After 33 years on the Brussels, Union, Gardener Fire Department, not much surprises Jim Wautier. However, he was surprised to learn several weeks ago that the Wisconsin American Legion would be honoring him as its Outstanding Firefighter for the state. Wautier accepted the award in Appleton Saturday.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 3:43:59 PM - SOURCE: Door County Daily News

Crews responded to the scene of a residential fire in Schofield Monday morning. According to dispatch, several agencies were sent to 113 Williams Street at approximately 5:45 a.m. for reports of a structure fire. According to the River Side Fire District Fire Chief, no one inside at the time of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 6:42:50 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

On July 15, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On July 14, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

For years Madison firefighters have stood on street corners with a boot in hand raising money for muscular dystrophy. After the city of Madison banned panhandling in busy traffic spots across the city, Fire Fighters Local 311 decided to hold the first ever "Fill the Boot" beach party. "We tried to branch out and think of new ideas so we came up with this charity event," said Justin Tews, who is a Madison Firefighter.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 2:50:34 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Three people are confirmed dead in a massive fire in the Marco Polo building on Kapiolani Boulevard. The initial alarm came in at around 2:15 p.m. By 3 p.m., four alarms had been called. By 4:30 p.m., the fifth alarm was called. Officials say the fire initially started on the 26th floor, and that’s where three bodies were found.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHON2.com

In what an expert calls a “huge failure,” hundreds of residential and commercial buildings across Oakland were never inspected after firefighters flagged fire dangers and referred them for followup, including more than 200 apartment buildings housing thousands of residents, an investigation by the Bay Area News Group has found.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

A sport utility vehicle collided with an Akron firetruck Friday afternoon, killing two people inside the SUV, including a 16-year-old girl, and injuring three firefighters. Fire Engine No. 3 was southbound on Rhodes Avenue about 3:45 p.m. when witnesses say a burgundy Chevrolet Trailblazer westbound on West Exchange Street drove through a red light and struck the firetruck, Akron Police Capt.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com

Terrifying images from London remain fresh in many minds: Flames rapidly consuming the exterior of the 24-story Grenfell Tower while trapped residents frantically cried out for help from the upper floors, and firefighters physically and emotionally exhausted from the intense battle and loss of life they confronted.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

About 100 firefighters are killed in the line of duty every year. A robot being developed at Pensacola's groundbreaking Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) might one day save lives. Researchers at IHMC are specifically working on a robot that could fight fires on ships. Research Associate John Carff said, "When you're on a ship, there's a good chance if you're a firefighter in there fighting a fire you could get a hatch closed behind you and you're going to be stuck in a ship that's sinking.
- PUB DATE: 7/17/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEAR-TV ABC 3 Pensacola

On July 11, 4 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The Germantown Fire Department responded to the scene of a house fire on White Pine Ct. early Friday morning, July 14th. The call came in around 1:10 a.m. Upon arrival, officers observed smoke coming from the utility room of the home. All occupants were able to exit safely. An officer on scene used dry powder fire extinguisher to “knock” the fire down.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 6:13:43 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

Mayor Marian Orr has named a Florida fireman to be Cheyenne’s new fire chief. Greg Hoggatt, a Boynton Beach Fire and Rescue deputy chief, will take the helm Sept. 1, pending City Council approval. Interim Chief Tom Schingle has led the department since former Chief James Martin retired in February. Hoggatt brings nearly three decades of experience to the top job at Cheyenne Fire and Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wyoming Tribune Eagle

The chief of the Burbank-Paradise Fire District was fired Wednesday night following a unanimous vote by the district’s board. Mike Hillar, 55, who had been with the district for 26 years and chief for seven, had been on unpaid leave since June 23. In March, Scotty Douglass, the executive director of Stanislaus Regional 911, which dispatches for the district, sent Hillar a memo regarding “deprecating tone and language” he used with a dispatcher on a call the week before.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Modesto Bee

Now that Gov. Rick Snyder has signed major changes to retirement benefits for new teachers into law, another contentious battle is on the horizon for the fall when legislators hope to extend those changes to other public employees. Those affected would include police officers and firefighters, as well as other municipal employees.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

Court documents in a lawsuit filed against the city of Conway and Conway Fire Department reflect one man’s struggle to be promoted in the fire service after a former co-worker, who now serves as chief, mentioned he was “defiant” in the past. That description cost him a promotion, Larry Carter says in a second lawsuit against his former employer that alleges the department breached a settlement agreement that required he get a “neutral employment reference.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MyrtleBeachOnline.com

PHOTO - In a scene straight out of your nightmares, a truck full of "slime eels" lost its load Thursday on U.S. 101, causing a five-car crash, dousing sedans with goo and sending sea creatures slithering across vehicles and the highway. Technically, the fish were not eels, but hagfish, which have a skull but no jaw or spine and they secrete slime when distressed, earning them the nickname "slime eels.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Oregonian, Hillsboro Argus, Oregon Live.com

Brandon Visyak used a stolen state firefighter badge in a ploy to rob a woman the first time he got caught impersonating a public safety officer. Two years later, he again claimed to be a Cal Fire firefighter while he tried to get out of a traffic arrest. Both incidents led to criminal convictions on charges that he illegally impersonated a California public safety officer.
- PUB DATE: 7/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

VIDEO: Coming from St. Paul, Minnesota, La Crosse Fire Chief Ken Gilliam is looking forward to continue his career in La Crosse. "It doesn't take you 30 years to get a policy change enacted, it's a little bit more dynamic and you can work through issues and changes," Gilliam said. With 14 years of experience under his belt, Gilliam can tell you the job is a lot more than fighting fires.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 3:59:54 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

It’s up to the town board to set the final date. But a town of Eagle Point committee is recommending town residents on Monday, Oct. 2, will vote to expand the current town fire station or to build a new one near the town hall. It’s also possible town residents will choose to do nothing. The town’s Comprehensive Planning Commission on Monday voted to begin an informational campaign on the fire station at fire department fundraiser on Saturday, Aug.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 4:33:36 AM - SOURCE: Chippewa Herald