On March 9, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters on Tuesday night, March 12 responded to the scene of a shed fire on State Highway 32 in Sheboygan Falls. The call came in around 10:30 p.m. When crews arrived on scene, they observed one of two sheds fully engulfed in fire. There was fencing surrounding the two sheds — and several cats within the fenced area were saved.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 5:35:23 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

An apartment building is destroyed in a fire in Appleton. It broke out around 2 a.m. Wednesday near the 200 block of North Appleton Street. The building's owner says 7 people lived in these apartments and were home at the time of the fire. Fire crews say 8 tenants were evacuated safely. Officials say they believe this is a natural gas fire but they still can't confirm a cause.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 3:32:44 AM - SOURCE: NBC26

VIDEO: Numerous firefighters, officials, departments, and community leaders are holding meetings to discuss their resources in firefighting amidst an almost certain tightening of the budget belt. Firefighters are familiar with fighting smoke and flames, but at a meeting in Torrington, firefighters and officials are fighting for their futures in the face of shrinking state resources.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFSB-TV CBS 3

VIDEO: The Hickory Hills Fire Department said it has some employees it could hire back if a change to the state's pension system is made. House Bill 2051 would allow those who are eligible for the pension to also continue working for a volunteer department. "I think it's great," Hickory Hills Fire Chief Craig Youngblood said.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOKH-TV FOX25

After a fire destroyed the lone fire hall on Madeline Island in early March, the Wisconsin DNR stepped in to help the island. When the fire broke out on March 6, volunteer firefighters from Bayfield, Red Cliff, Washburn and Ashland responded, but could only bring relatively light "brush trucks," according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, because the ice wasn't thick enough to support the weight of fire engines.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSTP-TV

VIDEO: A proposed bill in the State House would make cancer an occupational disease for firefighters. Local fire officials said this would help with workers’ compensation, and if a current or former firefighter passed away from cancer, it would be considered a line-of-duty death. "The nature of the business is you work around carcinogens and there’s a really good chance that something’s going to happen,” said Rob Mullaney, president of the Horry County Professional Firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBF-TV NBC Myrtle Beach

VIDEO: Firefighters in Emmet County are taking exception to cuts in funding for life-saving equipment. Emmet County Commissioners approved a budget that slashes funding for local fire departments in half, and could take it all away next year. “We felt we should voice our concern about this and bring it to the commissioners’ attention,” Resort Bear Creek Fire and Rescue Chief Al Welsheimer, said.
- PUB DATE: 3/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWTV-TV 9&10 News

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: 3/12/2019 11:07:23 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

On March 12, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

The Freeport City Council on Monday discussed a potential ordinance change that would allow the Fire Department to bill insurance companies for auto accidents. If approved, the Fire Department would start billing the responsible driver’s insurance company $500 for every accident that firefighters are dispatched to and $1,400 if the driver is extricated from the vehicle.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Freeport Journal-Standard

VIDEO: Several Kansas City firefighters are in Washington, D.C. this week for the largest legislative conference among all labor unions. Mental health is one of the topics they will be focusing on with members of Congress to encourage support on this issue. As they protect our communities, professional firefighters are also facing threats to their own safety and well-being.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCTV-TV CBS 5 Kansas City

The challenges of running a volunteer fire department — the budget constraints, cancer risks and difficulty recruiting young people — highlighted a meeting of fire officials Saturday in Albertson. State fire officials emphasized the problems of keeping up with the changing landscape of volunteer firefighting, as they briefed about 75 local first responders on state legislative priorities.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NewsDay.com

A bill introduced in the Tennessee legislature would allow emergency medical responders and firefighters to carry handguns for their safety, but some emergency response leaders aren’t sure that’s such a good idea. As written, the bill “authorizes any person employed as a firefighter or emergency medical technician (EMT), that has received a written directive from their supervisor and completed an annual eight-hour firearm training, to carry a handgun while engaged in the performance of the person’s official duties.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Johnson City Press

A statewide shortage of trained medical personnel has left many rural county ambulance services having to delay hospital transfers to ensure they have enough staff for emergencies. For example, in Norton County in northwest Kansas, the county's 5,400 residents are served by six full-time volunteers and nine volunteers, who respond to all 911 calls and taken patients from one hospital to another.
- PUB DATE: 3/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Kansas City Star

A fire at a Janesville home has displaced five people and left $25,000 worth of damage, according to a news release from the Janesville Fire Department. Firefighters responded to a single-story, single-family home at 3206 Canterbury Lane for a report of a residential fire just after 8:45 p.m. Monday.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 10:26:54 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

On March 11, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters have extinguished a fire at K&S Fuel Injection in Weston. The call for the fire came in just before 9 p.m. Monday night. According to the South Area Fire and Emergency Response District, the fire was out within 20 minutes of them arriving at the scene. There's extensive damage to a corner of the building where construction was being done.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 7:59:15 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

On Sunday around 8:30 a.m. the roof of the White Lake Volunteer Fire Department in Langlade County collapsed causing emergency response vehicles to be caught underneath the debris. No one was inside the building at the time of the collapse. “It was kind of shocking at first, you think it's never going to happen to your department but it does," stated Allan Holbrook, assistant chief with the White Lake Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2019 7:43:50 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

On March 10, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.