Death came in an instant. And as never seen before in California history. The Redding firefighter who died on July 26 as the fast-growing Carr Fire hit its apex was in fact killed by a fire tornado, the most intense tornado ever in the state, according to a report The Chronicle obtained Wednesday. The monster tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour swept down upon Jeremiah “Jeremy” Stoke in mere seconds, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

As many as 71 people overdosed in the city in 24 hours — many on the Green Wednesday — as emergency crews raced to save lives and one man was arrested as a “person of interest” in the case, police said Wednesday. The man, whom investigators identified only as a person “believed to be connected to at least some of the overdoses,” was found in possession of drugs, police said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Haven Register

East Syracuse Fire Chief Jim Brewster has been removed as the village's fire chief by its board of trustees after he used the N-word in a comment on Facebook on June 28, according to East Syracuse Mayor Robert Tackman. Brewster has also been removed from his position as the senior caretaker of the fire department, Tackman said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse.com

With the impending retirement of Hoquiam Fire Chief Paul Dean Oct. 1 and now a letter of support from the presidents of both the Aberdeen and Hoquiam firefighters unions, discussions between the two cities about consolidating fire and EMS services seems to be picking up steam. The letter was presented to the Hoquiam City Council Monday.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily World

After an extended and potentially dangerous squabble over which agency is better equipped to handle air rescues, Orange County fire and sheriff’s officials said Wednesday they’ve come up with a plan that emphasizes teamwork and will enable safer and more efficient emergency responses. The joint plan emerged following a bitter, months-long feud between sheriff’s deputies and firefighters over rescues that involved the use of helicopters, and which in some cases led to delays in transporting injured people to hospitals.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

On August 15, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: A driver reported seeing smoke at a house on Old Highway 51 in Mosinee around 5:30 P.M. Wednesday afternoon. Part of that highway was then closed off for several hours as numerous fire departments responded. Officials said the fire was mostly contained to the attic, but the house sustained heavy damage.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 10:10:06 PM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

VIDEO: Janesville and Milton already share borders, but sometimes, the two Rock County cities share a little bit more with one another. As is the trend with more and more cities in Wisconsin, the two have begun sharing fire services when necessary. “There’s situations where Janesville gets overwhelmed with calls or we have a large fire and we need them for their assistance," said joint Fire Chief Randall Banker.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 9:54:13 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

PHOTO: Six firefighters were injured Tuesday while battling a fire in Waukesha. The Waukesha Fire Department was dispatched to the 300 block of East Main Street for a report of smoke in the area. While in route, crews were told that the fire was coming from the Spring City Wine House. First crews on scene reported a possible working fire in the wall of the business with light smoke coming from the wall.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 5:05:29 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58

The town will get a new $6.5 million fire station to replace its existing 50-year-old station. Voters on Tuesday approved a referendum for the new station by a vote of 1,895 to 1,385 (58 percent to 42 percent). "We're very pleased with the outcome," Town Administrator Joel Gregozeski told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 3:30:17 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

Amid a relentless onslaught of horrific wildfires, state lawmakers found it easy Tuesday to pinpoint the most important response: Reduce the fuel feeding the conflagrations that have scorched more than 750,000 acres this year. But making that happen, on a meaningful scale, is fraught with problems, they found.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat

Alexander Ponton thought it was a bomb. Debris smashed into Ponton’s car as he drove east on West 4th Avenue near Santa Fe Drive. The 24-year-old Thornton man got out and heard screams for help coming from a six-unit residence complex. It had exploded. Ponton jumped into action, assisting a man and woman out of the rubble who had cuts and scrapes on them.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Denver Post

First Response ambulance response times failed to meet Decatur City Code requirements, but the EMS committee on Tuesday did not recommended City Council action or make a finding that the ambulance service had good cause for its failure. Decatur Fire Chief Tony Grande said he’s frustrated at First Response’s failure to meet the requirements of the city code, but noted that some of the failure could have been the result of overly conservative classification of calls as emergencies by Morgan County 911 and by delays at Decatur Morgan Hospital in preparing patients for non-emergency transport from the hospital.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Decatur Daily

A driver had to be pulled from his vehicle early Wednesday after he crashed it into a fire truck, according to an official with the Houston Fire Department. The crash happened about 3 a.m. in northeast Houston, near Little York and Maple Leaf. The black Chevrolet Impala drove up under the truck, he said.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

First responders in Foxborough, Massachusetts, will soon be first in the state to carry a new device that has the potential to save lives. Firefighters filled a classroom Tuesday to train on new ultrasound technology. Unlike most ultrasounds in doctor’s offices, the new device is not bulky and the probe can be plugged into a phone or tablet.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NECN

Leaders of the St. Joseph County 911 center near here know thousands of dispatches have been delayed this year because of computer problems that are being fixed. But they still don’t know how long delays lasted, or if they might have affected responses to emergencies such as fires and heart attacks. Officials say that to investigate those delays, data needs to be provided by Tyler Technologies, the Plano, Texas-based software company whose New World computer-aided dispatch system has been riddled with problems since the center started using it in June 2017.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Bend Tribune

The New Richmond Fire Department and Ambulance Service responded to a shed fire at around 1 p.m. Thursday, June 14. Firefighters were on the scene of the blaze for about two hours, according to Fire Chief Jim VanderWyst. VanderWyst said the shed was struck by a lightning bolt and it hit a propane line, which ignited the building.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2018 7:16:40 PM - SOURCE: Rivertowns

Onalaska Fire Department begins a new era as Chief Billy Hayes takes over for Don Dominick who retired at the end of June. While only his second day on the job, Hayes says the professionalism of the Onalaska firefighters hasn't changed from his visit in 2007. "I taught a class for Onalaska Fire and Rescue and I made a lot of friends here," Hayes explained.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2018 5:50:37 PM - SOURCE: WXOW-TV ABC 19 LaCrosse

The City of Fitchburg could be considering a change in its joint medical service with Verona now that a $30,000 study has been brought back to its Common Council. Since 1977, Fitch-Rona EMS has been a combined district of the cities of Fitchburg and Verona and the Town of Verona. Each municipality has three voting members, and the commission has some autonomy, but budgetary and other major decisions need the approval of each municipality.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2018 8:42:12 AM - SOURCE: Fitchburg Star

VIDEO: Investigators continued working Monday to determine how Friday evening's devastating fire at the Brin Building started. "It’s a challenge," Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Vernon Green told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin on Monday. "Whenever you have a fire that size that causes that amount of damage, it creates another challenge beyond what a small kitchen fire or something like that would be.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2018 2:51:42 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com