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National Fire News

Hyundai, Kia owners should park outside because vehicles can catch fire, makers warn

Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 485,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outdoors because they can catch fire even if the engines have been turned off. The recalls from the two Korean automakers are another in a long string of fire and engine failure problems that have dogged the companies for the past six years.
- PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

FirstNet Teams with First H.E.L.P. to Support First Responders with #ResponderReadiness Training

First H.E.L.P. and FirstNet, built with AT&T, have teamed up to provide dozens of communities and thousands of first responders with world-class mental health training through First H.E.L.P.’s #ResponderReadiness Workshop Series. First H.E.L.P. Chief Learning Officer Joe Willis worked with AT&T to organize these training opportunities for first responders across the country.
- PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Homeland Security Today

Found on eBay: Late New Hampshire firefighter's helmet reunited with family

How did a late Portsmouth volunteer firefighter’s helmet end up in Ohio? No one can say for certain, but a few city Good Samaritans caught wind of its whereabouts and felt compelled to bring it back to the Seacoast The family of former Portsmouth Fire Department “call man” Stanley Pizz, a Port City native who fought fires from 1955 through 1979, has been given his old helmet, slightly singed from experience and emblazoned with his last name on the back.
- PUB DATE: 2/10/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online

VIDEO: Crews battle large fire at Oklahoma apartment complex

A massive apartment fire has been burning in northwest Oklahoma City since early Tuesday evening. Around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, crews responded to a fire at The Canton at Classen Curve near Northwest 63rd Street and Grand Avenue near the Nichols Hills area. The fire continued into Wednesday, and crews are still battling flames as of 8:45 a.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOCO-TV ABC 5 Oklahoma City

Medics who rescued drivers in Texas pileup despite their own injuries reflect 1 year later

VIDEO: Trey McDaniel still wonders how much different his life would be if he stayed in bed one minute longer on Feb. 11 last year. “You just play the events over and over and over in your head,” he said. “You know, ‘what could I have done differently?’” He was driving down Interstate 35W South, his normal route to work at MedStar as a paramedic.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas

Firefighter Residency Restrictions Lifted In One Pennsylvania City

City residency requirements have been lifted for Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire firefighters. That is the ruling of a neutral arbitrator who has determined the city did not have the right to restrict residency. The arbitrator has now issued a cease and desist order on the city’s enforcement of residency for its firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KDKA-TV CBS 2 Pittsburgh

With increased risk, experts recommend early lung screening for firefighters

When it comes to occupational hazards, few jobs are as dangerous as fighting fires. “I fell through a floor once,” said veteran firefighter Michael Butkus. “High rise fires, those are the worst, and you don't think you're going to get out of there.” Butkus has been with the Chicago Fire Department for three decades.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KJRH-TV NBC 2 Tulsa

Colorado fire station gets new sculpture

PHOTOS: It started with an old black and white photograph from the Grand Junction Fire Department archives. Next came about a half a ton of sheet metal. Then it was time for Jeff Bates to go to work. That was about three months ago. On Tuesday, tucked under a weathered white cowboy hat, Bates and a pair of helpers installed the finished sculpture on the cinderblock wall of Grand Junction Fire Station No.
- PUB DATE: 2/9/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily Sentinel

VIDEO: Fire burns 4 RVs in Oregon; no one injured, but 6 people displaced

PHOTOS: A fire burned 4 RVs early Monday morning. There are no reports of injuries, but the fire displaced 6 people. Firefighters arrived before 5 a.m. to find two RVs at Blue Ox RV Park fully involved with fire. "Upon our arrival, we went into defensive mode," Battalion Chief Ryan Bond said. "There was a significant amount of fire to where we couldn't go offensive and go inside, so we protected exposures and made sure it couldn't advance any further.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMTR-TV NBC 16 Eugene

County in West Virginia first to use new 911 system that shares videos, pictures

Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency was the first in the state to use the new 911-eye system. This system allowed dispatchers to receive videos and pictures from callers at the scene of an emergency using their mobile devices. Assistant 911 Director Bradley Wilson said they had the program for roughly a week.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDTN-TV NBC 2 Dayton

