Ciganek had learned she had a four inch by four inch mass on her ovary. A few weeks later, she was told she had stage 4 colon cancer. Ciganek started a new, aggressive chemotherapy regimen at Froedtert Hospital, which worked well at the time. Her chemo was followed up by surgery. Ciganek got her first sign something was wrong when she jumped off a rig following a fire call — and felt excruciating abdominal pain.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX 6 Now

A Milwaukee Fire Department acting lieutenant repeatedly groped a co-worker and gave her low marks on her work evaluation after she complained, according to a criminal complaint charging him with a felony. Michael Peden, 35, was charged Thursday with second-degree sexual assault after his arrest last weekend.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Tucson Fire Department Chief Jim Critchley announced his retirement Thursday after six years as head of the department. Critchley sent out a memo to Tucson Fire Department personnel Thursday saying he loved his job, but decided to retire and focus on his family, department spokesman Julian Herrera said.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tucson Arizona Daily Star

A jury awarded a former firefighter $245,000 in damages Thursday, deciding she had proved two allegations in her federal lawsuit against the city of Tampa: That she was discriminated against because she was pregnant and the city retaliated against her when she complained. But on the third allegation, the seven-person jury did not find that the city discriminated against Tanja Vidovic because of her gender.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com

Firefighters across Southern California are battling six major wildfires with brutal Santa Ana winds expected to continue fanning the flames through Saturday. The newest blazes, the Lilac fire in San Diego County and the Liberty fire in Riverside County, are now being fueled by continued Santa Ana winds and low humidity, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

A Milwaukee Fire Department acting lieutenant repeatedly groped a co-worker and gave her low marks on her work evaluation after she complained, according to a criminal complaint charging him with a felony. Michael Peden, 35, was charged Thursday with second-degree sexual assault after his arrest last weekend.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PHOTOS - A U.K.-based fire service has said it is “seriously unimpressed” with a 22-year-old man after five firefighters spent an hour freeing his head from a microwave oven he had “cemented” himself inside as part of a stunt he was filming for YouTube. The man, based in the English city of Wolverhampton, had mixed quick-dry spackling paste and poured it around his head, which was protected by plastic bag inside the microwave, which was intended to act as a mold, according to West Midlands Fire.
- PUB DATE: 12/8/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: TIME

On December 7, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

After nearly 32 years of service with the Merrill Fire Department, Battalion Chief Mike Drury will retire Friday, according to a news release. “I have always felt truly blessed with my calling to be a professional firefighter, as I believe it is one of the most admirable and respectable professions there is," he said in a Nov.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 7:25:26 AM - SOURCE: Wausau Daily Herald

On December 6, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 5, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On December 3, 11 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A 12-unit apartment complex was evacuated early Thursday morning because of burnt food, officials said. Crews were called around 1:45 a.m. to the 600 block of Schiller Street for a report of a structure fire, according to a release. Firefighters found heavy smoke on the second floor, so they evacuated the building, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 7:18:35 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

Tomah City Council members approved the city’s 2018 budget Monday during a special meeting at Tomah city hall. The approved budget will decrease the city’s portion of local property tax bills next year. The city’s mill rate drops to $7.90 in 2018 from $8.51 in 2017. The property levy will remain nearly flat, rising from $5,121,713 in 2017 to $5,153,441 in 2018, an increase of $31,728 or .
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 4:20:15 AM - SOURCE: Tomah Journal

Seven people were displaced Wednesday after a fire at their Burlington home. Firefighters responded to a 5:44 a.m. call at 173 W. State St., said City of Burlington Fire Chief Al Babe. The Red Cross was also called to assist. No one was hurt in the fire, Babe said. Fire crews fought heavy smoke conditions on the second floor and in the attic.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 2:13:39 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

Although three ladder trucks were present at the high-rise apartment building fire that killed two women Tuesday, the city fire chief says his decision not to deploy aerial ladder rescues for the building’s 150-some elderly residents was the right one. Chief Jay Delaney said the fact that the city’s aerial ladder truck was out of service played no part in the decision to have many of the residents of Lincoln Plaza shelter in place.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Citizens' Voice

Port Aransas Volunteer Fire Department received a fire truck today, donated by the Philomont Volunteer Fire Department from Virginia. The truck was driven from Virginia to Port Aransas by firefighters from Philomont Volunteer Fire Department. "When we saw the flooding and damage on the television we went to county fire chief and asked what we could do to help," said Philomont Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Pearsall.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRIS-TV NBC 6 Corpus Christi

Watertown - A state Supreme Court judge on Wednesday reserved decision regarding an injunction to block the city from a new policy that prohibits firefighters from being called into work when their colleagues call in sick. Last month, the City Council decided in executive session to establish a new policy that will not allow firefighters to be brought into work when others call in sick, a move that City Manager Sharon A.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily News

Baltimore Police have arrested a 35-year-old Harford County man in connection to the Nov. 30 killing of a man in his Upper Fells Point home. Daniel Greene, of the 2100 block of Harkins Rd. in Norrisville, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with first degree murder of Jon Hickey, 31, a Baltimore County volunteer firefighter and photographer who had been accepted into the next recruit class for the Baltimore Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

NFPA reports annually on large-loss fires and explosions that occurred in the United States the year before. Those fires are defined as events that result in property damage of at least $10 million. There were 25 such fires in 2016, resulting in a total of over $1.4 billion in direct property losses.
- PUB DATE: 12/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Protection Association