Several kittens are okay after a fire at their apartment building. Firefighters rescued the pets and gave them oxygen, while crews worked to contain the flames on N. 24th Street and W. Kilbourn Ave around 11 p.m. Wednesday. Milwaukee fire department officials say everyone got out of the building okay, and no injuries were reported.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 7:43:17 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

A contractor that specializes in locating and marking underground utilities to prevent accidents failed to properly mark a natural gas line that was struck by a communications construction firm, which led to a massive explosion in downtown Sun Prairie in July that killed a fire department captain, according to a search warrant unsealed in Dane County Circuit Court.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin State Journal

The cast-iron natural gas main that served Dr. Richard Williams' turn-of-the-century home in this Southern college town was as old as the house itself: It was built during Shreveport's first gas-fueled boom in 1911. When that pipeline cracked in 2016, the gas built up slowly and silently in a shed behind Williams' home.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

For decades, Devil's Night in Detroit was a horror story -- a night when arsonists ran amok, and when homeowners stood on their lawns with garden hoses running while the city reeled amid hundreds of fires that firefighters couldn't douse. Now? The plague of arson seems to be over. As trick-or-treaters made the rounds Wednesday night, Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones released a statement about Devil's Night at the Free Press' request.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to get answers from Verizon about fire crews getting their data speeds throttled as they battled the Mendocino Complex Fire over the summer. Santa Clara Fire Chief Tony Bowden and Verizon representatives gave status reports at the meeting.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

The Otsego County Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Town of Oneonta Fire District Board of Commissioners on Oct. 31, dismissing the requested injunction by the Town of Oneonta. The Fire Commission may now proceed with its dissolution Friday, Nov. 2 as planned. The Commission voted to dissolve in September following more than a year of stalled budget negotiations between the town, commission and city.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oneonta Daily Star

A San Francisco paramedic and a police officer have lost their jobs after an alleged assault last year on a woman who was restrained in the back of an ambulance on an involuntary mental health hold, officials said Wednesday. The paramedic, Raymond Lee, resigned from the San Francisco Fire Department on Friday after being criminally charged earlier this year for allegedly grabbing the victim’s throat while she was restrained and sedated, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 11/1/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

VIDEO: A paddleboarder who passed out had to be rescued Wednesday night from Upper Nemahbin Lake in the village of Summit. Firefighters said when they arrived at about 5:45 p.m., the male was unconscious in the water. Western Lakes firefighters said two people were paddleboarding on the lake when one of them passed out.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 9:12:22 PM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

A lightning strike at a condominium activated fire alarms, shut down elevators and caused the smell of burning wiring in a condominium complex on Madison's north side, according to a news release from the Fire Department. Officials said the lightning struck an electrical panel at the Cherokee Garden Condominiums.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 5:26:16 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

A second driveway proposed by the Sauk City Fire Department could have an impact on the Great Sauk State Trail. The topic was on the agenda of the Oct. 24 Great Sauk State Trail Commission, where a representative from an architectural firm presented details. Ellery Schafer, of Jewell Associates Architects, said the department originally requested the driveway in conjunction with phase one trail planning, but was put off by the Department of Transportation.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 1:36:24 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

On October 30, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On October 30, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

On October 29, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Southern California Edison said Tuesday its equipment likely sparked one of two ignition points for the massive wildfire that tore through California’s central coast last year. Witnesses reported flames near the company’s power poles in Ventura County last December and the utility “believes that its equipment was associated with this ignition,” Edison said.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS Sacramento

When, in the afternoon of Sept. 13, Lawrence Fire Chief Brian Moriarty first got the call about house explosions and fires across the south side of his city, he was driving back up to the Merrimack Valley from Boston after taking an emergency medical service class, hoping to meet a few guys after work.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lawrence Eagle Tribune

The Chicago Police Department has been holding frequent entrance exams — in May and June of this year with a third coming up in December — as it wraps up a two-year hiring surge to add 970 additional officers over and above attrition. But the Chicago Fire Department is a different story. There was a firefighters entrance exam in 2014.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times

Have you ever thought of being a first responder for the supernatural? Mary Barrett and her husband, Sean, a 33-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department, launched Paranormal 911 in 2009 after being inspired by an evening of ghost touring. The couple now leads a team mainly consisting of firefighters, EMS providers and police officers on ghost investigation adventures, and has even gained national attention on the A&E show, “My Ghost Story.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Three South Portland firefighters were training with a new $1.1 million ladder truck Tuesday morning when they accidentally hit a power line with the truck’s aerial, according to a statement released by City Manager Scott Morrelli Tuesday night. The contact with the electrical line caused a fire to the truck’s front right tire and shorted the controls of the aerial, keeping the firefighters from moving the extendable ladder away from the line, Morrelli said.
- PUB DATE: 10/31/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News

VIDEO: A fire station in Appleton received some major renovations Tuesday. Forty volunteers from Home Depot crowded Appleton Fire Station 3, on Grove St. "What's being renovated here is a kitchen. It was a total gut and remodel; we pulled out all the old existing cabinets, put in new cabinets," said Heather Janssen, the Home Depot specialty assistant store manager.
- PUB DATE: 10/30/2018 3:49:52 PM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11

VIDEO: Just a few months ago in August, the 90-year-old Brin Building in Menasha went up in flames. The fire gutted the building, and is now slated to be torn down. A Neenah-Menasha firefighter paid tribute to that historic building in a very unique way, and it was particularly timely this week. It was a battle Fox Valley firefighters are unlikely to forget.
- PUB DATE: 10/30/2018 1:36:59 PM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11