An armed man reportedly wearing body armor and pushing a shopping cart at a Walmart store in Missouri on Thursday led a store manager to pull the fire alarm and sent customers fleeing -- but an armed off-duty firefighter was able to detain the man until police officers arrived, Springfield police said.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox News

The thought of flight and the consuming power of fire has fascinated mankind for centuries. Who hasn’t looked up wondering what it would be like to soar among the clouds? Who hasn’t sat mesmerized, staring into a campfire? The translucent red flames reaching toward the sky somehow hold us captive. For a select few, fire and flight go hand in hand.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCET

It's a day meant to be remembered forever in scrapbooks: the first day of kindergarten, when parents walk their child to class for the first time. But for one Phoenix family, it was a bittersweet first day of kindergarten, as one parent was missing. Phoenix firefighter Brian Beck, Jr., tragically lost his battle with occupational cancer in May of this year.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AZFamily.com

The Bureau of Land Management Idaho Falls District has transferred surplus wildland fire engines and equipment to 34 fire programs— including two Rangeland Fire Protection Associations —across eastern Idaho. The transfers are part of BLM’s effort to respond to rural wildland fires by giving excess equipment and supplies to local fire departments and RFPAs.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Idaho State Journal

A former secretary of the Lake Delton Fire Department and the Dells-Delton Emergency Medical Services commissions who nearly ”bankrupted” the agencies by embezzling $358,000 was sentenced Thursday in federal court to 15 months in prison. Stephanie Czuprynko, 54, of Wisconsin Dells, wrote herself more than 100 checks between February 2016 and November 2018, used signature stamps she made to authenticate them and doctored entries in accounting software to cover her theft, said District Judge William Conley.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 4:48:40 PM - SOURCE: Portage Daily Register

Wisconsin regulators leveled a $25,000 fine Thursday against a contractor involved in last summer’s fatal Sun Prairie gas explosion. The Public Service Commission determined that drilling company VC Tech violated state law when it failed to contact the state’s underground utility location service before starting work on July 10, 2018.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:43:29 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

On August 1, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Port Washington aldermen said Tuesday they are willing to work with Ozaukee County to create a joint building that would serve as a city firehouse and county storage facility even as Fire Chief Mark Mitchell expressed concern about the plan. The one thing they all agreed on is that the city’s plans for a $5 million fire station on the city’s west side should not be delayed.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 3:16:43 AM - SOURCE: Ozaukee Press

Prince George’s County Fire Chief (PGFD) Benjamin Barksdale announced his retirement on July 30 from the department effective Oct. 31, when current Chief Deputy Tiffany Green will take over as interim chief. Green’s new appointment will not become official until the county council confirms it, but her promotion marks the county’s first African American female chief and the continuation of an increasing trend in female fire chiefs in the state.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Prince George's Sentinel

Halle Roebuck was born in Paradise, California just moments before a raging fire approached the local Adventist Health Feather River Hospital. Immediately after her birth, the hospital’s patients were ordered to evacuate. Heather Roebuck, Halle’s mom, later said she was told “Grab your baby, we’ve got to go.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

VIDEO: First responders make it their mission to save the lives of others. But the tragic death of a Tucson Fire captain has inspired the department to launch a campaign aimed at saving the lives of their own. Captain Glenn Fleck chewed tobacco on-and-off for years. Last year, he passed away from oral cancer.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVOA-TV NBC 4 Tucson

When Durango firefighters and paramedics pass through the city, they are reminded of past calls, like echoes in time – a crash at that intersection, a bodily trauma call in that house, the loss of a loved one for that family. “It’s like going down Main Street being like, I’ve seen a dead person there,” said an engineer in the department, who asked not to be named to maintain his privacy.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Durango Herald

VIDEO: Concord firefighters welcome the final steps of a run that stepped off in California eight months ago. Nashua native Matty Gregg has not been back to New Hampshire in over a decade. His legs and an important mission helped carry him over 5,400 miles through 24 states and over 400 towns as he has raised over $100,000 for the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.
- PUB DATE: 8/8/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMUR-TV ABC 9 Manchester

A Madisonian was reunited with his cellphone, thanks to the help of firefighters. The Madison Fire Department tweeted photos Wednesday afternoon showing firefighters using a Halligan tool, a type of pry bar, to fish the cellphone out of a sewer on Madison's north side. The firefighters were able to open the sewer grate and rescue the phone, which was returned to the owner unharmed, according to the tweet.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 4:48:31 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

A group of homeowners filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages to recover losses from property and related damages as a result of a deadly natural gas explosion in downtown Sun Prairie. Nine homeowners filed the lawsuit on August 2. They complaint is against VC Tech, Bear Communications, Verizon, WE Energies, and USIC Locating Services.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 4:39:42 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

For 75 years, Smokey Bear has taught millions of Americans about their role in preventing wildfires. On Aug. 9, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is celebrating Smokey and his timeless message, "Only you can prevent wildfires." "Smokey Bear ranks right up there behind Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse," says Catherine Koele, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 1:35:59 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

After seven years of demanding that their death and disability benefits be restored, San Diego City Firefighters finally had their voices heard after the City Council voted unanimously to bring the benefits back. The council made the decision less than five minutes after the firefighters arrived at City Hall and was met with a standing ovation.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KGYV NBC 10 San Diego

VIDEO: For firefighters, sometimes the blaze is only half the battle. "Regardless of who you are on the fire scene you get exposed to chemicals.” Over the past 3 years, Dr. Jeff Burgess, Associate Dean for Research and Professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Tucson Fire have researched ways to reduce cancer causing particles.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOLD-TV CBS 13 Tucson

A state Senate probe of New York's building codes zeroes in on two municipalities with terrible reputations: Mount Vernon, where a lone inspector handles the entire city, and Ramapo, where lax enforcement has led volunteer firefighters and the County of Rockland to step in. "The key takeaway from this investigation is that there has been a systematic failure to adequately prioritize code enforcement at all levels of government," said state Sen.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal News (LoHud.com)

The State of Montana will pay the volunteer firefighters that fought the North Hills Fire. Montana DNRC has hired the firefighters under their Emergency Firefighter (EFF) program. The volunteers will be paid for their hours spent fighting the fire from 12:00 p.m. on July 26 through 12:00 a.m. August 1.
- PUB DATE: 8/7/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVH-TV NBC 12 Helena