Another firefighter has lost his life to a 9/11-related cancer. Retired Firefighter Michael Duffy, a 20-year veteran of the department who spent time at Ground Zero after the terror attacks, died on Aug. 8, officials said Thursday. Duffy joined the FDNY in 1982 and spent his entire career at Engine 310 and Ladder 174 on Snyder Ave.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

The way Cezary Milewicz sees it, his lot in life hinged on two chance occurences: a pre-paid postage stamp and the decision to take an evening stroll. The first came in his native Poland. Born in Korsze, a town of 4,724 in the country's northeast corner, Milewicz first set foot in a firehouse when he was 5.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant

The Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District Board of Directors at its meeting Thursday denied Chief Jon Jones’ request to extend his contract by two years and appointed Division Chief Todd Skrabak as interim chief until the next board meeting. Jones’ three years of leadership ends after heavy criticism by his station’s firefighters’ and chief officers’ unions.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Cruz Sentinel

The son of a Kansas City firefighter killed in an explosion is breaking his silence. James Kilventon is publicly questioning the convictions of five people held responsible in the fatal arson which killed a total of six firefighters back in 1988. “I just want to get to the bottom of it. I mean I want closure.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMOV-TV CBS 4 St. Louis

A 10-alarm fire that reduced a luxury apartment complex in Waltham to a smoldering pile of rubble last month and caused $110 million in damage was intentionally set, authorities said, and cash rewards are being offered in the hopes of catching whoever sparked the blaze. The 264-unit building on the banks of the Charles River went up in flames during the early morning hours of July 23 and the roaring inferno damaged two other nearby structures and at least 20 vehicles, according to a joint press release issued by State Fire Marshal Peter J.
- PUB DATE: 8/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald

Police arrested a Waterloo man after he allegedly impersonated a DeForest firefighter twice to scam Casey's General Store. Charles Moss, 47, first entered the DeForest convenience store in July where surveillance cameras caught him taking cell phone chargers and attempting to return them to collect the refund.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 8:17:54 PM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

They run to the places we would typically run away from. Putting themselves in the most dangerous places, for fire fighters it's all part of the job. But it doesn't end there. What happens after they fight fires, can be considered the scariest part of the job. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, cancer caused 61 percent of deaths among full time fire fighters from 2002 to 2016.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 5:06:14 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

A Janesville firefighter is headed to the World Police and Fire Games for the first time. Jen Prochnow has been a firefighter in Janesville for more than 16 years. She started doing CrossFit nearly five years ago and recently qualified for the international competition. “I train a lot on my off days,” she said.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 6:42:44 AM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

Kenosha Fire Chief Charles Leipzig said work to bring a new fire station to the shuttered Bain Elementary School site is going strong. Two fire stations — Station 3, 2121 Roosevelt Road, and Station 5, 2125 Washington Road — are set to close and be merged into a “super” station at 2210 52nd St. “It’s a responsible plan,” Leipzig said.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 1:57:09 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

Everything failed in an instant. Severed lines snuffed out power to the command center directing the emergency response to the deadly Gatlinburg wildfires the night of Nov. 28 and plunged firefighting and rescue efforts into darkness and chaos. Sevier County began releasing records Wednesday documenting the confusion caused by the collapse of communications systems as fire swept into the city.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Knoxville News Sentinel

Nearly two dozen Palm Beach County firefighters are suing a publicly-traded company claiming a siren it produces for emergency vehicles robbed them of their hearing. In the lawsuit filed this week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, current and former firefighters for Palm Beach County Fire Rescue and West Palm Beach and Boca Raton fire departments say Federal Signal Corp.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Palm Beach Post

Five firefighters were hospitalized after battling an electrical fire in the borough Wednesday afternoon. At 3:30 p.m., Fame Fire Company was dispatched to North Darlington Street at the corner of West Gay Street for a report of an odor of smoke. Fire crews arrived to find an active house fire. After firefighters entered the building, a distress call was sent out because Assistant Chief Mark Scanlon had collapsed and lost consciousness due to what is believed to be carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Coatesville Daily Local News

One firefighter recruit has been fired and three others resigned because of a noose found hanging over a black firefighter’s seat, Pompano fire officials say. An investigation into the noose, which was found at the Pompano Beach Fire Training Center, concluded Wednesday. Pompano Beach Fire Chief John Jurgle said he acted as soon as he heard last month about the racist symbol, which was directed at the only black recruit in a class of six.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Sentinel

Dealing with difficult people just goes with the territory in emergency response. Events that precipitate a 911 call often do not bring out the best in people. Every firefighter has had to deal with the obnoxious drunk at closing time, the angry person with mental health issues, or the entitled person who demands to know: why did this happen to me? All emergency responders have slightly different ways of dealing with such people.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

A Downtown resident escaped with only minor injuries early Wednesday morning when her bed caught fire because of a lit candle on a windowsill. The incident was reported at 1:10 a.m. in the 600 block of North Frances Street, the Madison Fire Department said. The woman was awakened by a smoke alarm and she called 911.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2017 7:54:51 PM - SOURCE: Madison

Concerned that first responders could encounter gunfire on an emergency call, the Appleton Fire Department is looking to buy additional protection equipment for its members. In a memo to Appleton's Safety and Licensing Committee, Fire Chief Len Vander Wyst asked to redirect an unused $10,440 toward the purchase of about 20 sets of "ballistic personal protective equipment," including vests, helmets, pouches and headlamps.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2017 1:04:23 PM - SOURCE: Appleton Post-Gazette & Post Crescent.com

It’s been nearly a year, since a home explosion in Fitchburg. Before the August 25 anniversary, first responders are looking to give the community some closure, by providing the latest on the investigation during a meeting Wednesday night. “We promised that to the community, that we would get information out as soon as possible,” said Fitchburg Fire Chief Joe Pulvermacher.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2017 9:47:14 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Milwaukee firefighters rushed out early Wednesday morning to a house fire near 24th Place and Concordia Avenue. Neighbors say they heard two loud booms just before flames broke out a little before 4:00 AM. Fire Chief Dan Lipski confirms investigators found evidence of an explosion, but he says they don’t know what caused it yet.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2017 7:42:15 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

On August 7, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO - A passerby captured the moment a St. Paul firefighter and two St. Paul police officers rescued a woman standing on the edge of a bridge on Tuesday. District Fire Chief Conrad Ertz pulled the woman off the ledge. He told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS helping people in their times of need is just part of the job.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSTP-TV ABC 5 Minneapolis/St. Paul