The man hailed as a hero for halting a gunman's wild rampage outside the Tumwater Walmart store came forward Wednesday and said he fired his weapon only after it became clear that the gunman might injure or kill more innocent victims if he weren't stopped. David George, who is an emergency medical technician with the Oakville Fire Department and a pastor at the Oakville Assembly of God, described his harrowing experience at a Wednesday news conference in his hometown.
- PUB DATE: 6/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

Steve Krentel, whose leadership at a Covington-area fire district has been under assault since last fall, will retire as of Sept. 1, he told the St. Tammany Fire Protection District 12 board of commissioners in a letter Thursday. Krentel, whose wife was killed nearly a year ago, said in a phone interview that he had always planned to retire as soon as he was eligible to do so.
- PUB DATE: 6/22/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Advocate

For more than a month, those seeking emergency services in the town of Lafayette have had about a five-minute detour between them and trained help. But those five minutes could drastically change the situation. “It’s been an impact,” John Andersen, deputy chief of prevention with the Chippewa Fire District, said.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 5:39:51 PM - SOURCE: Chippewa Herald

VIDEO: Onalaska Fire Chief Don Dominick announced his plans to retire at the end of February. On Friday, after more than 40 years of fire service, including 10 years as chief, Dominick will hang up his helmet for the last time. From reminding the public about the dangers of carbon monoxide to leading crews in battling multi-unit apartment fires, Don Dominick has served the City of Onalaska as fire chief for nearly ten years.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 4:51:32 PM - SOURCE: WXOW-TV ABC 19 LaCrosse

VIDEO: The flood warning for most local counties has ended. While the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers are no longer at official flood risk, that doesn't mean they're safe for locals just yet. Recent rains have left the Chippewa River rushing. Flooding is no longer a concern, but safety is for this weekend's FATFAR, an annual tubing event that launches just below the Chippewa Falls dam.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 3:48:28 PM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

The city on Wednesday announced that Jeremy Hansen, the director of the public safety training center at Fox Valley Technical College, has been selected as the incoming fire chief. Chief Len Vander Wyst retired in March after nine years with the Appleton Fire Department. Before he joined the Appleton Fire Department, Vander Wyst served as the chief of Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 7:06:29 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

The body of a 13-year-old boy, missing since late Sunday, was found in Silver Lake on Wednesday afternoon after three days of search efforts. Portage police identified Shayn Wolffarth of Portage as the boy who was last seen on a flotation device on the lake late Sunday afternoon, before falling into the water and disappearing below.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 6:26:19 AM - SOURCE: Madison

No injuries were reported in a fire that damaged a condo-style apartment building Wednesday evening, according to the Janesville Fire Department. In a release, the department said crews responded around 6:20 p.m. to the 1400 block of Canyon Drive for a report of a fire in a garage attached to an apartment building.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 4:44:16 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

A barn fire in the Town of Sun Prairie June 20 resulted in $15,000 in damage to the barn and contents, according to Sun Prairie Fire Chief Chris Garrison. The chief said at 6:21 p.m. the Sun Prairie Fire Department responded to a report of a large barn on fire in the 4900 block of Town Hall Drive in the Town of Sun Prairie.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 2:01:31 AM - SOURCE: Sun Prairie Star

The Milwaukee Fire Department saved a trapped person during a house fire early Thursday morning. According to the department, crews were called to the home near 70th and Euclid around 3:34 a.m. When they got to the scene, they learned a person was trapped in a first floor bedroom. The person was removed from the room with minor injuries and did not need to be taken to a hospital.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58

An arbitrator agreed a veteran Toledo firefighter was erroneously demoted from captain to a line firefighter after the administration said the captain used “poor judgment” at a fatal fire scene. The arbitrator, Mark Glazer, ruled this week that Capt. Kim Hood be reinstated as captain with seniority.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade

On July 1, Rhoda Mae Kerr will pin five brass bugles on the collar of her Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue uniform—the number symbolizes her rank, and five is the highest. On that day Kerr will also make history as the department’s first female fire chief in its 106-year history. Kerr comes from a lineage of firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Daily

Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri’s office released another statement Wednesday in response to reports on the conduct of former temporary fire Chief John Kelly, who resigned from his position last week amid allegations of professional misconduct. Kelly — appointed interim chief last July in place of Russell Brooks, who remains on administrative leave — stepped down to become a deputy chief after an investigation into text messages sent between Kelly and 23-year-old Carmen Ambrose, the son of Deputy Chief Mark Ambrose, that make references to watching pornography and other lewd acts that occurred on fire department property.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

A fiery uproar in the town of Morris could have left residents without a volunteer Fire Department. A statement from the department was released Tuesday announcing that its members had voted to “cease providing fire, rescue, and EMS services,” as of June 30. The statement noted that the decision was not made lightly, but came after the department felt it could not come to a “reasonable working relationship with the town administrators.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Connecticut Post

Buffalo Grove officials announced Wednesday they are challenging a decision to award a full line-of-duty death pension to the widow of a 51-year-old Buffalo Grove firefighter, arguing not enough evidence exists that his fatal colon cancer was related to his work. The full pension award for Kevin Hauber’s wife, Kim Hauber, and their four children represented an “unprecedented” claim and marked the first award of its kind in Illinois after the Buffalo Grove Fire Department Pension Board determined earlier this year that Kevin Hauber’s cancer was caused in the line of duty, village officials said in a statement.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

VIDEO: A groundbreaking ceremony was held Wednesday evening at the New Glarus Fire Department to recognize the start of construction of an extension to its station. New Glarus Fire Chief, David Anderson, opened the ceremony by sharing a story of the five-year journey the department took to get to the point of breaking ground, as well as a few words of thanks to those who supported the project.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 8:32:22 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

On June 19, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: The Cudahy Fire Department responded to a home twice for fires within the last two days. The department was most recently called to the unoccupied home near S. Swift Ave. and E. Underwood Ave. around 2 a.m. on Wednesday. Authorities say an investigation is now underway because it is unusual for hot spots to pop up days after an initial fire.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 6:27:41 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

The City of Buffalo will pay a total of $1.2 million to a dozen white Buffalo firefighters who claimed they were passed over for promotion because of their race. The $1.2 million settlement was approved Tuesday by the Buffalo Common Council and brings to a close a 2007 lawsuit that accused the city of illegally allowing two promotional lists to expire because minority firefighters had performed poorly on civil service exams.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern toured three of the city’s eight firehouses June 6, calling the conditions at Monday’s City Council meeting “extremely disturbing.” Firefighters were sleeping on mattresses with holes. Floors were being held together by duct tape. Some stations didn’t have carbon monoxide detectors or Wi-Fi, McGovern said.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wicked Local Cambridge