An Orange County sheriff’s helicopter practicing firefighting techniques in Huntington Beach last month inadvertently dumped water on a woman standing outside a plumbing business, generating questions about whether the department is as yet skilled enough to fight fires. The errant dumping occurred Oct.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Orange County Register

A Northern Arizona University professor was arrested Oct. 30 and indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on five counts of felony stalking – one involving a student -- and three counts of giving false information to law enforcement. Melissa Ann Santana, 36, who worked as an associate professor of interior design, is accused of habitually stalking and harassing two firefighters from the U.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Arizona Daily Sun

The file cabinets in Joe Bob Betzel's barn tell a story. It’s the two-decade story of a legal battle contending the City of Dallas underpaid its cops and firefighters. “It’s been over 25 years for me, so that’s like a career,” said Betzel, the retired Dallas firefighter who led the fight. On Tuesday, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a nearly $62 million settlement.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth

A billboard complaining about overtime Gwinnett County firefighters are required to work is turning some heads in Lawrenceville. Former firefighter Michael Flanagan signed the contract for the billboard at Hwy. 316 and Ga. 20, but says there are actually 40 people behind it. The rotating sign asks the county to stop mandatory overtime for firefighters complaining $15 million has been spent over three years.
- PUB DATE: 11/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSB Radio

A large fire at an outbuilding of a landscaping company in the Town of Middleton Sunday evening caused $300,000 in damage, Dane County deputies said. Dane County Sheriff's Office Lt. Krista Ewers-Hayes said firefighters responded to reports of a structure fire at A.L. Landscaping at 3624 Pioneer Rd. at 5:05 p.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2017 5:06:48 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

VIDEO: irefighters from several departments were called on Sunday afternoon to a fire that consumed a garage and at least two vehicles. Greenfield, Greendale, Franklin, Oak Creek and Hales Corners firefighters responded to the home near Sutton Lane and Eastway. WISN 12 NEWS saw one firefighter being treated in an ambulance.
- PUB DATE: 11/19/2017 3:05:32 PM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

Two people were transported to the hospital late Friday after a vehicle was involved in a serious crash and ended up wrapped around a tree. Police believe alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash. On Friday, at 10:56 p.m., the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded with the South Shore Fire Department to the 1400 block of Oakes Road following a report of a vehicle crashed into a tree, according to a Mount Pleasant Police Department release issued Saturday morning.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2017 9:45:59 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

The South Shore Fire Department is getting a new emergency medical services station somewhere on the village’s north side. Money for the station is part of the 2018 village budget adopted Wednesday. The station will cost $500,000, and the department will hire six more paramedics, working two at a time in 24-hour shifts, to respond to calls primarily on the northeast part of Mount Pleasant.
- PUB DATE: 11/18/2017 3:30:48 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

On November 16, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 15, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 14, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

One person was hurt during an explosion at a cheese plant Friday morning. It happened at Knaus Cheese, which is located on County Highway C in Lamartine. The Lamartine Fire Chief tells our Green Bay affiliate that one person was airlifted to a hospital with burns and broken bones. That person is said to be in stable condition.
- PUB DATE: 11/17/2017 8:20:37 AM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

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