PHOTO: The City of Burlington and Racine County each declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning. More than a dozen roads closed due to nearly 7 inches of rain that fell between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in some parts of the county. The worst flooding was seen on the county’s west end. By 6:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 2:20:43 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

Former Fire Captain Thomas Gerstner who was charged with drunken driving and driving with an expired license after he struck a parked car with a fire truck during last year's Memorial Day Parade was fined $456.50 during his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, July 12. Judge Michael Maxwell amended the OWI charge to a reckless driving charge, which the court imposed the fine for based on Gerstner's blood alcohol level at the time of the incident, which was 0.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Now

Two friendly rivalries heat up as South End Days begins July 21. One takes place on the field, when the Superior Fire Department faces off against the Superior Police Department. The firefighters walked away with last year's inaugural Guns-n-Hoses softball title. As South End Days head organizer Kalee Hermanson remembers it, the score was 20 to 10.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Telegram-Superior

A St. Louis fire captain who sustained injuries while fighting a fire during the Fourth of July holiday has died. Capt. John Kemper, 59, died Wednesday after he was injured while battling a structural fire in the 3600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue early the morning of July 5, the department said. Kemper didn’t suffer any burns.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Houston firefighters are in search of higher pay. It's part of a "firefighter pay initiative" launched by the firefighters' union. As we first told you last week, Houston firefighters want pay parity with the city's police. They're circulating petitions to try to get the parity issue on the November ballot so voters can decide.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

Fire Chief John Sinclair, IAFC president and chairman of the board, testified today before a Congressional panel that the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, including the Fire Prevention and Safety grant, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs provide valued assistance to local fire departments across the country and help them protect their communities.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

A city firefighter has been fired following an internal investigation into alleged workers' compensation fraud, Hartford's fire chief said Tuesday. Lt. John Moree, a 21-year veteran of the department who city records show has been unable to perform firefighting duties since July 2015, was seen on surveillance video loading building materials onto a vehicle at a home improvement store, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hartford Courant

An accounting firm’s new report confirms what Kansas City officials already knew through the budgeting process — firefighter overtime is a huge expense, and a few individuals rake in an oversized share of those wages. But the report from BKD, released publicly on Wednesday, doesn’t offer a magic cure for the millions of dollars in overtime that Kansas City government shells out annually to the Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 7/13/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kansas City Star

The Wausau Fire Department has a new way to perform rescues out on the water. The department took delivery of a new rescue airboat Wednesday morning in Wausau. Deputy Fire Chief Josh Klug tells NewsChannel 7 personnel will begin training on how to use the boat in the upcoming weeks. Klug said the airboat will give the fire department more versatility when performing water rescues, as its design allows it to go on water, ice, and even muddy land in some situations.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 9:27:49 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

On July 8, 9 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Dennis Saeger retired from the Port Edwards Fire Department recently after a 36-year career. Saeger, the first assistant fire chief, was honored at a dinner and recognition ceremony on May 10. Port Edwards Fire Department retirees, village officials, mutual aid fire department officials and family attended.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 7:03:30 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

Work on a new fire station for the Kenosha Fire Department could begin next year. Two fire stations are set to close and be merged into a “super” station on the site of the shuttered Bain Elementary School, 2210 52nd St. The two stations considered for closure: Station 3, 2121 Roosevelt Road, and Station 5, 2125 Washington Road.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 2:40:10 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News

When writing about the management of emergency incidents, I find myself – as well as other writers – including this verbiage, “Develop an incident action plan.” Why? Because developing this plan, successful communicating their part to fire officers and monitoring progress towards its completion are three of the key responsibilities for the incident commander.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

VIDEO - The Rock County Communications Center has produced a community street dance video to the Bruno Mars hit, 24K Magic. The video is a follow-up to the Center’s viral hit “Uptown Funk” which was released two years ago and has received over 6.7 million YouTube views and thousands of positive comments from all over the world.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

Four L.A County supervisors donned Wonder Woman headbands Tuesday in support of a motion that would upgrade a Marina del Rey fire station with bathrooms and sleeping quarters for female firefighters. The supervisors’ action also cast a spotlight on a broader issue of why so few women work as firefighters in the county fire department, and why fewer than half of all stations offer separate bathrooms and sleeping quarters for women.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News

Dan Eggleston, IAFC director-at-large and fire chief of the Albemarle County (Va.) Fire and Rescue, Kevin McGee, chair of the IAFC Terrorism & Homeland Security Committee and chief of Prince William County (Va.) Fire Rescue, and Mark Light, IAFC CEO/executive director, today joined Gov. Terence R. McAuliffe at a ceremonial letter signing declaring that the Commonwealth of Virginia will allow the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to proceed with the deployment of the of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network in Virginia.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: International Association of Fire Chiefs

The Southern California firefighters tab at Denny's: $400. Public generosity: Priceless. A team of firefighters from Colton got a pleasant surprise Saturday when someone paid their $405.22 food tab at a Denny's. The 25 hungry firefighters just got off the line battling the La Cadena Fire in La Loma Hills that burned 70 acres when they grabbed a meal at a nearby Denny's.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind to use data from a beating heart as evidence, a Butler County judge ruled Tuesday that evidence from a pacemaker used to get a Middletown man indicted for arson can be presented at trial. Ross Compton, 59, was indicted in January on felony charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud for allegedly starting a fire in September 2016 at his Court Donegal house.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal-News

The formal retirement of Gloucester’s assistant fire chief on Sunday and the retirement of five other senior Fire Department members over the last 2 1/2 weeks have created a six-person void in the city’s firefighting force, Fire Chief Eric Smith said Monday. Aiello’s official departure on Sunday came just two weeks after the retirements of Deputy Chief Miles Schlichte and firefighter Joseph Misuraca, both of whom also served with the department for more than 30 years.
- PUB DATE: 7/12/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Gloucester Times

It’s that time of year again where individuals of ages and skill levels take to the water for sport or to cool off from the heat of the summer sun. Sauk Prairie area emergency services are prepared to handle most any water-related incident or rescue, thanks to a variety of equipment and personnel training.
- PUB DATE: 7/11/2017 7:53:39 PM - SOURCE: wisc news