On June 26, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On June 25, 7 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The state’s public-safety unions have scored a potential win in their end-of-session push for a law that will make it easier for police officers and firefighters to get disability pensions that pay them two-thirds pay, tax-free for life. The Rhode Island House of Representatives on a 53-to-8 vote approved legislation to equate an “illness sustained while in the performance of duty” with an on-the-job injury so more firefighters can qualify for benefits they have, in some past cases, been denied.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal

The City of Charleston, SC, approved plans to replace the current Fire Station 11 and build adjacent to the Charleston 9 memorial site. Residents wanted the station to be the neighborhood’s “shining light and a beacon of the community.” As the West Ashley area of Charleston grows, the city determined that the current Station 11 needed to be relocated to improve service delivery and found that the property adjacent to the memorial site—about a mile from the existing station, would help fill a service gap.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

The city’s fire chief announced Tuesday that he is closing one fire house and reducing staffing at another beginning this Saturday over concerns about fiscal year 2018 funding in the municipal budget. Fire Chief Dan Goonan said he is closing Station 9 at 575 Calef Road in Ward 9, effective Saturday, July 1.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Union Leader

A Providence firefighter has been fired for saying an African-American woman should “stop eating fried chicken” when he responded to a medical call earlier this year. Andre Ferro, a firefighter who has previously faced disciplinary action for violating the department’s sexual harassment policy, was terminated for making racially-insensitive comments by the city’s Fire Department Trial Board Tuesday, according to Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV Providence 12

Former Assistant Fire Chief Jonathan Swarey says he resigned after what he called a heated meeting Monday morning between Whiteville city and fire officials. The decision prompted more than a dozen volunteer firefighters to follow in his footsteps. “I finally got to the point [Monday] and this weekend that, you know, I’m here to fight fires, here to do EMS work,” Swarey said.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBBJ-TV ABC 7

As she was at lunch earlier this month in an Oklahoma City hospital cafeteria, Bobbie Gilbreath began to turn blue. A kernel of corn had become lodged in her throat, said her son, Greg Gilbreath, 60, who was with his parents on June 2 at Oklahoma Heart Hospital South. After only a few seconds, Bobbie Gilbreath, 80, began slipping out of consciousness.
- PUB DATE: 6/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NewsOK.com

An abandoned barn in Oshkosh is now a total loss after illegal fireworks were set off next to it on Monday night. Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the abandoned barn completely engulfed in flames. Fortunately, no people or animals were inside. "It was pretty obvious that it was caused by people shooting off fireworks in the area, it was actually illegal fireworks in the area, and we found all the empties all over the place so it wasn't that difficult of an investigation," John Holland, public education specialist with the Oshkosh Fire Department, said.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 8:24:07 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay

No one was injured but a semi trailer and several automobiles transported by it were severely damage Monday night in a fire on I-90/94. The Lake Delton Fire Department responded to the scene after a call came in at 9:15 p.m., near mile-marker 99.4 in the west-bound lane, halfway between Wisconsin Dells and Portage near the Columbia-Sauk county line, according to Lake Delton Police Chief Darren Jorgenson.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 6:40:43 PM - SOURCE: wisc news

VIDEO: Two men have been arrested in a Sheboygan arson case that involved racist graffiti and that police say didn't target a random victim. Sheboygan police said Tuesday they arrested a 37-year-old man and a 27-year-old man Monday in connection with the case, which involved swastikas and the message "Go back to your own country" scrawled on a nearby garage on the city's west side.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 5:54:28 PM - SOURCE: Wausau Daily Herald

VIDEO: Firefighters are still on scene of a vehicle fire in Altoona. News 18 spoke with the Altoona fire chief, who said a man was hauling hay to Altoona Hobb's Sports Center, located on Spooner Avenue, in his flatbed truck when it caught fire Tuesday around 5 p.m. The fire chief said the man was starting to take hay from the back of the truck when he noticed flames coming out of the vehicle and called 911.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 4:37:42 PM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

The Madison Fire Department will assess how much damage was done at a shelter serving the city's homeless after a small fire broke out in that building late Monday night. Firefighters say a fire broke out in a kitchen on the second floor of the Porchlight building on Brooks Street around 11 p.m. Monday.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 6:15:28 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

Firefighters in Newark who were rushing to a fire and were on the way to help others were in need of some rescuing of their own. The fire truck collided with a GMC Acadia and a Camry as it was traveling westbound on Orange Street near Clifton Ave. The truck completely flipped around, crushing the other two cars.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV 7online.com

The Anderson firefighters union is seeking answers to why the department is short on manpower, which is requiring mandatory overtime. Cody Leever, president of Anderson Firefighters Local 1262, said Monday at the Anderson Board of Public Safety meeting that the Anderson Fire Department is budgeted for 112 firefighters, but is currently working with 106 firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Herald Bulletin

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire is requesting permission to join a federal lawsuit filed by a Farmington firefighter who argues he was unlawfully fired because of what he posted on Facebook. Alexander Morin, of Ten Rod Road in Farmington, sued the town last year, challenging his July 21, 2015, termination as a per-diem firefighter by the town.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fosters.com

Common Voices, an advocates’ coalition determined to create a fire safe America, announces the launch of its newly redesigned website, www.FireAdvocates.org. It provides resources and information to assist fire departments and fire safety advocates with their fire prevention messages and fire safety lobbying efforts.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireAdvocates.org

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday there must be a "major national investigation" into the use of potentially flammable cladding fitted to high-rise towers across the country, as police formally identified a five-year-old boy as one of youngest victims of London's Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
- PUB DATE: 6/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBC News

VIDEO: New leadership for one of La Crosse's emergency services is sworn in Monday afternoon. Incoming Fire Chief Ken Gilliam stood before members of the La Crosse community and city government, swearing to fulfill his duties. Gilliam comes from a background in fire department training. Gilliam says he looks forward to his time in La Crosse, hoping to improve on an already capable department.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2017 3:27:15 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

The two people killed Saturday night in a house fire in Reedsburg have been identified as Michael Schanke, 40, and Michelle Schanke, 36. both of Reedsburg. The preliminary cause of death most likely was smoke inhalation, according to an update released Monday by the Reedsburg Fire and Police Departments.
- PUB DATE: 6/26/2017 8:21:57 AM - SOURCE: Madison.com