On Tuesday, Liberty Mutual Insurance celebrated one of America’s firefighters for his commitment to the community by honoring Merrill Fire Department Firefighter Paramedic Jon Leiskau with the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award for Community Service. The award was presented by Liberty Mutual Representative, Julie Sternal, to FF/PM Leiskau for his continued commitment to the City of Merrill and the Merrill Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 11:47:28 PM - SOURCE: Merrill Foto News

On November 16, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

VIDEO: A 24-year-old Cudady man is charged with starting a fire inside a Waukesha County snack factory. His reason? He saw a spider. According to a criminal complaint, Kevin Butler noticed the spider on a sack of almonds while working at A.L. Schutzman Company in October. The complaint says he "proceeded to light the spider on fire, which is something he has done since childhood.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 8:32:15 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

VIDEO: A Marshfield man is warning homeowners to have their chimneys cleaned and inspected regularly, after his own may be to blame for a fire that destroyed his living room. On Saturday night, Kurt Dovenbarger started a fire in his fireplace to help warm up his house. He put his 8 year-old son, Kade, to bed, then he went to sleep shortly afterward.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 5:29:36 PM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9-Wausau

Fond du Lac High School was evacuated for about an hour Tuesday afternoon because of a fire in a garbage can. Firefighters say they were called to the school around 1:50 p.m. for a report of a fire in a second-floor men's bathroom. The building was evacuated, and a staff member was able to put the fire out.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 6:43:32 AM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11

Firefighters from three departments employed three firefighting apparatus, two boats and an all-terrain vehicle, Tuesday to rescue a dog that fell off a 10-foot cliff at Jaycee Quarry View Park in Sheboygan. The dog, a Springer Spaniel named Lacy, went over the cliff shortly after 6 p.m. and landed in the water before becoming trapped on the cliff's ledge near the waterline, according to a news release from the City of Sheboygan Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 6:39:11 AM - SOURCE: Oshkosh Northwestern

On Tuesday, November 15 at approximately 10:40 AM the Ozaukee Sheriff’s Office responded to a house on State Highway 33 in the Town of Saukville for the report of a garage fire. When Deputies arrived on scene flames were visible and the garage was fully engulfed. The investigation revealed that the homeowner, identified as 41-year-old Christopher Unger, was using a motorized siphon to remove gas from a boat fuel tank when it ignited.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 6:37:46 AM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

On November 14, 8 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

The man accused of killing East Pulaski firefighter Lt. Jason Adams in January had a high level of cocaine in his system, according to a toxicology report. Mark Pruitt, 48, is charged with manslaughter for allegedly shooting and killing Adams after Adams responded to a call of a seizure at Pruitt's home.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KATV.com

The FDNY has ordered firefighters to not hang pictures of President-elect Donald Trump in firehouses or on their trucks, angering some members of the department. “Only [the] FDNY wouldn’t want the democratically elected president of America hanging in a firehouse,” said one firefighter, who asked to remain anonymous.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

FOX 2 has exclusively learned that three Detroit fire chiefs have resigned for their role in the injury of a firefighter two months ago. On October 13, Detroit Fire Engine 40 responded to a mutual aid call at a house in Highland Park. According to department officials, Lt. David Webster was signed in as the officer in charge of the crew - but it was an inexperienced firefighter in his place.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox2detroit.com

There were three standing ovations in the unusually crowded chambers at Greensburg City Hall during Monday night's council meeting. The first came as Thomas Bell took the oath of office to become the city's first new fire chief since 1953. “Every kid, growing up, wants to be a firefighter,” Bell said.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Researchers at N.C. State are working to find better ways to protect firefighters fighting wildfires. They received a grant from FEMA after a group of firefighters was killed three years ago. In 2013, 19 wildland firefighters died after becoming trapped by flames in Arizona. Some of those who died had deployed fire shelters.
- PUB DATE: 11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: wncn.com

On November 15, 0 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

A Janesville homeowner who forgot to turn off his gas grill Monday night woke Tuesday morning to a fire on his wooden deck. Tom Kuerschner heard a noise, woke and looked out the upstairs window of his home at 2629 Arbor Ridge Way to see the grill on fire on his deck, said Chris Lukas, Janesville Fire Department battalion chief.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 6:43:06 AM - SOURCE: Janesville Gazette

On November 13, 6 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

On November 9, 5 residential fire fatalities were reported by the Nation's news media.

Talk about narrow escapes. Rescuers managed to squeeze a fall victim out of an O'Hara Township water tower through what amounts to a large wire and tubing conduit. The man, who was part of a cleaning crew preparing the tower for painting, tumbled 35 to 40 feet into the tank when his scaffolding failed, according to officials.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

To better understand what impacts the fire service may see from a Trump administration and Republican controlled Congress, we reached out to several key fire service leaders for their perspectives. We asked them to identify what they saw as the biggest opportunities and threats the coming year will bring.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireChief.com

Finally, they put a helmet on that marker. St. Louis firefighters, about a battalion's worth, assembled Monday morning at Bellefontaine Cemetery to literally cap off a firefighters' monument that has gone topless since the 1910s. "The fire department is all about tradition," St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch