Ronald Svec, a former city firefighter who was diagnosed with a 9/11-related cancer six months after he retired, has died, officials and relatives said Saturday. The 63-year-old FDNY vet died Friday at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center after a more than 9-year battle with lung and spine cancer, said his wife of 34 years, Sharon Svec.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Long before he became San Diego's fire chief, Brian Fennessy would wear his crusty, soot-covered helmet like a badge, proof he worked at one of the city's busiest fire stations. He thought it gave him credibility and earned him the respect of peers. Now he knows his dirty gear harbored the toxins and carcinogens that haunt the scene of a fire -- and that they might well revisit him in the future as cancer.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

VIDEO - A North Lauderdale Fire Rescue truck was involved in a serious crash Friday afternoon in Lauderhill, authorities said. The crash was reported shortly after 3 p.m. in the area of Northwest 16th Street and State Road 7. Authorities said the firetruck was transporting a high-priority pediatric patient to the hospital when the crash occurred.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPLG-TV ABC Local10.com - Miami & Fort Lauderdale

VIDEO - A family in Massachusetts nearly lost their house after their dog inadvertently turned on the kitchen stove while trying to grab some leftover pancakes. The incident was captured by the family's security cameras, and the footage was submitted to the Southwick Fire Department which shared the video on Facebook.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

When Capt. Tia Morris turned 50, after about three decades in the Los Angeles Police Department, she became eligible to retire with nearly 90% of her salary. But like many cops and firefighters in her position, the decision to keep working was a financial no-brainer, thanks to a program that allowed her to nearly double her pay by keeping her salary while also collecting her pension.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say officers perceived an 'imminent deadly threat' from a man holding a knife outside of a west Charlotte apartment complex Friday afternoon. The man was shot by officers and later died at the hospital from his injuries. The incident happened just before 1:30 p.m. Friday afternoon at an apartment complex along the 3200 block of Timberbrook Drive near Tuckaseegee Park.
- PUB DATE: 2/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTV-TV Channel 3

VIDEO: Iowa County deputies are investigating a fire that killed a man in the town of Waldwick Sunday morning. Crews were called to the fire on the 5900 block of County Line Road at 7 a.m., according to a press release by the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office. The house was already engulfed in flames when firefighters got to the scene.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2018 10:14:58 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

A Lake Delton firefighter has been upgraded from critical to stable condition after he was hit by a car while responding to a fatal crash on the interstate Saturday. The Lake Delton Fire Department said in a Facebook post that 39-year-old Joe Sabol was seriously injured in that crash when a car lost control and slid into the emergency scene along I-90, where he was responding to another fatal accident.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2018 7:33:56 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

VIDEO: "Firefighters are family. When we heard what happened to Chris, it affected all of us in different ways," said Merrill Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Hintze. That bond is why the Merrill Fire Department wanted to help their former coworker Chris Marion through a benefit raffle. Marion, who has spent 23 years helping others, isn't used to being on the receiving end.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2018 7:32:40 AM - SOURCE: WJFW-TV NBC 12 Rhinelander-Wausau

A woman's donation to Green Bay Metro Fire could be a life-saver. Ola Adams passed away a few years ago, but not before setting up a fund that has generated $100 thousand to go specifically to public safety. Green Bay Metro Fire has plans to put the money to good use. "We'll use the money to purchase ballistic helmets and vests.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 9:28:25 AM - SOURCE: WIXX-FM 101

The city moved forward Thursday with plans to address problems with the city’s fire stations, create an agreement for slipholders at La Crosse Municipal Harbor and fund a rental assistance program for homeless families. The La Crosse Finance and Personnel Committee unanimously voted to direct city staff to research ways to implement the recommendations of the La Crosse Fire Station Planning Task Force, which called for building a new fire station on the city’s South Side, replacing three others — including two on the city’s North Side — and remodeling the remaining station.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 2:39:30 AM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

Days after the head of a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department advocacy group for female firefighters issued a resignation letter, charging lax attitudes toward sexual harassment, the chief says he doesn’t believe the department has major issues and that he has no plans to resign. “We take all claims seriously of bullying, harassment and retaliation,” Fire Chief Richard Bowers said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTOP-AM 1500 Washington

Craig Wohlitka told a Broward courtroom Wednesday that he is still haunted by the dying nursing home residents he tried to save as they sweltered in a building with no air conditioning in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. In a span of about three hours on Sept. 13, the Hollywood firefighter/paramedic and fellow crew members treated two critically ill residents.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel & SouthFlorida.com

Fire crews confront the opioid epidemic daily in the most personal of ways. They tend to the users who can't stay awake. They administer naloxone, the reversal drug that brings addicts back from a life-threatening overdose. And they answer the call when an unresponsive person is found in a parked car, a gas station bathroom or a neighborhood — impoverished or affluent.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com & KPNX-TV NBC 12 Phoenix

In one day, 53 firefighters packed up two fire houses and left behind the stations they knew and loved. That day, Jan. 23, Vancouver’s two new fire stations were deemed complete — complete enough, anyway, to unlock the doors and put the state-of-the-art facilities into service. “It’s definitely still a work in progress,” said Vancouver firefighter and paramedic Pete Adams.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian

I had just backed out of a parking space and was adjusting my seatbelt when I noticed that a car parked across from me had its backup lights on. Feeling certain that the driver would notice my car right behind his, I was not concerned. That is, until the car started backing up, right toward me. I tapped the horn, but the car kept coming.
- PUB DATE: 2/2/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireChief.com

PHOTO: Crews are battling a fire at an Amish business on Starr Road near Granton. The Granton fire chief tells NewsChannel 7, the building was engulfed when they arrived on the scene. As of about 11 p.m. Thursday, crews were still fighting the fire. The fire chief said they'll be on the scene for at least a couple more hours.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2018 10:13:31 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

On February 1, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Two people were displaced from their Far East Side condo Thursday morning after a fire scorched their garage and parts of the home, the Madison Fire Department said. Around 10:41 a.m., firefighters responded to the 6300 block of Maywick Drive after a resident reported a fire in the laundry room, believing the dryer had exploded, said fire department spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2018 4:00:06 PM - SOURCE: Madison

Kenosha’s fire chief is warning that a man approaching businesses in the area requesting payment for safety inspections is not a member of the department. Chief Charles Leipzig said a man has been walking into local businesses recently saying he is there to inspect their fire extinguishers. After doing an inspection, he requests payment.
- PUB DATE: 2/1/2018 1:08:39 PM - SOURCE: Kenosha News