A police and fire station shuttered earlier this year by the city of Springfield are reopening this month amid pressure from local unions. Fire Station No. 5 opened on Saturday — less than two weeks after the city announced plans to postpone its reopening from July 1 to Aug. 7 due to staffing and equipment issues — after calls from union leaders for it keep the promise it made to voters who expected coverage to resume after an income tax increase was approved at the polls in May.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Springfield News-Sun

Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. retired this week from the position he has held since 2010, citing health concerns, the need to assume more responsibility for caring for his aging parents and hoping to spend more time with his family. "I've been wonderfully blessed to have had this opportunity," Whitfield said.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

Though they recently announced a compromise labor contract that saved the city money, Anchorage Fire Department officials are now clashing with the firefighters union over reducing overtime by cutting hours of a South Anchorage water truck. Mike Stumbaugh, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 1264, said his members gave up future raises in a recently renegotiated contract with the understanding it would prevent cuts.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Alaska Dispatch News

The former Dayville Fire Company deputy chief, who was arrested in April on assault charges, was charged this week with side-swiping a vehicle while driving a fire truck to an emergency call, state police said. At approximately 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, state police responded to a motor vehicle crash on Upper Maple Street in Killingly.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norwich Bulletin

Four people who died in a cabin fire near Tamarack Resort Friday night have been identified. According to the Valley County Sheriff's Office, William Smith, who survived the fire, identified the other victims as his wife, Erin Smith, 34, their friend James Harper 3rd, 49, of Boise, and two juveniles.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVB-TV NBC 7

VIDEO: Three Wausau-area groups came together Sunday to help ensure Wausau firefighters have a comfortable place to sleep. During the demo derby the Wausau Area 4th of July celebration the Wausau Westside Business Association, Advantage Insurance, and the Wausau Area 4th of July Association all made donations to the fire department.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2017 9:40:32 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

VIDEO: Three Wausau-area groups came together Sunday to help ensure Wausau firefighters have a comfortable place to sleep. During the demo derby the Wausau Area 4th of July celebration the Wausau Westside Business Association, Advantage Insurance, and the Wausau Area 4th of July Association all made donations to the fire department.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2017 9:40:32 PM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau

VIDEO: The Janesville man killed in a house fire Saturday night was arrested in a drunken driving accident two hours earlier, according to police. A press release from Janesville police says 35-year-old William Russell was involved in a crash at Centerway and Harding streets at around 6:30 p.m. The release said Russell “was impaired by alcohol” but refused field sobriety tests.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2017 7:41:49 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

VIDEO: Milwaukee police believe arson may be the reason behind a vehicle fire from overnight. Authorities were called to the intersection of Hadley and 49th Street around 11 p.m. Saturday, just a few blocks from Saint Joseph's Hospital. “It hurts. I mean to be here to try and help keep your community safe and sound and you're not getting any help you know this is ridiculous,” said Ms.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2017 11:40:00 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

On June 28, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The Sun Prairie Fire Department will hold a grand opening ceremony on Saturday, July 1, 2017 at 8 a.m. at Fire Station No. 2, located at 2598 W. Main St. The ceremony will include Mayor Paul Esser and members of the Sun Prairie City Council. Fire Chief Chris Garrison said due to the growing community, increased call volume, and increasing response times, the SPFD will initiate staffing at Station 2 located in west corridor beginning July 1, 2017.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 7:56:28 AM - SOURCE: Sun Prairie Star

The Galaxie apartment building on East Washington Avenue was evacuated Wednesday evening as smoke alarms sounded, with burned food possibly the cause of the smoke. The alarms came in at 6:37 p.m. at the building at 822 E. Washington Ave., the Madison Fire Department said. "Numerous occupants of the building were standing outside as firefighters arrived to investigate," said spokeswoman Cynthia Schuster.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 3:29:33 AM - SOURCE: Madison

A summer storm that brought heavy rains and wind to Wauwatosa also likely sparked a fire that caused more than $150,000 in damage to a home on North 63rd Street. At 10:49 p.m. Wednesday, June 28 the Wauwatosa Fire Department responded to a reported house fire in the 800 block of North 63rd Street. The exact cause is undetermined but likely was started by a lightning strike to the roof of the home, according to a news release from the Wauwatosa Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 1:56:48 AM - SOURCE: WauwatosaNOW

Nineteen times, the silver bell rang. It was a hot summer day in Arizona's Prescott Valley, at a ceremony to honor the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died 10 days earlier fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire. The bell rang as the names of the firefighters were read in a crowded arena, and the silence between each weighed heavier than the last.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

Charlotte Fire Chief Jon Hannan said Thursday that he plans to retire on Aug. 31, after 38 years with the department. “It has been a pleasure and honor to be part of this great fire department,” Hannan said in a memo to his staff. “I am continuously amazed by what you can accomplish, every division in this organization is the best at what it does.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charlotte Observer

A deputy fire chief has filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the town, citing policies that stripped him of benefits because he didn’t retire when he reached his maximum pension, The Patriot Ledger reported. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Boston last week by Deputy Fire Chief Alan Predella, 56, of Marshfield, who marked his 34th anniversary as a Braintree firefighter this month.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCVB-TV ABC 5 Boston

Every year an average of 10 volunteer firefighters quit the West Barnstable, Mass., Fire Department, about 27 percent of the department’s total. Fire Chief Joseph Maruca never finds out why half of those department members leave, but does know that about one-third of his crew leaves for career firefighting positions at larger, nearby fire departments, typically after serving in West Barnstable fewer than four years.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: GovTech.com

Early Thursday morning as a group of firefighters slept and read in the cozy confines of their Little Haiti firehouse, someone outside was making their lives a little more miserable. Behind a locked gate at the firehouse, broken glass from the shattered windows of 10 vehicles covered the parking lot.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald

News 18 has shared West Lafayette Firefighter Curtis Shidler’s story before. How he lost his eye playing with fireworks while off-duty. It’s a safety story worth telling every summer, but a recent reunion makes it news you have not yet heard. Fireworks should go up in the air. “This is where the fireworks should have happened,” Shidler said while high up on a fire engine ladder.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISHTV.com Channel 8

The Portage Fire Department is coming to the end of a very long month and hoping for the best going into the 4th of July weekend. As of Thursday morning the department responded to 58 calls in June, compared with 34 in May. “It has been a taxing month for us. This is going to be a record month for us,” said Fire Chief Clayton Simonson, Jr.
- PUB DATE: 6/29/2017 6:17:34 PM - SOURCE: wisc news