For the first time under a new law, state utility regulators have been asked to consider imposing penalties on the drilling company involved in last summer’s fatal Sun Prairie natural gas explosion. A panel charged with policing utility notification laws last week sent the Public Service Commission a case based on a complaint filed by USIC Locating Services, the company that was hired to mark the locations of underground pipes prior to the explosion, which killed a firefighter and injured others.
- PUB DATE: 12/27/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

VIDEO: A pair of holiday fires in Sparta strained families and emergency responders. The first, near the intersection of Montgomery and Black River streets, was reported in the early morning of Christmas Eve. A fire broke out in an apartment complex but was mostly contained within a single apartment.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 8:33:53 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

The La Crosse Fire Department responded to more than 6,000 incidents in 2018. That number, however, is only a slight increase from 2017. This year was kind to the La Crosse Fire Department under first-year Chief Ken Gilliam. He said there's still a lot to catch up on, but that there are plenty things to be proud of.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 5:16:08 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

A Christmas afternoon house fire ended in one death in the town of Rose, just west of Wild Rose. Waushara County dispatch received a call of a house fire at about noon on Tuesday at 17th Drive in Rose, which firefighters discovered to be fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. Extinguishing the fire required additional backup from other nearby fire departments, according to a news release.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 2:04:31 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

South Jersey fire company is mourning the loss of one of their own who was killed in a single-car crash while responding to a call in Hamilton Township, Atlantic County on Christmas morning. Police say 21-year-old Natalie Dempsey of Mays Landing was driving a black 2001 Honda Accord, when she lost control, and drove off the roadway, striking a guardrail.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI- TV ABC6

Six former employees of the Florida State Fire College and two of their spouses have filed a class-action lawsuit against manufacturers of firefighting suppressants used at the college, which they claim led them to develop various cancers and diseases from exposure. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges the companies were negligent and purposefully hid findings of studies that showed chemicals in the suppressants were carcinogenic and dangerous to the environment.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Commercial

Niagara Falls is looking for new police and fire chiefs, after both incumbents resigned to take demotions that could prove more lucrative. Police Superintendent E. Bryan DalPorto will step down Dec. 31 and resume his old rank as a patrol captain. Fire Chief Thomas Colangelo quit in November and resumed his former rank as a battalion chief.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

When the chiefs of the three volunteer fire squads serving Upper Merion came to the township’s board of supervisors, they were desperate. We need some help, they said. Scraping together enough members to respond to emergencies was becoming difficult, especially during the day. The Montgomery County township’s population continues to grow and, with it, the number of calls to the all-volunteer companies based in Swedeland, King of Prussia, and Swedesburg.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Philadelphia Inquirer

Six years have passed since a gunman set fire to his Webster home and ambushed first responders as they arrived on scene. Michael Chiapperini, 43, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, were killed that morning as they stepped out of their vehicles on Lake Road, in an otherwise quiet neighborhood along the Lake Ontario shoreline.
- PUB DATE: 12/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Democrat & Chronicle

A Christmas Day fire destroyed an apartment in North Fond du Lac. At 4:33, North Fond du Lac firefighters arrived at the building located at 396 Harrison Street. Crews started to attack the fire that started in one of the units. At 4:49 a.m., they called for mutual aid from other departments. At 6:20 a.
- PUB DATE: 12/25/2018 9:56:39 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

VIDEO: For first responders, Christmas can mean spending time away from family to help serve the community. In Mount Pleasant, there were 15 South Shore firefighters working Christmas Day. "It can be difficult. I’m recently married so spending time away from my wife and her family and my family it can be tough, but we got into the fire service for a reason, we’re here to help people, we came into it with the understanding that we don’t get days off, we don’t get holidays off," said firefighter Alex Szewczyk.
- PUB DATE: 12/25/2018 8:57:40 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

On December 24, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Columbia County officials are investigating an arson attempt over the weekend in the Town of Arlington, according to a release. Columbia County sheriff’s officials responded just before 10 p.m. on Saturday to a 911 call for a residential fire, officials said. The residence was damaged in the fire, but officials did not release a damage estimate.
- PUB DATE: 12/25/2018 8:26:39 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

On December 22, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 19, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An Oconto man who rescued a drowning woman last year has been named a Carnegie Hero. Eugene Stamsta called his selection for the honor — which has recognized more than 10,000 people over nearly 115 years for risking their lives for others in life-threatening situations — as “overwhelming.” “I thought, I got my (award) from the city and that was nice, but I didn’t expect this at all,” he said.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2018 9:06:08 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

Ripping off car doors. Rescuing fallen firefighters. Climbing stories high on a ladder. For some local teenagers, the experiences have shown what it'd be like to become a firefighter - before even graduating high school. The students have participated in hours of training sessions as a part of the Town of Beloit Fire Department's "Youth Explorer Program," founded by firefighter/paramedic Casey Bellard about three years ago.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2018 7:55:06 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

On December 18, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The proposed South Shore Fire Department ambulance fee increase that was set to take effect on Jan. 1 has been postponed after it failed to pass the Sturtevant Village Board Tuesday. The Sturtevant Board reached a 3-3 tie, with trustees asking for more information before approving the ambulance fee increase.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2018 5:28:02 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

On December 20, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.