New Jersey's new fire director made a small uniform change - it’s causing big complaints

On their left sleeves, Trenton firefighters have long worn a uniform patch they say is unlike other departments for its depiction of the Iron Fireman, a statue honoring their profession that has stood in the city for over 100 years. The Iron Fireman, clutching a rescued child, is where the department, pre-pandemic, held annual ceremonies.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Jersey Advance - NJ.com

Plan to extend mental health support to Maine responders moves forward

A Maine legislative committee signed off Monday on a proposal to try to help emergency responders better access mental health support. The bill, LD 1879, establishes a presumption that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, police officers, emergency dispatchers and others who are diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder have the condition because of “extraordinary and unusual work stress,” a bill before the Maine Legislature states.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMTW-TV ABC 8 Poland Spring

Another Washington state fire station vandalized for $70,000 in missing & damaged equipment

Yakima County Fire District #5 is looking at nearly $70,000 in damages after a burglary at their storage station over the weekend left them with smashed truck windows, a broken door and missing firefighting gear and medical supplies. Deputy Fire Chief Joel Byam said that someone might be able to sell the stolen medical supplies, but they will have a harder time finding someone to purchase firefighting gear on the street without notice.
- PUB DATE: 2/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews

VIDEO: Vacant 5-story building destroyed by flames in New York

A five story building under construction went up in flames and collapsed in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn Monday morning. The building on Gates Avenue erupted in flames just after 5:50 a.m. Monday and quickly collapsed like a pancake, fire officials said. One firefighter sustained a minor injury.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

From bucket brigades to fire fleets, a history of firefighting in California valley

It’s been reported that many famous Americans served as volunteer firemen, some of whom were Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. After a large fire in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin formed the Union Fire Co. Buildings that his company insured were identified by a steel fire mark showing the outline of a wooden fire hydrant.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Maria Times

‘This Place Saved My Life’: Chicago Firefighter Shares His Story Of How Others Helped Him Achieve His Dreams

As we celebrate Black History Month, this is the story of a little boy living in poverty who had a dream to become a Chicago firefighter. As CBS 2’s Jim Williams reported Thursday, that dream came true, thanks his hard work and the extraordinary kindness of men and women, Black and white, at one firehouse on the West Side.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBBM-TV CBS 2 Chicago

Hometown Heroes program helps Minnesota firefighters access physical and mental health care

A firefighter's job is never easy. It can be difficult, dangerous and heartbreaking. It can also be amazing, hopeful and wonderful when at the end of a call everyone is safe and healthy. However, for the firefighters the risks from the job, whether it is a physical ailment or mental scars, carry on far past the last blaze.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: West Central Tribune - Metered Site

Florida fire district, tax collector's office launch new campaign to increase organ donor registrations

There's a push to register more organ donors in St. Lucie County. The St. Lucie County Fire District, along with the Tax Collector's Office and Legacy Donors, are launching a campaign with special decals that will be placed on fire rescue trucks. The decals will be placed on the back of the trucks at Fire Station 3 by past donors' families on Monday and will eventually be placed on all trucks across the county.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPTV NBC 5 West Palm Beach

VIDEO: Illinois warehouse fire at document storage facility continues burning for 2nd day

A massive warehouse fire in northwest suburban Bartlett continues to burn for a second day Friday morning. Intense flames engulfed the 250,000 square foot warehouse in the 1200-block of Humbracht Circle in Brewster Creek Business Park, used by a document storage company called Access. Officials said the warehouse was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of documents, providing ample fuel for the fire.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago

Lessons from North Carolina's 2006 Apex plant explosion could help with response to fertilizer plant fire

New images of the fire at the fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem have brought back memories for those who lived through the EQ plant explosion in Apex more than 15 years ago. By taking a look back at what happened in 2006, we could get an idea of the massive cleanup still ahead at the Weaver plant. Some who lived in Apex in 2006 still have memories of evacuations and the massive emergency response.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRAL-TV NBC 5 Raleigh

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