Wisconsin officials say a state law prevents them from enforcing a fire sprinklers rule that fire officials say is one of the best ways to save lives. The 7-year-old rule requires sprinklers be installed into new apartment buildings that have between three and 20 units. A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the rule is more restrictive than a state law approved in 2011.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 7:51:45 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

The Marinette Fire Department celebrated its 150th year anniversary with an open house Saturday, Aug. 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Children's activities included a bounce house, water ball, face painting, and Skippee's inter-active fire house. Marinette High School Student Senate, family members, and U.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 2:44:00 AM - SOURCE: Peshtigo Times

Matt Jaggar has responded to multiple fires during his 19 years as an Eau Claire firefighter, but Wednesday marked the first time he did so while off duty. Jaggar, a battalion chief, was driving along Main Street on the East Side Hill shortly before 11:30 a.m. when he noticed smoke in the sky. His firefighting instincts took over, and he decided to track down the source of the smoke.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 2:25:13 AM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

Firefighter Robert Alexander always followed in his father’s footsteps — even in death. The 43-year-old — who worked on FDNY fire boats — died Monday of a brain tumor stemming from his time at Ground Zero. For Alexander, succumbing to a 9/11 illness is a heartbreaking family affair — a year earlier, his father Lt.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

An independent investigator has determined that the fire department suffers from a fractured leadership team and perceptions of racism and favoritism that are worsened by the "racial insensitivity" of Chief Thomas Ronalter. The monthslong review did not document racism in hiring or discipline, but concluded "it is not unreasonable that a minority firefighter could perceive the existence of racial bias.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant

After more than 30 hours, the massive air and sea search continues for five missing soldiers who were on board an Army chopper that crashed late Tuesday off Oahu. Rescuers are focusing their efforts on a debris field that's three to five miles offshore. "This is still a search and rescue mission. We are here to bring our soldiers home," said Lt Col.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hawaii News Now

Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones chose someone many feel can unite the fire department which has been engulfed in controversy for years. Deputy Chief Pete Key Key joined the Charlotte Fire Department as a firefighter in 1977 and now 40 years later, he’s in charge of its more than 1,200 employees and protecting more than 840,000 citizens.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wsoctv.com

Firefighters at Engine Company 27 in Northeast D.C.'s Deanwood neighborhood are sounding the alarm about what they are calling dirty and deplorable conditions at their fire station. In the District, fire personnel work in 24-hour shifts and then have 72 hours off. During their work shift, these firefighters live, eat and sleep at the firehouse, and these conditions are nothing new to them and have been going on for years, they say.
- PUB DATE: 8/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: foxdc.com

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

On August 14, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On August 12, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

An early morning fire Wednesday has destroyed the Danish Mill, a popular Washington Island bakery and restaurant. Firefighters and first responders are at the scene, 1934 Lobdell Point Road, according to Door County Dispatch Center. More information will be released later today. According to the Facebook page for the Danish Mill no one was at the bakery and everyone is safe.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 6:41:23 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

A federal grant funding three full-time firefighter positions in the Beloit Fire Department will expire in April, and the department's ranks will grow smaller unless the city can provide the needed funding. The department is expected to exceed 6,000 emergency calls for service this year, with the need for trained staff greater than ever.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 2:08:27 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

Fire crews shut down East Wisconsin Avenue Tuesday afternoon in response to a chemical leak at Appvion. It was necessary to shut down the road to access water hydrants needed to dilute sodium hydroxide that had leaked, said Appleton fire Battalion Chief Jeff Felauer. "It never was a danger to any citizens or the public," Felauer said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 2:07:45 AM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

Property owners may see a break in insurance premiums because Augusta Fire Department has achieved an Insurance Services Office rating of 1-1X, the highest possible, Fire Chief Chris James announced Tuesday. “Augusta becomes one of only 18 communities across Georgia to achieve this top rating,” James said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Augusta Chronicle

Firefighter union leaders on Monday accused Anne Arundel County of creating "dangerous situations" for firefighters and county residents because of staffing shortages in the fire department. In a press conference outside the Arundel Center in Annapolis, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1563 president Joe Addivinola said firefighters arriving on the scene of blazes in Shady Side on Thursday and Deale on Saturday had to rely on help from bystanders to start fighting the fires before backup crews showed up.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Capital Gazette - Metered Site

This week marks 10 years since the devastating fire in Lower Manhattan that killed two of New York's Bravest. A decade ago, a fire sparked by a worker's cigarette turned the condemned former Deutsche Bank building into an inferno of toxic smoke and flames that killed two firefighters and injured more than 100.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wabc-tv

The two men who took down the boy who allegedly vandalized the Boston Holocaust memorial on Monday evening were an off-duty Boston firefighter and a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent, said the Boston Fire Department. According to the department’s spokesperson, Steve MacDonald, the pair was eating at the Union Oyster House when they heard the ordeal going on outside.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS Boston

A woman walking with her three young children in Central Park Tuesday morning was struck and pinned by a large tree. All four were taken to the hospital after the woman was freed around 10:10 a.m., the FDNY said. The family was treated at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries, the NYPD said.
- PUB DATE: 8/16/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday

Not every six-year-old gets a to ride in a fire truck on the occasion of her birthday, but not every six-year-old chooses the gifts Kelynn Gregerson chose for that special day. Gregerson asked everyone invited to her sixth birthday party Aug. 6 — her actual birthday was Aug. 3 — to bring a monetary donation for the Kilbourn Volunteer Fire Department, instead of a gift for her.
- PUB DATE: 8/15/2017 7:03:03 PM - SOURCE: wisc news