VIDEO: About two dozen families around Merrill should feel a little safer now. All 24 students in Jay Peterson's 5th grade class at Kate Goodrich Elementary filled out a home fire safety evaluation. That helped his class win a tour of the Merrill Fire Department on Thursday. The students got to see various tools, rigs, and gear at the fire house.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 5:26:26 PM - SOURCE: WJFW-TV NBC 12 Rhinelander-Wausau

VIDEO: The State Fire Marshal is investigating after a fire at a construction site in Mukwonago. Crews were on the scene for hours. Around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 4th, smoke could been seen for miles as flames engulfed an apartment building at Phantom Woods Road and Main Street in Mukwonago. "Fortunately, the water service was in place, so we were able to use the hydrants that were here," said Mukwonago Fire Chief Jeffrey Stien.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 3:51:30 PM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

Multiple crews had to respond to a fire at the Dane County landfill on Madison’s southeast side early Thursday morning after a pile of construction materials caught fire. Firefighters arrived on the scene of the fire at 7102 U.S. Highway 12-18 just after 5 a.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found a pile of rubbish on fire in the area of a building the houses construction waste.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 4:58:04 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

VIDEO: A former Milwaukee firefighter took a plea deal on Tuesday, pleading guilty to two of four charges connected to a crash that killed two people following last year's Opening Day game at Miller Park. Joshua Larson pleaded guilty to two counts of homicide by use of a vehicle with a PAC (prohibited alcohol concentration).
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12

An Adair County woman has admitted deliberately setting a blaze that led to the death of a firefighter. Brandi Pritchard, 41, of Columbia pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Bowling Green to one charge of arson and one charge of mail fraud, according to her plea agreement. Pritchard admitted taking part with her husband, Steve Allen “Boo” Pritchard, in a plan to set fire to the house they rented in order to collect insurance payments.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lexington Herald-Leader

In zero visibility conditions, Toledo Fire Capt. Luke Harman described for a jury in Lucas County Common Pleas Court today how he crawled on his hands and knees, feeling with his hands every inch in front of him when he felt what would turn out to be a face mask. “My hand dipped into an opening in the debris and grabbed what was without a doubt a human leg,” he said.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade

A trio of Los Angeles city firefighters have earned the dubious distinction as the top public employee overtime earners in California, thanks to a generous overtime policy. Transparent California found that Charles F. Ferrari, a Los Angeles City Fire Captain II, collected $334,655 in overtime, to earn a total of $483,770 in 2016.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCAL-TV Los Angeles

After a marathon mediation in the Matthew Badger lawsuit against the city, Legal Affairs Director Kathryn Emmett announced late Tuesday the parties have settled for an undisclosed amount, three weeks before a trial was to begin. S. Campbell Badger, brother of Matthew — who died in February — the city, Operations Director Ernie Orgera and Chief Building Official Robert DeMarco have resolved the claims in the civil suit "without reflecting any liability or fault on the part of the defendants," Emmett said in an email.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Stamford Advocate

A toddler laughing while firefighters worked to free him from a locked car has gone viral. Today.com reported that 14-month-old Brandon Emery locked himself in his mother's car. His mother had put him in the back seat while she unloaded groceries into the trunk. After closing the trunk with the car keys still inside, the toddler pushed the power locks.
- PUB DATE: 5/4/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1

As part of last week’s meeting of the city’s Health and Safety Committee, Merrill Fire Chief Dave Savone received the green light to move forward with a Community Care Paramedic pilot program. As Savone explains, the program has been utilized by EMS services and fire departments nationwide and around the state for quite some time; including Wausau and Stevens Point.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 11:25:35 PM - SOURCE: Merrill Foto News

A man and a child were killed Wednesday in a house fire in Shullsburg, police said. Emergency crews were called to a home on Victor Street just before 2:30 a.m., officials said. Crews were eventually able to put out the fire. According to a release from the Shullsburg Police Department, a man was pronounced dead at the scene, and four other people were taken to an area hospital.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 10:26:43 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

With additional funding approved by the Madison City Council Tuesday, the Madison Fire Department will be able to expand its southeast side fire station that includes training space and a community meeting room. The approved resolution authorizes the fire department to design Fire Station 14 with an additional 6,000 square feet — totaling a 20,000 square feet station — at a total estimated cost of $6.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 1:24:37 PM - SOURCE: Madison.com-Wisconsin State Journal-Capital Times

The Oshkosh Fire Department's second in command is stepping down after more than three decades with the department. Assistant Chief Jeff Schettle will retire Friday, the department announced Wednesday. He has served the city for nearly 33 years. Schettle started as a firefighter/paramedic with the department in 1984, rising through the ranks to become lieutenant in 1998 and captain in 2005, according to a department news release.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 9:47:06 AM - SOURCE: Oshkosh Northwestern

VIDEO: An 18-year-old homeless man will spend five years in prison for trying to burn a restaurant down while holding children prisoner there. Jesus A. Castilloveitia-Quinton will spend another 19 years on extended supervision following his prison term, Brown County Circuit Judge Kendall Kelley ordered Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 7:09:53 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

VIDEO: In the wake of a shooting in Dallas that left a paramedic in critical condition, first responders from the Wausau Fire Department said the incident reminds them of the potential danger they face on every call. Engineer Kurt Riel said even though the incident happened 1,000 miles away, it still hits home for the 20-year veteran of the department.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 6:01:30 AM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

A Gibbsboro firefighter died Friday from complications involving a leg injury he suffered during a mandatory training exercise nearly three weeks earlier. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Gibbsboro volunteer firefighter William "Bill" Gerace died because of a pulmonary embolism, which an autopsy found was directly attributed as a complication of a leg fracture he sustained during live burn training April 10.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse

A Toledo firefighter who had been inside the Magnolia Street building where two of his fellow firefighters would die from the intense heat and smoke broke down on the witness stand today as he recounted the rescue efforts. Lt. Aaron Hague told the jury hearing the trial of Ray Abou-Arab that the turnout gear of both Pvts.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade

An overdose victim tried to kill the first responders who had just saved his life Monday, according to the O’Fallon Fire Protection District. Two O’Fallon, Mo., firefighters and a St. Charles County Ambulance District paramedic went to a man’s home about 10 a.m. Monday, O’Fallon Fire Chief Tom Vineyard said.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Amid questions why an ambulance driver passed two hospitals before taking a wounded officer to Beaumont Hospital, Oakwood, on Sunday, the city’s fire commissioner said the emergency technician did the right thing. The officer, a 14-year veteran, was with his partner responding to a domestic violence call when he knocked on the door of Oakman Apartments on the city's west side.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Detroit News

A firefighter's kung-fu style video has gone viral. The Decatur Fire Department posted the video on Facebook of the rookie firefighter dancing to Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" disco song. "After a long day of closing roads and directing traffic, the rookie gets a little bored but knows how to boost the moods of all the firefighters," the post read.
- PUB DATE: 5/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1