More than 100 firefighters from across Wisconsin driving almost 50 emergency vehicles gathered at Immanuel Lutheran Church this month to pay their final respects to one of their own. Richfield Fire Chief Brian Albright, who lived in Vesper, collapsed while on vacation in Florida on May 4. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died, according to the Richfield Fire Department website.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 7:45:37 AM - SOURCE: Marshfield News-Herald

A homeless man found inside a garbage truck early Wednesday morning in Green Bay has died. According to Green Bay Police Lt. David Paral, the incident was called in by the truck driver around 3:11 a.m. Wednesday. The Green Bay police and fire departments were dispatched to the corner of South Jefferson and Stuart streets.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 3:40:47 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

La Crosse's Fire Department will soon be under new leadership. The Fire Commission board this morning approved Ken Gilliam as the city's new Fire Chief. Gilliam comes from Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he was the department's Deputy Chief of Training. He also taught as the Director of Fire and Rescue Training at the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV News 8

The Texas House sent Houston's pension reform package to the governor's desk Wednesday, marking what Mayor Sylvester Turner hopes is the beginning of the end of a 16-year fiscal crisis, and giving him a landmark achievement in his second year in office. Turner, who has made passing the reforms the centerpiece of his tenure, alternated between grins and gravitas Wednesday night.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

Inman Fire Chief Chris Cothran said Tuesday the city council should begin thinking about funding a 24/7 fire department. At Monday’s budget work session, Cothran proposed $243,000 in new funding to pay for roughly 10 firefighters to cover two 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. He said the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped in recent years, jeopardizing quick response times to a fire.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: goupstate.com

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday took a page out of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s playbook, creating a $3 million program to help up to 100 police officers, firefighters and paramedics purchase homes in “targeted” Chicago neighborhoods. Daley did the same thing in the early 1990’s with only mixed results.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times

First responders in Miami County have access to more of the overdose-reversing antidote naloxone than ever before after officials received 50 dosages last week from the state’s emergency stash of the drug. The Indiana State Department of Health last year set up emergency caches of naloxone kits at five sites around the state in the event first responders ran out of the drug and were unable to obtain it through normal means, according to ISDH Director of Public Affairs Jennifer O'Malley.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kokomo Tribune

It’s no secret that firefighters have a special relationship. They spend every other day together and rely on each other to have their backs. Two firefighters from West Licking Fire Department are proving that bond goes further than just the firehouse. One man needed a kidney, so another firefighter gave him one.
- PUB DATE: 5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCMH-TV Columbus

VIDEO: One teenager is dead and another is injured after a plane crash near Chetek. Chetek Fire Chief Ryan Olson tells WEAU 13 News the plane crashed in the Red Cedar River near Chetek Wednesday night. According to Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald, one of the teens died. The other was taken to an area hospital.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 10:40:08 PM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News

VIDEO: Kelly Hanink is the new chief of the Riverside Fire District. The district was established January 1, 2017, combing the Schofield and Rothschild departments. Hanink is the first full-time employee and chief of the department. “I'm really excited,” she said. “This is an opportunity for me to lead a new organization.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 4:48:18 PM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

For more than two decades, Jeffrey Mattek has served Village of Salem Lakes Fire and Rescue in several capacities, but his tenure ended at the May 18 swearing-in and pinning ceremony. Mattek, who retired after 23 years, received a standing ovation from those in attendance. According to Salem Lakes Fire Chief Mike Slover, Mattek was instrumental in helping the former Town of Salem Rescue department merge with the Fire Department, including training of future rescue staff.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 6:45:27 AM - SOURCE: My Kenosha County

The Black River Falls Fire Department hosted the 13th Annual Show and Shine Car Show Sunday, attracting more than 160 classic cars. The turnout was lower this year because of poor weather, but many cars still came out to show off. The new Squad One for the Black River Falls Fire Department was on display, which was partly funded by past car shows.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 2:50:15 AM - SOURCE: Jackson County Chronicle

Lawyers for fired Fire Chief Jesse Alba notified the city attorney's office Tuesday, May 23, of their intent to appeal his dismissal by the Police and Fire Commission before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals here. Alba contends his firing was illegal, capricious and violated his due process rights. Alba was in the center of a salacious ordeal in which he was accused of breaking up with his girlfriend, a training coordinator, while he was pursuing the position of fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 2:05:54 AM - SOURCE: WaukeshaNOW

A Macon County firefighter died Tuesday after suffering a traumatic brain injury in an accident on the job Saturday afternoon. Darrell Plank, 29, was hit in the head by a metal coupling as a fire hose snagged on the truck at the scene of a fire off Ga. 128 near Taylor County. The 10-year veteran’s skull was seriously fractured and, according to a Facebook page devoted to prayers for his recovery, he suffered a stroke on the left side of his brain.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Telegraph

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said Tuesday that any firefighter who wants to attend the upcoming funeral of firefighter Scott Deem will be able to, dispelling rumors to the contrary. Hood said he alone made the decision to not use outside agencies to staff SAFD stations on Friday because other firefighters aren’t familiar with San Antonio’s operating system, air refilling systems, radios or terminology.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: mysanantonio.com

The death of a Butler County firefighter serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers firefighters face long after the flames are extinguished and the smoke clears. "It was a badge of honor back in the day to be a smoke-eater and to have the dirtiest fire gear," Cincinnati firefighter Gerald Rosemeyer said.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

The Texas Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that seeks to fix the broken Dallas Police and Fire Pension System. The bill barely made it out of committee last week but was saved by last-minute negotiations between the city, police and fire associations and pension officials. "This is not just a Dallas issue.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dallas News

A Renton firefighter, along with firefighters from Nampa, Idaho, and Grants Pass, Ore., aided an unconscious man aboard a flight from Baltimore to Sea-Tac on Friday night. This is the second in-flight rescue by a Renton firefighter this month. On Friday, Firefighter Chris Kyrstofiak was traveling back to Seattle from training in Baltimore when Alaska Airlines flight attendants made an emergency announcement asking for help from any doctors or firefighters aboard the flight.
- PUB DATE: 5/24/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Renton Patch

In 2006, more than 40,000 pets died in fires due to smoke inhalation. That number has gone down, in large part thanks to oxygen masks designed for animals. The Minocqua Fire Department got its own set of pet oxygen masks Tuesday, courtesy of Invisible Fence of Northern Wisconsin. "It fits a small, medium, large--whichever size animal you have," said Invisible Fence of Northern Wisconsin owner Michelle Hoban.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2017 2:54:50 PM - SOURCE: WJFW-TV NBC 12 Rhinelander-Wausau

VIDEO: A Wausau family is safe after a late night fire caused significant damage to their home. Wausau Fire Marshal Dave DeSantis said the reason everyone made it out OK is because the family had a fire evacuation plan. "By the grace of God we do not have a fatality today, or any injuries, after the fire last night.
- PUB DATE: 5/23/2017 7:32:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS 7 Wausau