Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill this week that allows the Yonkers Fire Department to tap into a controversial fund used for a variety of department expenses. The fire union and Democrats in the state Legislature pushed for the law after the union stopped spending the cash when Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found the spending flouted state law.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin

The U.S. Senate Thursday night passed the United States Fire Administration, AFG, and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4661). The House of Representatives passed the same bill Monday. As a result, the measure is on its way to the president’s desk, saving the FIRE and SAFER Grant programs from expiring on January 2 and pushing their sunset dates out to September 30, 2024.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

It is with a shared vision, to save lives from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) by stimulating effective community, professional and citizen action, that the PulsePoint Foundation and the Citizen CPR Foundation announce Sonoma County EMS/Save Lives Sonoma as the inaugural winner of the 2017 PulsePoint Grant Competition.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Citizen CPR Foundtion

VIDEO - Rob Hecksel, a retired firefighter diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February, was hoping for a long second career as a social worker. He’s trying to compress that mission into his remaining time. Hecksel, 51, of Lansing was a battalion chief with the Lansing Fire Department. He retired three years ago after a 25-year career but wanted to find another job that he loved and that improved the lives of others.
- PUB DATE: 12/22/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lansing State Journal

The Madison Fire Department is warning area residents to call police if someone purporting to be a firefighter wants to check inside your home to see if you have smoke alarms. An area woman recently was called by someone saying he was from the fire department, asking if her alarms were checked regularly.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 10:54:37 PM - SOURCE: Madison

The Kilbourn Fire Department responded to a man lying on the ground in a smokehouse on River Road in the Wisconsin Dells the morning of Dec. 21. The man suffered 3rd degree burns on his lower extremities, said Kilbourn Fire Chief Scott Walsh. MedFlight also responded to the incident. The man was conscious when help arrived, but the cause of the incident remains unknown, Walsh said.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 7:15:17 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

On December 19, 15 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: A new fire station is open in Kaukauna. The 29,000 square-foot facility held its grand opening Wednesday. It replaces the former station which was only 8,000 square feet. The new facility, which can comfortably house 35 firefighters, took a year to complete. The new station, located on Second Street, has more doors which shortens response time for crews.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 7:16:08 AM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11

After serving as Watertown's interim fire chief for the past several months, Kraig Biefeld has been selected to fill the full-time position by the city's Police and Fire Commission. The announcement was made by Mayor John David at Tuesday's Common Council meeting. Biefeld will succeed Chief Greg Michalek, who retired in mid-August.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 4:13:50 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

VIDEO: A fifth station for the La Crosse Fire Department is one step closer to becoming a reality. The mayor's Fire Station Task Force made a formal recommendation that the city council look at building a 5th fire station on La Crosse's south side. The fire chief says early estimates are that a new station would cost anywhere between $3.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 3:42:41 AM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

VIDEO: Firefighting units from multiple jurisdictions responded to a fire Wednesday night at the construction site of the new Meijer superstore being built here. The fire broke out about 8:30 p.m. in an area where contractors were doing masonry work, said Matt Kasriel, assistant fire chief for the Grand Chute Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 2:50:36 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

The Holmen Area Fire District’s 2018 budget has some Town of Holland board members pressing for changes on how they contribute to its funding in the future. At last week’s board meeting, Holland Town Clerk Marilyn Pedretti said now would be the time to discuss the matter, rather than waiting until the HAFD presents the 2019 budget next November.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 2:42:16 AM - SOURCE: Onalaska Holmen Courier Life

A firefighter with the Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department died Wednesday after he helped battle an early morning barn blaze. Jeffery Alan Blackmer, 42, apparently fell ill at the fire station at 8021 N. Ind. 3, where he was cleaning gear after the fire in the 7700 block of North Delaware County Road 320-E.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Muncie Star Press

Rules cited in the dismissal of an Atlanta fire chief that require city employees to get pre-clearance for outside employment are not constitutional, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. But U.S. District Judge Leigh May ruled in the city's favor on a number of other constitutional issues raised by former chief Kelvin Cochran in a lawsuit filed against the city and Mayor Kasim Reed.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Times

Police officers rode their horses with attached antlers to make them look like reindeer. Cheer squads pumped up a crowd of families who watched the Twinkle Light Parade in Nob Hill earlier this month with glee. But trouble wasn’t far away. “It was an evening that took a frightening turn for one little girl and her mother,” Albuquerque Fire Chief Gilbert Santistevan told a news conference to honor a pair of quick-thinking firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albuquerque Journal

Congress today passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), a comprehensive reform of the U.S. tax code. The IAFC applauds Congress for addressing several important issues affecting the fire and emergency service, including: Fire Sprinklers: Since the devastating 2003 fire at the Station Nightclub in Rhode Island, the IAFC has urged Congress to incentivize business owners to retrofit their properties with fire-sprinkler systems.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

The Baltimore Fire Department is reeling as the city has experienced the most fire deaths in a decade, Chief Niles R. Ford said Wednesday. Twenty-eight people have died in fires with more than a week left to go in the year — more than half of them in just four incidents, according to the Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

A firefighter with the Hamilton Township Volunteer Fire Department died Wednesday after he helped battle an early morning barn blaze. Jeffery Alan Blackmer, 42, apparently fell ill at the fire station at 8021 N. Ind. 3, where he was cleaning gear after the fire in the 7700 block of North Delaware County Road 320-E.
- PUB DATE: 12/20/2017 10:15:37 PM - SOURCE: Muncie Star Press

Multiple units are responding to an active structure fire at a single family home in Monona. The fire is at 505 Frost Wood Road, according to Dane County dispatch. Smoke is coming from the roof of the home. People were home at the time of the fire when they smelled smoke and called the fire department, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 12/20/2017 8:53:17 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

Wood County fire departments lit a third red bulb on the Keep the Wreath Green wreaths after a structure fire in Nekoosa. A building on a Nekoosa cranberry marsh caught fire at about 4 p.m. Monday. Firefighters arrived to heavy smoke and fire spewing from the building; the building was a total loss, said Nekoosa Fire Chief Mike Hartje.
- PUB DATE: 12/20/2017 8:49:49 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune