The state fire marshal wants Michigan fire departments to report their use and disposal of a chemical-laden firefighting foam that has contaminated state groundwater. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) announced the survey effort on Wednesday, March 28. State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer wants to know how much Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) is, or was, in use around the state and develop a strategy for its disposal, the state says.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive.com

The parking lots of Charlotte Fire Department stations are monitored by security cameras — and many are blocked off with gates — because thieves have repeatedly targeted firefighters' personal cars over the years. In December, Charlotte City Council agreed to spend up to $185,000 to outfit the rest of the city's fire stations with security cameras, hoping to cut down on break-ins.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

Just after midnight Wednesday morning around 12:15 a.m. Beaver Dam firefighters responded to a fire in a home on Wayland Street. When officials arrived they saw smoke and flames coming from an apartment. Firefighters were told that everyone had evacuated. Residents from two apartments were displaced, but the other tenants were allowed to return.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 10:12:55 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

One person was transported to the hospital and eight residents were displaced after a structure fire in a Racine duplex Wednesday afternoon. Racine firefighters were dispatched at 1:22 p.m. to 419 Park View Drive, located north of West Sixth Street and Island Park and east of the Root River, for a report of a kitchen fire.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 7:04:58 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

VIDEO: A barn burned to the ground in the Town of Mosinee in Marathon County Wednesday afternoon. The fire started just before 2 p.m. on the 1400 block of Moon Road. No animals were inside the barn and nobody was injured. A Marathon County Sheriff's deputy tells NewsChannel 7 the fire started in the southeast corner of the barn where hay was being stored, the barn was empty otherwise.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 4:25:11 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

On March 27, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A late night fire in Waupun Tuesday destroyed a garage and damaged two other buildings. Waupun firefighters arrived just before 11 p.m. to 206 Monroe St. to find the garage engulfed in flames, with fire extending to the house and a neighboring garage, said Chief B.J. DeMaa. Fire crews quickly knocked down the blaze that had extended to the house and neighboring garage but not before the flames caused moderate damage.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 5:55:24 AM - SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter

City firefighter Frank Walsh is recovering at home after receiving first- and second-degree burns while battling a fire that flashed over in a vacant building early Monday morning. “All things considered, I’m feeling very lucky,” Walsh told the Press of Atlantic City after he was released Tuesday afternoon from the Jefferson Hospital Burn Unit in Philadelphia.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Press of Atlantic City

VIDEO - An eight-year-old boy narrowly escaped an Indiana apartment fire Sunday by jumping from a fourth-story window. He was caught by neighbors holding blankets. Two other children, 2-year-old Kailani Gober and 4-year-old Khristopher Gober, died of smoke inhalation and burns, according to the Lake County coroner.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGN-TV 9 WB Chicago

Baltimore’s 911 dispatch system was hacked by an unknown actor or actors over the weekend, prompting a temporary shutdown of automated dispatching and an investigation into the breach, Mayor Catherine Pugh’s office confirmed Tuesday. James Bentley, a spokesman for Pugh, confirmed that the Sunday morning hack affected messaging functions within the computer-aided dispatch, or CAD, system, but said the mayor would not otherwise comment on the matter Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

As flames devoured the North Philadelphia rowhouse beneath her last week, Alita Johnson cowered in a small third-floor bathroom with her father and 3-year-old son, pleading with 911 to send someone to their rescue. Firefighters responded. They extinguished the blaze and rescued other tenants. But when they cleared the scene and packed up to leave, Johnson and her family remained behind – missed and overlooked.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PHILLY.COM

Firefighting foam with a chemical thought to cause cancer and other health problems will be banned in two years for local fire departments and districts in Washington. A new law signed Tuesday bans the group of chemicals that are contaminating some wells in Airway Heights and other water sources near military bases, although it won’t directly affect that contamination.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokesman-Review

On March 27, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

Wisconsin and the federal government should do more to support small-business creation, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Tuesday during a stop at the Altoona fire station. Baldwin, a first-term Democrat up for re-election this fall, spent the first part of her visit meeting with local fire Capt. Jeff Dykes, founder and owner of Northern Star Fire, and discussing the challenges he faced in launching his business that developed equipment to help firefighters navigate through burning buildings.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 10:44:00 PM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

It's a half-million-dollar question: Should the town of Campbell Fire Department get a new firetruck? On April 3, voters will decide if a pumper truck that is more than three decades old should be replaced with a new one. "The tank is rusted. The truck leaks. We've had to pry open compartments to get to tools on calls," said Fire Chief Nate Melby of the Campbell Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 5:45:17 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

VIDEO: Wales-Genesee Fire Chief Jim Moon got a call around Christmas time last year from someone wishing to remain anonymous. That mystery-person asked what the department needed the most. "So I told him well we need to replace our thermal imaging cameras, but they're $10,000 dollars apiece," Moon said.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 4:53:17 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

A scary situation early March 27 had the best possible outcome. Western Lakes Fire District emergency crews responded to a call at an Oconomowoc home at about 4 a.m. and delivered a healthy baby girl. According to Western Lakes Fire Chief Brad Bowen, the mother and baby were taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where both were listed in good condition.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 11:50:53 AM - SOURCE: Livinglakecountry

A former Madison man is charged with two felony counts of arson and other crimes, after two cars in downtown Madison were set on fire last month.24-year old Darryn Taylor of Whitmore Lake, Michigan remains free on $3,000 bail, after a Monday Dane County court appearance. A criminal complaint against Taylor states surveillance video around the time of the early morning, Feb.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 4:46:57 AM - SOURCE: WIBA-AM 1310 News Talk

On March 22, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Firefighters on Monday night, March 26 responded to the scene of a garage fire on Maple Avenue near Ray Street in Fond Du Lac. The call came in shortly before midnight. Upon arrival, crews saw smoke coming from the building and made a fire attack on the garage. The fire was contained to the garage, but not before substantial damage occurred.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2018 4:04:35 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6