VIDEO - At least 20 people have been injured in a massive, multi-alarm fire at a senior living community in West Chester. Numerous residents have been displaced. Fire officials have refused to say if there were any fatalities. The blaze was reported at 10:46 p.m. Thursday at the Barclay Friends Senior Living Community on the 700 block of North Franklin Street.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV 6 ABC.com

Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Utica fire Chief Russell Brooks will take the city to court. Brooks has sought to be recognized by the city for compensatory benefits due to a medical condition he says is a product of his response to ground zero in New York City following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Utica Observer-Dispatch

In the early hours of the most destructive firestorm in California history, officials in Napa and Sonoma counties knew their local first responders would be overwhelmed and turned to a statewide mutual-aid system designed to swiftly brinThey got help, but they didn’t get what they asked for — not nearly.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle

In August 2015, a firefighter broke protocol and went outside his chain of command to email then Division Chief Jace Kohan. In a regimented organization like Tampa Fire Rescue, chain of command is part of daily operations. But Kohan told a judge and seven-person jury Wednesday that firefighter Mark Pattison wasn’t reprimanded for his email, or even scolded.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times and Tampa Bay.com

A North Carolina county has given a rural volunteer fire department an ultimatum after its refusal to take down a Confederate flag waving over its station. The Charlotte Observer reports that Montgomery County commissioners have decided to restrict funding for the Uwharrie Volunteer Fire Department if it will not take the flag down and end a dispute that has simmered for months.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

The 80 new firefighters Columbus plans to hire next year could be among the first to really understand the risk of cancer they face on the job. For the 50 city firefighters who are expected to retire in 2018 and thousands of others, it could be too late. For years, firefighters have shed their masks and other gear after flames were knocked down, not knowing they were breathing carcinogens and exposing their skin to chemicals that could lead to cancer.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Members of the Sauk City Fire Department will soon able to breath a little easier. The Sauk City Fire Department was awarded a $180,545 federal grant toward the purchase of 28 self-contained breathing apparatus, 56 breathing air cylinders and 40 face masks. Granted through the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, the apparatus is a device worn by firefighters and others to provide breathable air in an immediately dangerous to life or health atmosphere, according to Mike Breunig, assistant fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 7:16:10 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

VIDEO: Crews are investigating what sparked a garage fire this morning in Altoona. Fire Chief Mark Renderman says the fire started in a detached garage and spread to the exterior of the house just before noon. He says two people were in the house at the time of the fire and they both got out safely. The chief says there's no damage estimates yet, but the garage is being considered a total loss.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 3:09:48 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

VIDEO: The Milwaukee Fire Department on Wednesday, November 15th welcomed 19 new firefighters. A graduation ceremony was held at the MFD Training Academy near Teutonia and Green Tree. Recruits spent the past 16 weeks preparing for their new jobs. As you can imagine, the training was both physically and mentally challenging.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 6:36:07 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A competency hearing has been requested for a Milwaukee man charged with rioting and arson after the unrest in Sherman Park during the summer of 2016 — following the fatal officer-involved shooting of Sylville Smith. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that 20-year-old Toronse Carter of Milwaukee was indicted on November 7th for rioting and arson connected with the Sherman Park violence that broke out in August 2016.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 6:28:14 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A former Wausau firefighter accused of sexually assaulting a female patient in an ambulance wants an out-of-county jury for his upcoming trial. 33-year-old Clifford "CJ" Heiser argues he cannot get a fair trial with a Marathon County jury. In court filings he is also raising questions about the woman's memory and credibility and contends key evidence against him was obtained illegally.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 4:02:39 AM - SOURCE: WIFC-FM 95.5

This past summer, Evergreen Park in Sheboygan looked like a scene taken right out of a James Dean movie. Men in leather jackets and slicked back hair leaned against perfectly polished hot rods and chatted up women with bright red lips and polka dot skirts. But the real stars of the show were of the furrier variety.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 3:55:54 AM - SOURCE: Sheboygan Press

Firefighting is an inherently dangerous occupation; firefighters put themselves in harm's way every day of the year. They never know when they will be exposed to possible injury or even death from fire, smoke, collapsing structures or a myriad of other hazards. Still, there is a further and until recently unrecognized threat that firefighters and paramedics must face.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ashland Daily Press - Subscription Required to Read Entire Article

PHOTOS - St. Louis firefighters are battling a huge, five-alarm fire in a warehouse that sent a plume of thick black smoke up from the Botanical Heights neighborhood. A fire truck was smashed when a wall of the building collapsed about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The fire started small in the basement of the warehouse near 39th Street and Park Avenue about 10:15.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post Dispatch

The Dallas City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $61.7 million settlement for four of six long-running back pay lawsuits filed by police and firefighters. The sizable agreement avoids hundreds of millions in claims that would have been owed if a Collin County jury had ruled in favor of the public safety workers.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas Morning News

Not many people have had Robert De Niro star as them in a blockbuster film, but that is the case for a former Sandwich Fire Chief who passed away, this week. Donald Rimgale was 77 years old when he passed away peacefully in his Elmhurst home on Monday. WSPY reported in July of 2016 that Rimgale retired as Sandwich Fire Chief.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSPYNews.com

The volunteers who make up the Julian Fire Protection District have demanded their fire chief be dismissed and have served recall papers on the board president. The move escalates an already volatile situation in the historic mountain town where the community and leaders of the fire district have been at odds with each other for years about whether to join the county's Fire Authority or remain independent despite ongoing financial problems.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune

Work within the fire service involves frequent encounters with occupational hazards. Many fire departments try to minimize accidents and injuries through after action reviews (AARs). A recent study1 explored what makes for a good or bad after action review, what makes a review satisfying to attendees, and its impact on group safety norms.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration

A retired FDNY lieutenant and father of five is the latest first responder to succumb to cancer, contracted during his time working the pile at Ground Zero, authorities said Tuesday. Lt. Edward (Eddie) McDonagh died Sunday after a three-year battle against stage 4 colon cancer, relatives said. He was 49.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

On November 14, 2 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.