On August 23, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The Fountain City Community Fire Association cleared apparent final hurdles in taking ownership of property where it eventually intends to build a new fire station. The city council approved transferring deed to surveyed property lines that include an acre of land and bathhouse facility located off State Highway 35 where a community swimming pool used to sit on the city’s south side.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Winona Daily News

A fire chief died in his home Saturday after attending live fire training the night before. Great Falls Tribune reported that Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tom Martin, 65, died. He was a 20-year veteran of the department. "It's a tough loss," Assistant Chief Mike Deshayes said. "He was a huge mentor to a lot of us and he was a pillar to the community of Cascade County.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

The city of San Antonio has lost — again — in its lawsuit against the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association over a long-standing contract clause, which the city has argued is unconstitutional. The Fourth Court of Appeals eviscerated the city’s arguments in its opinion on the city’s appeal, released early Wednesday morning.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: My San Antonio.com

The Fire Commission Tuesday demoted the firefighters' union president from lieutenant to firefighter and suspended him five days without pay for his actions at a Jan. 1 fire after a hearing that lasted over five hours at Fire Department headquarters. Chad Cunningham, a 10-year veteran, also must undergo 40 hours of training if he wants to be restored as a lieutenant, the commission said.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Republican

Enabling interoperability between the FirstNet public-safety LTE core being built by AT&T and the LTE cores of Verizon or other carriers is feasible technically, but doing so would be a departure from the FirstNet request for proposals (RFP) and could introduce security issues for public safety, according to an AT&T executive.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications

A five-alarm fire at a College Park, Maryland, apartment building burned much longer than it should have, putting firefighters and the public at unnecessary risk, according to College Park Fire Chief Bill Corrigan. The Fuse 47 building on Berwyn House Road was still under construction at the time of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Washington

On August 23, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: A crash that injured two people Wednesday afternoon spilled gasoline into the intersection of Riverview Expressway and West Grand Avenue. A man driving north in an SUV on the Riverview Expressway attempted to make a left turn on a green light onto West Grand Avenue, Wisconsin Rapids Police Lt.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 3:05:12 PM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

Janesville firefighters put out a house fire on Old Kennedy Road in Milton on Wednesday afternoon. A man who said he lives in the house at 4446 Old Kennedy Road said he and four dogs got out and away from the fire safely. Barbara Lein, who also lives in the home, said she returned with her daughter and saw the fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 2:39:48 PM - SOURCE: Walworth County Today

On August 22, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Assistant fire Chief Kraig Biefeld will once again assume the role of interim fire chief after being selected by the city's Police and Fire Commission in its meeting Monday night. Biefeld will undertake the duties and responsibilities of former fire Chief Greg Michalek while the commission continues its search for a new chief.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 4:27:16 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

VIDEO - A Petersburg firefighter was almost crushed on the job on Monday morning after part of a home collapsed while he battled flames. "There was so much fire you couldn't see where the door was,” said Cody Edlin, one of two firefighters injured. In no time, the front porch of the home on South Dunlop Street collapsed, falling on the firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond

A criminal charge was filed Tuesday against a driver in connection to the death of the Comstock Township fire chief, who was killed in the line of duty in June. Brandon Clevenger, 24, of Springfield faces a charge of reckless driving causing death, court records show. The Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the charge is connected to the death of Chief Ed Switalski.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOOD-TV NBC 8 Grand Rapids

The Macungie Volunteer Fire Department will not lose state funding after it issued a nearly $25,000 repayment to the association that handles its state-allocated fire insurance funding. The Macungie Firemen’s Relief Association wrongly spent $24,939 on insurance payments for vehicle insurance from 2014 to 2016, according to a July email from a state auditor reviewed by The Morning Call.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Allentown Morning Call

VIDEO - Stunning video captured the moment an Indianapolis firefighter rescued a kitten from a house fire. IFD tweeted that its crews were called to the blaze in the 3300 block of Houston St. at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Fire officials say the home was unoccupied except for the cat and no injuries were reported.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

VIDEO- Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22nd, emergency crews responded to reports of a fire truck that had crashed into the river bank. Upon arrival, it was discovered that a man stole an East Moline fire truck, crashed it into the bank of the Mississippi River, and then jumped into the river "and tried to elude officers," said East Moline Police Captain Tom Reagan.
- PUB DATE: 8/23/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WQAD-TV 8 (Davenport/Rock Island/Moline)

VIDEO: A Waukesha teen is behind bars after police say she lashed out at her mother's ex-boyfriend. Police say the girl confessed to making a molotov cocktail and hurling it onto the man's front porch. Black scorch marks darken the siding of a Waukesha home. Investigators say 17-year-old Natasha Garczynski spent more than a decade plotting her revenge against her mother's ex-boyfriend.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 8:40:32 PM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

Three Door County Board committees spent several hours last week discussing adding a command level to the county's Emergency Services Department medical responders operation. The department serves two functions: It is tasked with providing medical response and developing plans for dealing with emergencies that are not necessarily medically related.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 3:25:23 PM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

The need for full time firefighters is high at the La Crosse Fire Department after a year of heavy turnover. The loss of several members of the department has left voids in certain shifts and the department is looking to recruits to step up and fill those holes. "Before we assign them to a shift and get them on some sort of 24 hour shift, we want to make sure they have the basic understanding of all the things they can run into on the street on a day to day basis," Division Chief Frank Devine, said.
- PUB DATE: 8/22/2017 4:55:57 AM - SOURCE: WXOW-TV ABC 19 LaCrosse