Fire Chief Brad Bowen, one of the architects of the Western Lakes Fire District, readily admits that he eats, breathes and lives fire and emergency medical service in Lake Country. At 31, Bowen is the region’s youngest fire chief and is in charge of its largest department, based on number of emergency calls and square miles of service area.
- PUB DATE: 4/30/2017 2:38:25 PM - SOURCE: Lake Country News

An autopsy completed Wednesday came back inconclusive in identifying human remains found inside a shed that caught fire Monday morning, Jefferson County officials said. Human remains were found inside a shed that caught fire in the town of Ixonia, but officials are working on additional DNA testing to identify the body, according to a release.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 9:20:03 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

Gateway Technical College hopes to start using the Village of Waterford’s indoor fire training center in the fall for its Fire Medic program if the Gateway board approves a lease with the village. Gateway and the village are currently drawing up a lease for the college to use the training center, a repurposed fire station at 122 N.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

The Osceola Village Board approved the purchase of the former Fullerton Lumber property last week, with the intent of repurposing the site as a fire hall. With the full support of all members of the board, the five members attending a special board meeting on April 17 unanimously approved the purchase of the former Fullerton Lumber property.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Osceola Sun

The firefighters union in New Orleans confirmed Wednesday that a handful of its members played a role in the removal of the Liberty Place monument early Monday. Nick Felton, New Orleans Fire Fighters Association president, said the union has concerns over firefighters who were seen wearing masks and bulletproof vests during the removal of the Confederate-era monument.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDSU-TV NBC 6 New Orleans

A veteran paramedic and fire chief says he worries that people with health emergencies might start calling for an Uber ride rather than an ambulance due to high costs. That aversion to an ambulance bill can cost lives, said Mark Becraft, chief of the North Davis Fire District. “It puts the community at risk,” Becraft said.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ogden Standard-Examiner/StandardNET

An Eagan firefighter is suing the city and its fire chief, claiming he was demoted from a battalion chief position because he is gay. In a civil lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court, firefighter Dan Benson alleges discrimination based on his sexual orientation and violation of his constitutional rights by Eagan Fire Chief Mike Scott and the city.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pioneer Press

Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan and others reacted with anger and concern after a Milwaukee Fire Department station near Teutonia and Locust was shot at on Sunday, April 23rd. A bullet penetrated the window of Station 30 during the shots fired incident. It happened around 6:45 p.m. as the firefighters at Station 30 were getting dispatched to a car fire.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A Lake Wales man is accused of biting a chunk of skin out of an firefighter who was helping a deputy restrain him, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. According to an affidavit, on Tuesday night deputies responded to a crash in the area of Thornhill Road and Moonlite Pass. When a deputy asked Breonski Gardner, 26, for his license, Gardner threw the keys at him and told him to get it himself.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHOU.com

Milton and Milton Township Fire Department interim chief Chris Lukas at last week’s joint fire commission meeting provided an introductory overview of a transitional project plan. In the past six months, the department’s transition team, which includes RW Management Group consultants, fire department members (including deputy chiefs) and Janesville Fire Department members, has met several times.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 11:06:17 AM - SOURCE: Milton Courier

The Madison City Council will have to decide whether or not to reimburse Chief Mike Koval over $21,000 in legal fees fees without direction from the Police and Fire Commission. The city Finance Committee recommended paying fees Koval incurred while defending himself against a series of complaints. But alders questioned the PFC’s language in its decision to not penalize Koval.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 3:13:16 AM - SOURCE: Madison.com-Wisconsin State Journal-Capital Times

Altoona’s first full-time fire chief was just sworn in Wednesday morning, and the city’s police chief already has a nickname for the two emergency services leaders. “I already refer to us as the dynamic duo,” police Chief Jesse James said after Mark Renderman officially began his duties as fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 2:14:53 AM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

VIDEO - An off-duty Milwaukee firefighter heading home from work helped saved the life of a young woman threatening to jump off the Hoan bridge. Deputy chief John Litchford was heading south down the Hoan bridge Tuesday night when he saw the young woman outside of her car on at the highest point of the bridge.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

Some Detroit firefighters are under fire tonight for wrecking a rig and then trying to cover it up. Last month when two Detroit firefighters out of Engine 55 decided to use a rig for their personal ride - it did not end well. Sources say on March 30, two Detroit firefighters who work out of Engine 55 on Joy Road wanted to go out for a bit of a joy ride.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBJK-TV MyFox Detroit 2

The ongoing legal battle between the city and the firefighters union has cost the city at least $315,000 in attorney fees, according to documents obtained by the Watertown Daily Times. The city’s legal bills hit $315,225.60 as of Jan. 1, according to invoices and bills obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Times.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times

A former Iowa fire academy administrator has pleaded guilty to falsifying test scores that were used to improperly certify thousands of firefighters. Former Fire Services Training Bureau certification manager John McPhee pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony misconduct in office. Judge James Malloy scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 24.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Des Moines Register

A rookie Fresno firefighter received a hug from a woman he rescued from a burning car last October as he was awarded a Medal of Bravery from Fresno Fire officials Wednesday. Rene Gonzales was only two months on the job last Oct. 21 and was off-duty and driving home on Highway 180 when he spotted a burning car.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fresno Bee

VIDEO: An off-duty Milwaukee firefighter heading home from work helped saved the life of a young woman threatening to jump off the Hoan bridge. Deputy chief John Litchford was heading south down the Hoan bridge Tuesday night when he saw the young woman outside of her car on at the highest point of the bridge.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 4:45:25 PM - SOURCE: WISN-TV ABC 12 Milwaukee

VIDEO: Authorities investigate a mysterious fire in a Jefferson County town. When it is over, investigators discover human remains -- in fact, what could be the remains of two human bodies. A pole barn went up in flames around 6:00 a.m. on Monday, April 24th. Home video captured the fire and response.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 2:15:57 PM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

A woman jumped Wednesday morning from a second-floor balcony after the house she was in caught fire. Beaver Dam firefighters were called at 4:18 a.m. to 115 Chatham Street on a report of a fire with someone trapped on the second floor. When they arrived, they found the first floor fully involved in fire.
- PUB DATE: 4/26/2017 5:39:22 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison