La Crosse firefighter Jake Lincoln holds up his son Wrigley, 3, so he can wash the new Engine 4 at the La Crosse Fire Department’s Fire Station No. 4 during its wetdown ceremony. The engine is dedicated to La Crosse firefighter Donald Asselin, whose death at in 1997 at the age of 46 of renal cell carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that tends to strike firefighters, ultimately helped spur the development of state and national standards to help shield firefighters' from exposure to harmful chemicals produced by fires.
- PUB DATE: 7/22/2018 6:47:36 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

The contractor that cut into a 4-inch pipe carrying natural gas underneath downtown Sun Prairie on July 10 just before an explosion leveled a city block and killed a firefighter was not registered to do business in Wisconsin, according to state records. The Journal Sentinel confirmed Thursday that Michigan-based VC Tech, Inc.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 7:57:04 AM - SOURCE: Journal Sentinel

VIDEO: It’s a first for “The Hop.” Emergency responders will conduct a mass casualty drill Friday morning on the streetcar tracks in Milwaukee. Officials tell CBS 58 the scenario for the drill is a suspicious package detonating with multiple people on the streetcar. There will be live actors playing the victims.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 6:50:30 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

A tourist duck boat capsized in a lake near Branson, Missouri, killing at least 17 people, including children, as severe thunderstorms struck the area Thursday night, the Missouri Highway Patrol said. Seven others were injured when the boat plunged into Table Rock Lake, officials said. "Our thoughts and prayers right now are with these family members," Missouri Gov.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

Just when you thought the legal battle between the city and the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association was over, another is beginning. The union has filed a lawsuit, challenging the city's enforcement of "free speech zones." The particular location is the free speech zone at the Semmes Branch Library on Judson Road.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSAT-TV ABC 12 San Antonio

Former Davenport Fire Chief Lynn Washburn is a finalist to lead the Ames (Iowa) Fire Department. The announcement came less than two hours after the latest court hearing over her employment dispute with Davenport ended. Washburn, who was fired in 2017, is one of two finalists for the fire chief position.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Quad-City Times

Murray County assistant fire chief Chris Butler, a 21-year veteran of the department, has resigned after being arrested for two counts each of simple battery and willful obstruction or hindrance of a firefighter, both misdemeanors, after a dispute at the scene of a fire earlier this month. According to a Murray County Sheriff’s Office incident report, on July 4 around 10:40 p.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Union Recorder

VIDEO - Most of Omaha's fire stations are now equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to alert them to emergencies. It's been five months since KETV Newswatch 7 first reported on firefighters at two stations using a "pop can" alarm as a backup to the broken system. Firefighters placed pop cans on top of a printer and listened for the sound of the cans falling to the floor to alert them to an emergency.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KETV-TV ABC 7 Omaha

On July 19, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters were called to Marth Wood Supply near Marathon Thursday evening. According to dispatch reports, there was a fire in a dryer. It was called in around 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The business is located north of Marathon on State Highway 107. It makes wood shavings and animal bedding, among other things.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 6:05:51 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

Clare Wolf felt like Superwoman. After trying out her hearing aid devices, the Rubicon firefighter could, for the first time, hear the air flowing through vents, water dripping down the drain and birds softly chirping in the morning. Wolf is a finalist for the Oticon Focus on People Awards, one of three people competing for votes in the adult category.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 5:37:29 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

VIDEO: First responders in Appleton have a new tool to use when dealing with children during a crisis. As Kris Schuller reports it's called a Reach Bag - designed to comfort those kids that emergency responders often care for. Outside the Appleton Police Department, first responders accept a special gift.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 4:51:48 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

VIDEO: The search for a new fire chief in the Holmen Area Fire Department is over. Holmen Area Fire Department Fire Board members approved the hiring of Buck Manley as assistant chief/chief. The board originally interviewed Manley for the assistant fire chief position; however, during the hiring process, they determined that he exceeded not only those expectations, but the expectations set for fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 3:27:40 PM - SOURCE: WXOW-TV ABC 19 LaCrosse

On July 18, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

It's been called the Forgotten Fire. On the night of Oct. 8, 1871, a devastating forest fire ripped through Peshtigo and the surrounding area, killing 1,500 people and destroying a swath of land 10 miles wide and 40 miles long. It was the deadliest forest fire in American history. But that same night, a fire in Chicago grabbed headlines and attention, overshadowing the deadlier Wisconsin blaze.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 6:20:04 AM - SOURCE: Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter

As as assistant fire chief in Columbus, Ohio, Jim Davis battled the opioid crisis and trained firefighters to recognize public health issues when they answered calls. When Davis starts as Fort Worth’s new fire chief in September, he plans to bring that same collaborative approach. Davis’ unique background — he has a 20-year history as a critical care nurse and flight nurse — helped him become Fort Worth’s 13th fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Kyleigh Lough, 12, held a large fire hose and opened the nozzle, shooting a powerful jet of water 20 feet into a green traffic cone and knocking it over. “It looks really fun, I think,” Kyleigh said when asked if she might like to be a firefighter one day. “They don’t just fight fires — they help people.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Winter Haven News Chief

A fast-moving wildfire has grown to more than 50,000 acres in Wasco and Sherman counties, burning through structures and forcing people to evacuate their homes. Deputies said they found a person dead Wednesday afternoon near a tractor that had been burned by the flames. The Substation Fire broke out on Tuesday near The Dalles.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KATU-TV ABC 2 Portland

Firefighter fatalities are occurring at the same rate today that they were 20 years ago. Although the number of fatalities has dropped, it is simply because there are fewer fires. The following graph shows fireground fatalities per 100,000 fires over the last 20 years. Despite all the efforts that have been made to reduce firefighter fatalities and injuries over the last two decades—such as changes in command and control procedures, improvements in personal protective equipment, and deployment of rapid intervention teams—these measures have made little impact, as shown by the black trend line in the graph.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

The woman charged with arson, murder, assault and causing a catastrophe in a blaze that killed two Kansas City firefighters admitted her guilt to a fellow detainee soon after being arrested, according to testimony given Wednesday. Thu Hong Nguyen told Misty Levron that she set a fire that killed people by using liquid in her nail salon, Levron testified Wednesday at Nguyen’s trial.
- PUB DATE: 7/19/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star