VIDEO: The Batesville Fire and EMS Department, established in 1887, hired its first full-time female firefighter — the first in the department’s history. Several women have worked as part-time EMTs or volunteer firefighters, according to a news release, but Lisa Jennings will be first to serve as a full-time firefighter/paramedic.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCPO Cincinnati

The Village Board on Tuesday denied a request from the Caledonia Fire Department to apply for a grant that potentially could have helped fund the addition of six firefighters to its staff. Instead of authorizing the department’s application for a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response — or SAFER — grant, the village trustees agreed to create an ad hoc committee to look into various options for financing and staffing at the department.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal Times

VIDEO: Together, they are making history in Howard County: Lisa Myers, the county’s first female police chief, and Christine Uhlhorn, the first female fire chief. ABC7 recently spoke to the two women about what it took to break the glass ceiling. "It's an amazing opportunity," Myers said. "I think we both realize it's much larger than who we are.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA.com

VIDEO: Clover isn’t bringing on a new paid chief after all. A lengthy Clover Town Council executive session Monday night led to a reversal of course on hiring a new chief. “At last night’s meeting, the town council voted to change the policy directive with regard to the hiring of paid personnel at the Clover Fire Department,” said Allison Harvey, town administrator.
- PUB DATE: 3/15/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Herald

On March 14, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

A man is dead after a crash involving a semitractor trailer and a car Thursday afternoon in the Dunn County town of Red Cedar. According to a news release from the Dunn County sheriff’s office: The department received report of a crash at the intersection of U.S. 12 and Highway B at about 3:07 p.m.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 7:54:04 PM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

First responders and a good Samaritan helped rescue a dog from icy Monona waters Thursday morning, officials said. The Monona Fire Department said firefighters and police responded at 10:08 a.m. to the 600 block of Pirate Island for a report of a dog that had somehow fallen into the water and couldn't get up on the ice to get out.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 3:08:26 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

The rapid snow melt has become too much to handle for many southern Wisconsin rivers and streams, with flooding reported on dozens of highways, people being evacuated in Fond du Lac and at least one record breaking water level in Columbia County. In Fond du Lac, the Associated Press reported workers have helped as many as 300 people evacuate from their homes because of ice-jam flooding along the Fond du Lac River in eastern Wisconsin.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 11:50:32 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

The Fond du Lac Fire Department is working to rescue people from flooded roads and homes near the Fond du Lac River as water rises Thursday morning. Just before 9 a.m., Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue Chief Peter O'Leary confirmed authorities are evacuating an apartment complex situated along the river on Western Avenue.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 7:43:58 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

On March 7, 15 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters on Wednesday night, March 13 were called out to the Best Buy store in the Village of Kohler for reports of a fire. The call came in around 10:40 p.m. Upon arrival, crews observed smoke coming through the roof — and the windows were blackened with smoke. Numerous surrounding fire departments were requested to assist.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 6:49:32 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A three stall unattached garage is a total loss after a fire late Wednesday night. Just before 11:30 p.m., fire crews were called to the scene at 1163 Eastman Ave., according to a press release from the Green Bay Metro Fire Department. When firefighters arrived they found the garage fully engulfed in flames, the fire department said.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 5:35:28 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

VIDEO: Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday that San Francisco Fire Deputy Chief Jeanine Nicholson would take over the duties as the new chief, the first member of the LGBT community to head the department. Nicholson, a 25-year veteran of the department, replaces retiring Joanne Hayes-White and becomes the second woman to hold the top post.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

A bill to extend workers' compensation to first responders suffering from psychological injuries was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little on Tuesday. The law will make police, firefighters and other first responders with “clear and convincing” evidence of a work-related psychological injury eligible for worker’s compensation.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MagicValley.com

AUDIO: Earlier this month, a group of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics became the first in New Hampshire to complete an intensive course on how to react to people in mental health crisis. It brought together people with firsthand experience from both sides of that interaction. Inside a small carpeted classroom at the New Hampshire Fire Academy, two police officers are trying to get through to a woman in crisis.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Hampshire Public Radio

VIDEO: Drone company Flirtey has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct drone delivery flights beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), allowing for drones to deliver defibrillators to heart attack victims so treatment can begin before paramedics arrive. The new approval enables Flirtey to conduct drone delivery operations with a pilot controlling the flights from a remote location.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOLO 8 News Now

The Akron Fire Department is adopting a staffing strategy that fills openings as they happen instead of hiring extra at the start of the year and expecting they’ll be needed when employees leave or retire. Before a day of contract negotiations with the labor union and a budget hearing before city council, Fire Chief Clarence Tucker said the old way created roller coaster staffing levels, with too many employees for the first half of the year, just enough in the middle and not enough at the end.
- PUB DATE: 3/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal

As Rusty Witthuhn watched smoke come out from, a now frail Author's Kitchen + Bar, he couldn't help but reminisce about his childhood. "My parents brought me here to buy shoes when I was a kid," said Witthuhn. "Since then it's been a number of different restaurants." "We had significant fire around us and conditions were worsening, we pulled crews out and went to a defensive attack," said Appleton Battalion Fire Chief Ethan Kroll.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 2:37:42 PM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11

People in Milwaukee are mourning a man and a child killed in a house fire on the city's north side. Fire officials say incidents like this are what they're trained for, but they say any loss is hard not just for a community but for firefighters as well. "I just felt for the family because they were here screaming and crying," said Nicole Russ, a witness.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 1:12:51 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

On March 11, 13 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.