Emerging technologies could allow first responders to call up all sorts of information when responding to an emergency, but there is some uncertainty about what information is useful, how it should be displayed, and how emergency personnel could control which information to access and when. NC State is working with first responders to address these questions.
- PUB DATE: 7/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: North Carolina State University

Fire seasons in 2017 and 2018 caused the residents of California to take a long, hard look at themselves, their electricity providers, the way their forests are managed, what their evacuation plans look like, and whether their homes are protected. Communities on the Central Coast face fire yearly, from Lake Nacimiento to the forested hills outside of Santa Barbara.
- PUB DATE: 7/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Times

VIDEO: Heart health is a key focus for firefighters. With heavy lifting and gear, the body can take on a lot of stress. In 2018, 64 firefighters were lost in the national line of duty — almost half of those were related to sudden cardiac arrest. That’s one of the reasons why fire departments throughout the area gathered together for a fitness-based training session, hosted by the Gates Fire District.
- PUB DATE: 7/25/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WROC-TV CBS 8 Rochester

A suspected drunken driver plunged into the Fox River in downtown Waukesha earlier this month. Witnesses said the driver, 19-year-old Viktoria Droegkamp, drove around a bend and clipped a tree before she careened into the river. "(The) car was going zig-zag," said Leslie Silvernail, who pulled the driver to safety.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 8:54:55 PM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

"There's not much new here, as you can see," explained Captain Jim HIllcoat of the La Crosse Fire Department. Nearly 80 years old, Fire Station Four has a lot of history to it, and a lot of wear and tear. "You see the windows on the apparatus bay? What happens when you have windows like that? What happens to your utility bills?" questioned Hillcoat.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 4:48:10 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

The Senate voted Tuesday to extend funding for first responders suffering health problems as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In a 97-2 vote, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill that would effectively make the victims’ compensation fund for 9/11 first responders and other victims of the attacks permanent.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

When Stan Caplan built his retirement home on the ridge of a majestic chaparral-covered hillside in an affluent gated community in Rancho Santa Fe, he wasn’t thinking much about insuring his property against wildfire. Today, the issue has been consuming the 70-year-old Texas transplant. In June, he received a letter in the mail that his homeowner’s insurance was being canceled because of the “increased frequency of catastrophic wildfires in California.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune - Metered Site

A record that stood for nearly 30 years fell this past week when the roster at the Alaska Smokejumper Base at Fort Wainwright was filled with the names of 206 jumpers at the same time. That’s more than half of the roughly 400 smokejumpers on rosters nationwide this year. The previous record in Alaska was 202 jumpers on the roster at once.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Aviation

You may have heard that freeze-dried food was invented to feed astronauts on the Apollo missions, and although “astronaut ice cream” was never actually used during the operations, it was developed for NASA in the 1960s. Two other items people commonly believe originated with Apollo 11 are Tang and Teflon, but this is apocryphal — NASA isn’t responsible for your non-stick pans or your fruit drink mix.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Digital Trends

King William County allocates more than a half-million dollars to volunteer fire organizations each year, but county officials say they have little, if any, oversight. The county has budgeted $1.43 million for fire and emergency services for the fiscal year that started July 1, according to the county’s adopted budget.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Virginia Gazette

On July 23, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

The Eau Claire Fire Department responded to an appliance fire and explosion that hurt one person. It happened just before 5 p.m. at the Gyro King in the 300 block of Water Street. Crews say nothing was showing from the structure, but they could smell natural gas. Businesses on both sides were evacuated and Water Street was closed off for about two hours There was no fire and crews turned off the gas and ventilated the building.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 5:53:24 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

Communication systems usually are the first thing to break down in an emergency situation, Portage Fire Inspector Craig Ratz said. In a push to improve communication among local firefighters when responding to calls, Ratz said he ordered several new noise-reducing headsets that block out some noise of sirens and make it easier for teams to plan ahead and chat back and forth between engines.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 5:34:03 PM - SOURCE: Portage Daily Register

Running the master streamer on a Rhinelander firetruck gave Nick Heise a sense of control over an exciting situation this morning. The junior firefighter got the chance to do something he s never done before: go into a burning building and put out the fire. "You can call us crazy, but we actually like to do it," Heise said.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 4:59:07 PM - SOURCE: WJFW-TV NBC 12 Rhinelander-Wausau

The mortgage on fallen Appleton firefighter Mitchell Lundgaard’s home was paid in full, The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced Tuesday, July 23. Lundgaard was killed in a shooting on May 15 at the transit center in downtown Appleton. Lundgaard left behind a wife and three sons. According to a news release, the mortgage was paid after Rush Limbaugh announced a $2 million donation, a portion of sales proceeds from his Stand Up For Betsy Ross T-shirts.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 4:40:21 PM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

With hot summer temperatures here to stay, the Sun Prairie Fire Department is finding ways to help the community stay cool. "We try to get out as much as we can between calls," said firefighter Bryan Davis. Sometimes the firefighters just hand out water, but this summer, they are trying something different.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 3:46:15 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

The foam firefighters used to put out the fires Friday at substations for utility companies is not believed to have contained a group of chemicals compounds commonly known as PFAS. Assistant Chief of Support Services Michael Popovich said firefighters used a foam called FireAid 2000 and consulted the manufacturer, which said the foam is not linked to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 1:41:45 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

On July 22, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On July 21, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters on Tuesday morning, July 23 responded to the scene of a house fire near 4th and Plainfield in Milwaukee. The call came in around 3:30 a.m. Officials say the fire started in the basement. All of the occupants were out of the home when crews arrived on scene. No injuries have been reported.
- PUB DATE: 7/23/2019 4:36:32 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6