns across the country -- and the Sacramento Fire Department is one of them. The show is now in its second season.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCRA-TV NBC 3 Sacramento

Just 10 miles from Findlay, Ohio is a small town called Vanlue. That's where you'll find the Fighting 600 Firehouse where a half dozen firefighters volunteer to save lives. "At any given moment," says volunteer firefighter, Ross Wentling, "we get pulled from our families and family events to help people we don't even know.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVG-TV ABC 13 Toledo

Bill Compton, senior vice president for Grady Emergency Medical Services, is happy to deliver data on response times for his ambulances in one of the most vulnerable corners of the state: south Fulton. And why wouldn’t he be pleased? Grady, he said, has shaved off 10 minutes from the previous ambulance service’s response times.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mike Kitsock never thought he’d still be fighting fires as a sexagenarian. But such is life for Kitsock, 66, in a land where volunteer ranks have dwindled and old wooden homes can quickly turn to ash. “We get a daytime call, I’m hoping there’s two or three others who show up with me,” said Kitsock, who still runs with the Seltzer Hose Company in Norwegian Township in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSKG-FM 89.3

The Department of Natural Resources is asking fire departments around the state to report their use of any firefighting foam that contains perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances. A news release said the University of Wisconsin-Madison Survey Center is conducting a statewide survey on behalf of the DNR to locate the usage of PFAS in firefighting foams.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Channel 3000 - WISC-TV CBS 3 Madison

Firefighters are at the scene of a fire in downtown Madison Thursday evening. Dane County dispatch said it received a call at 5:41 p.m. for a report of a structure fire on the 100 block of North Franklin St. The Madison Fire Department reports five people have been displaced, but no one was home at the time of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 5:37:28 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

Beaver Dam emergency response staff will be able to live further away from where they work. The city’s police and fire commission approved a policy change Wednesday that will allow police officers, firefighters and paramedics to live within 45 miles of city limits. The previous limit was 15 miles. The change was meant to help better recruit candidates for positions.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 4:37:52 PM - SOURCE: wisc news - Metered Site

The Department of Natural Resources is asking fire departments around the state to report their use of any firefighting foam that contains perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances. A news release said the University of Wisconsin-Madison Survey Center is conducting a statewide survey on behalf of the DNR to locate the usage of PFAS in firefighting foams.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 3:49:51 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

VIDEOS: Boston firefighters battled a 4-alarm fire in the city’s South Boston neighborhood, and spent most of the evening working to put out remaining hotspots. The fire started in the basement of an unoccupied building that is being renovated on East 7th Street shortly after 5 p.m., and quickly spread to the floors above as well as an attached building that was occupied, Boston Fire officials said.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston

VIDEO: The Santa Maria Airport just purchased new equipment that allows the fire department to test its fire-fighting foam, while protecting the environment. The device meets a new FAA regulation regarding foam testing for the airport fire department. It's called NoFoam System. The device is used to test the concentration of water versus foam.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KEYT-TV ABC 3 Santa Barbara

In response to a deadly fire in a Minneapolis high-rise last fall, a group of Minnesota lawmakers on Wednesday, Feb. 5, proposed legislation that would require nearly all tall apartment buildings to install automatic sprinkler systems. Five people died Nov. 27, 2019, in an early-morning fire at Cedar High Apartments, a 25-story building near downtown Minneapolis.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Duluth News Tribune

VIDEO: Two Papillion firefighters are still recovering after what is called a smoke explosion during a fire Saturday night. A video of that blast is shown from a Sarpy County deputy’s cruiser cam. A blast of fire and air that caught three Papillion firefighters off guard and too close. One of them is Joe Lapuzza silhouetted against the flames.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOWT-TV NBC 6 Omaha

A Commonwealth Court panel Wednesday thwarted an attempt by the state attorney general’s office to forcibly dissolve a volunteer fire company that refused to participate in a government-organized merger. The ruling means that, for now at least, Independent Fire Company No. 1 in South Williamsport can continue to exist as a nonprofit entity and might even resume fighting fires outside the borough.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has signed a Republican bill that imposes new restrictions on firefighting foam containing PFAS chemcials. The bill prohibits the use of foam containing intentionally added PFAS except in emergency fire situations. Firefighters will have to train with foam or other substances that don’t contain the chemicals.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2020 4:37:28 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison