The Newbury Park fire station on West Hillcrest Drive was evacuated Thursday evening after a resident brought mercury into the building, officials said. Capt. Ron Oatman, a spokesman for Ventura County Fire, said a resident had vacuumed up mercury after a spill at a storage facility and brought the vacuum bag to the station mistakenly believing firefighters could dispose of the toxic liquid metal.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Ventura County Star

President Barack Obama began meeting with prominent Democrats in early January to develop a strategy to keep his signature domestic policy, the Affordable Care Act, intact in the hands of a new administration. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Republican Congressional leaders have been strategizing and meeting since the election to develop an alternative to the ACA.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: EMS1

VIDEO: The La Crosse Fire Department honors one of their own Thursday for his efforts to boost morale and improve our community. Each year the fire department recognizes an employee nominated by the community, and the 2016 Firefighter of the Year is awarded to Fire Department Engineer Todd English. Among other efforts, English leads the 'Fill the Boot' campaign.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 3:38:49 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

Rodney Menne lived his life giving, rather than receiving. He gave of himself to the Eldorado Volunteer Fire Department, the Eldorado community, and anything and everything of which he was involved. "He was a dedicated, dedicated fireman," town of Eldorado chairperson Gary Miller said. "I think that's what he lived for.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 3:38:43 PM - SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter

The architect for Minocqua’s proposed new fire station Tuesday heard both praise and concerns from Minocqua Town Board supervisors who reviewed the project’s timetable and final drawings at a special joint session Tuesday with the ad hoc fire station expansion committee. The board on a 3-1 vote directed MSA Professional Services to proceed with its bid timetable despite being told by MSA architect Al Szymanski that state Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) approval of the storm water management plans may not be received before bid notices are posted.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 8:26:38 AM - SOURCE: WXPR-FM 91.7 Public Radio

On January 18, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On January 15, 12 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A new Middleton Fire Station is in the works near the Town of Westport's border with the city. At its meeting Monday, the town board heard about the future project that is gaining attention and momentum. The Fire District made a presentation about acquiring property for the satellite fire station at the intersection of Hwys.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 4:12:16 AM - SOURCE: Waunakee Tribune

Firefighters rescued a dog from a burning van Wednesday afternoon. Lake Geneva firefighters were dispatched at 12:56 p.m. for a report of a car fire in the parking lot the Walmart, 201 N. Edwards Blvd., just west of Highway 12 and south of Highway 50. According to Fire Department Capt. Mark Moller-Gunderson, arriving crews found a well involved fire engulfing two vehicles.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 2:13:12 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times

While rumors and even media reports have talked about the Milton and Milton Township Fire Department “merging” with the City of Janesville Fire Department, the intergovernmental agreement approved this month by the municipalities does not. The agreement is for “shared services” and goes into effect Feb.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 2:11:51 AM - SOURCE: Milton Courier

On January 18, 1 residential fire fatality was reported by the Nation's news media.

A firefighter died Tuesday morning from a type of cancer that he likely got because of his job, according to colleagues. Jimmy Hendryx, 47, is Bremerton's first firefighter to die in the line of duty in the history of the department, which stretches back 114 years. Hendrix was an avid bag pipes player, and would often perform at memorials for fallen firefighters and police officers.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

Maine firefighters are missing out on a training opportunity at the National Fire Academy this year because the state is not in compliance with a decade-old federal ID law regulating state-issued driver’s licenses. Maine is among 23 states and five U.S. territories not in compliance with the Real ID Act, and the Legislature in 2007 passed a law prohibiting the state from complying with law amid concerns that it would create a de facto “internal passport.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bangor Daily News

A high-rise building in Tehran engulfed by a fire collapsed on Thursday, killing at least 30 firefighters and injuring some 75 people, state media reported. The disaster struck the Plasco building, an iconic structure in central Tehran just north of the capital's sprawling bazaar. Iran's state-run Press TV announced the firefighters' deaths, without giving a source for the information.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Martin Pang, the arsonist who set the deadliest blaze in the Seattle Fire Department’s history, will have to pay nearly $3 million in restitution and other legal costs when he’s released from prison, according to an opinion published Tuesday by the state Court of Appeals. Pang, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence for setting a massive warehouse fire in January 1995 that killed four firefighters in the Chinatown International District, filed a motion in King County Superior Court in August 2015 seeking relief from his legal financial obligations, known as LFOs.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

The city paid three Providence fire captains more than $200,000 each in 2016 and paid a total of 220 firefighters more than $100,000 apiece during the same period. Fire rescue Capt. Vincent J. D'Ambra had the biggest payout, $243,000, according to a Providence Journal analysis of the Fire Department's payroll, apparently making him the highest-paid employee on the city's payroll.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal

Unified Fire Authority officials should seek criminal investigations of their former chief and deputy chief for a dozen potential violations and attempt to get half a million dollars in reimbursement from them and three other former fire department administrators, said two state audits released Wednesday.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Salt Lake Tribune

President Barack Obama began meeting with prominent Democrats in early January to develop a strategy to keep his signature domestic policy, the Affordable Care Act, intact in the hands of a new administration. Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Republican Congressional leaders have been strategizing and meeting since the election to develop an alternative to the ACA.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: EMS1

VIDEO: There's still no agreement to continue emergency services in a small Dane County community after this year, but community leaders say they're making progress after a meeting Wednesday night. Five municipalities make up the Brooklyn Fire and EMS District. The largest of those-- the village of Brooklyn-- voted last month to withdraw from the district.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2017 9:00:21 PM - SOURCE: WKOW-TV 27 ABC

On January 17, 3 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.