The Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin have named state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, as the “2018 PFFW Legislator of the Year.” Wanggaard was recognized for his work advocating for public safety and firefighters during the 2017-18 legislative session. “I am deeply honored to receive this award.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 1:47:36 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

It can be hard finding a place to do your work when it involves breaking in doors and starting fires, but the Portage Fire Department now has some space and new tools to train firefighters. The department held an open house Saturday at the Portage Fire Department Training Facility off Highway 33 at Wauona Trail.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portage Daily Register

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released its annual U.S. Firefighter Fatalities report, which showed a total of 60 U.S. firefighter fatalities while on duty in 2017. This number represents the lowest total reported since 1977, when NFPA began reporting on-duty firefighter fatalities; it is the sixth time in the last seven years that the total has been below 70 deaths.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

A DC Fire and EMS report says that improper positioning of equipment and a rookie's inexperience were the biggest contributing factors in an apparatus incident that left a young firefighter with severe injuries in August 2017. Probationary firefighter Dane Smothers Jr. was serving as a lineman (nozzle firefighter) during a Capitol Hill house fire on Aug.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

Five members of a family, including three young children, were killed early Sunday morning after their getaway cabin near Hood Canal exploded and burned, according to Jefferson County fire and police officials. The family was from Monroe and used the 250-square-foot cabin frequently, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

Police said a Decatur man tried to kill himself by setting his trailer home on fire and then threatened to assault one of the firemen who was trying to put the blaze out. A sworn police affidavit said the 24-year-old man, who is accused of setting the fire in an office of the trailer in the 2000 block of Hedrick Court on Saturday night, also told police he knew his mother was present in the structure at the time.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Herald & Review

With fire season heating up in Southern California, firefighters unveiled a new “fire hydrant” for helicopters on Monday that could drastically reduce turnaround times for water drops in remote areas. Set on a 1,700-gallon metal water tank, the Remotely Activated Snorkel Site uses robot-controlled valves to tap into an area’s municipal water system, allowing quick access for snorkel helicopters that otherwise would have to spend valuable minutes flying to a reservoir or other water source.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

VIDEO: A structure fire closed down a portion of Highway 54 east and west bound, that forced traffic to be diverged elsewhere for nearly three hours this evening. It happened around 4:50 pm in the Town of Oneida. When crews arrived, the house was completely engulfed in flames. While the house and everything inside is a complete loss, the daughter, whose parents owned the home, says memorabilia and stuff can be replaced.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 8:42:09 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

On June 10, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On June 9, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A fire broke out Sunday morning, June 10, 2018, at 244 192nd St. in the Town of Alden, Polk County. The property, owned by David and Barb Grevich, was distinctive for the home fashioned out of a steel silo. Personnel and equipment from New Richmond Fire & Rescue and Allied Emergency Services (formerly DOG Fire) were the first to arrive on the scene.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 5:32:45 AM - SOURCE: New Richmond News

VIDEO: One person was transported to the hospital by Flight for Life early Monday morning, June 11 following a house fire in the Town of Vernon. Firefighters were called out to a home off Guthrie Road around 3:15 a.m. Upon arrival, crews found a single-family home fully involved in fire. One person was taken to the hospital via Flight for Life with serious burns.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 3:48:34 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A former Whatcom County firefighter who died of cancer this week is being listed as a line-of-duty fatality under state law that classifies certain kinds of cancer as job-related. Firefighter John Swobody died Monday night after a years-long battle with lung cancer, said Chief William Pernett of North Whatcom Fire and Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

A firefighter died from injuries he sustained while battling a grass fire in the Davis Mountains in West Texas on Sunday, according to fire officials in Weatherford. Andy Loller, 42, a Weatherford firefighter, was deployed to assist firefighters across the state at the Scenic Loop Complex in Jeff Davis County, Weatherford Fire Marshal Bob Hopkins said.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star-Telegram

A group of off-duty uniformed firefighters got into a drunken bare-knuckled brawl at a Bronx bar on Wednesday — just hours after they were honored for their heroics by the mayor and fire commissioner, the Daily News has learned. A racial slur thrown at a black firefighter sparked the fight inside Billy’s Bar near Yankee Stadium between Bronx’s Rescue Company 3 and members of Ladder Company 49 and Engine Company 68, which share a stationhouse in Highbridge.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NY Daily News

Butler county’s two largest townships — Liberty and West Chester — have forged an automatic mutual aid agreement to ensure crews get on every fire scene as quickly as possible. “Our residents should not care what it says on the side of the truck, whether it says West Chester, Liberty, Sharonville, nor should they care what color the truck is,” West Chester Twp.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHIO-TV Dayton

The Saint Bernard’s reputation as a brandy-toting, mountaineering lifesaver is the stuff of legend in Europe and for centuries has made for dramatic literary and cinematic storytelling. The human species returned the favor Friday in a quiet suburban neighborhood much closer to sea level in the Twin Cities.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star-Tribune

VIDEO: After 30 years of service, Chilton Fire Department Chief Gary Halbach is retiring. On Sunday a party was thrown for him. He says the moment is bittersweet. He also says he’ll cherish the memories made with his colleagues, but is looking forward to what is ahead. "Spend more time in Algoma, I got a permanent camp site up there, and spend time with my family, my sons,” said Halbach.
- PUB DATE: 6/10/2018 9:56:39 PM - SOURCE: NBC26

VIDEO: The Minocqua Fire Department moved into a new $3 million home this year and it was meant for a growing department. It has a gym, more training space and more garage space, something that was needed in the old building. This will allow the department to store more equipment on-site and accommodate new trucks if they need them.
- PUB DATE: 6/10/2018 8:23:44 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

VIDEO: A small plane crashed in southern Wisconsin Sunday, June 10 -- killing four people -- a 17-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy and their mother and grandmother. The Green County sheriff said the crash happened just after noon on Sunday about a mile north of the Monroe Municipal Airport. The grandmother was the pilot.
- PUB DATE: 6/10/2018 6:28:57 PM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6