An 11-year-old boy was rescued Tuesday afternoon being disappearing in a flooded drainage ditch in Calumet County's Village of Harrison. The sheriff's office says the boy was playing with friends in the drainage ditch at about 6 p.m. The severe storms had passed but it was still raining, and the road was under about 3 feet of water.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 8:03:37 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

On August 26, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Tuesday afternoon's storms resulted in more damage in some areas still cleaning up from storms over the past week. The National Weather Service will be sending survey teams to assess the damages to confirm multiple sightings of tornadoes. Fond du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel declared a state of emergency, the county announced Tuesday night.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 6:44:43 AM - SOURCE: WBAY.com

Willow Street Fire Company Chief Michael Reese, who spent four decades as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, died this week unexpectedly. “Chief Reese’s life was dedicated to helping others,” fire company president Bob Kiesel wrote in a statement announcing Reese’s passing. Reese, 53, passed away suddenly at his home in Willow Street on Thursday after he responded to a vehicle accident earlier that morning, Kiesel wrote.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lancaster Online

Wichita residents could see a substantial shift in the way first responders handle thousands of medical calls to 911 each year. Early next year, the Wichita Fire Department will test sending emergency medical technicians on “what some have called band aids and aspirin” medical calls, Mayor Jeff Longwell said at a recent City Council meeting.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wichita Eagle & Kansas.com

The job of a firefighter isn’t what it used to be. Take Charlottesville, Va., for example, where in just the past 18 months the fire departments in the city and surrounding Albemarle County have searched the wreckage of a plane crash in a hard-to-reach wooded area, performed water rescues after spring floods, responded to the derailment of a passenger train carrying Republican members of Congress and, most memorably, provided medical assistance during white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, including one incident that left three people dead last summer.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Governing.com

According to a majority panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, a group of Pittsburgh firefighters did not prove that a different design for a fire truck siren they say permanently damaged their hearing would have been safer. On Aug. 20 in a 2-1 decision, Superior Court judges Mary Jane Bowes and Paula Francisco Ott upheld a granting of summary judgment to Federal Signal Corporation and dismissing the case brought by firefighters Ronald M.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pennsylvania Record

A longtime township fire chief in Pickaway County who was fired this month has sued to get his job back. Porter “Chip” Welch had been chief of the Scioto Township Fire Department in the northern part of the county since 2005. Township trustees met on Aug. 16 and fired him. Trustee Ralph Wolfe told The Dispatch that no one from the township could comment.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbus Dispatch

For the seventh year, the IAFC received a grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation to fund another year of the Fire Service Executive Development Institute (FSEDI). FSEDI is a program developed by the IAFC to provide new and aspiring chiefs with the tools they need to have a successful and productive tenure.
- PUB DATE: 8/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

Volunteer firefighters are hitting the streets in Eau Claire Tuesday to raise money to help children and adults living with muscular dystrophy, ALS and other related neuro-muscular diseases. The Eau Claire Fire Department says it's spreading awareness for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Full-time firefighter and retirees will be stationed outside of Gordy’s Market, Walmart, Shopko and the Chippewa Valley Regional Airport to collect funds.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 5:06:35 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

The first ever ‘Battle of the Badges’ blood drive is taking place in Eau Claire as the American Red Cross says it's facing an emergency need for blood and platelet donors. The Red Cross is partnering with the Eau Claire Police and Fire Departments to help fill some of the need. Each person who donates will be given a special Battle of the Badges t-shirt.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 5:06:34 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

The Delton Fire Department will host its annual Block Party at the Lake Delton Fire and EMS Complex, located at 45 Miller Drive, on Sept. 8 from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. The free family-friendly event is a fundraiser that goes towards the cost of the fire department’s special operations trailer, a necessary tool to help the fire department carry out its duties properly.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 2:20:58 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

Thanks to Kenosha Firefighters C.A.R.E., warning signs in English and Spanish will be designed and given to the city of Kenosha for placement near the mouth of the Pike River. The Parks Commission initially was uncertain Monday whether its members needed to vote on paying for signs offered by two different makers for the purpose.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 2:04:08 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

Communications were snarled and police, fire and medical responders were overwhelmed by 911 calls, false reports and the number of victims during the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, according to a report released Monday by U.S. and local authorities. The report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Clark County Fire Department and Las Vegas police provided an overview of first responders' actions on Oct.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun

Dallas firefighters complained Monday about a delay in police emergency response over the weekend that left firefighters to deal on their own with a knife wielding suspect. “It was one of those runs where you think it’s going to be the last run you ever make,” said Dallas Firefighters Union President Jim McDade.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Dallas - Fort Worth

Gary municipal officials are admitting that just over $8.1 million in city funds from an account specifically intended to cover expenses for Emergency Medical Services needs were actually spent on other things. City officials have been reviewing since spring the city’s 224 Fund – intended for the Fire Department’s use in maintaining ambulances and paramedics -- when it was discovered that the actual amount of money officials thought was in the fund did not match up with bank records.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

The union representing the city of Dayton’s firefighters said residents will be in danger if the city does not increase staffing. For years, the city has been “browning out,” or temporarily closing stations based on staffing. Fire Station 10 was open Monday, but it was closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHIO-TV Dayton

A New Mexico firefighter is being hailed a hero for what he did while off duty at a convenience store. In a moment of terror, he used his body to shield a woman from gunfire. The video, posted by the Española Police Department, is going viral with more than 16,000 views in just a few days and dozens of comments praising him.
- PUB DATE: 8/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRQE-TV CBS 13

The general public is uninformed about all the services provided by a local fire department, according to a recently released focus group study of the La Crosse Fire Department. The focus groups were held earlier this year to gauge how the department is working for its community members. Every five years, the fire department is re-accredited.
- PUB DATE: 8/27/2018 5:37:27 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

Monday, Black River Falls Firefighter Alec Muth took his final call. Hundreds came out to the Lunda Community Center to remember the volunteer firefighter. Muth passed away earlier this month after a motorcycle accident. "Alec, of course, was very, very intense about serving as a firefighter and everybody knew it.
- PUB DATE: 8/27/2018 5:17:39 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News