PHOTOS: Waterville firefighter Ryan Johnston embraces the fact that those in his profession cannot work remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. Johnston, 48, founded MAINE-IAC Training a half-dozen years ago after local fire departments learned of his unique extrication class. Now, more than ever, the region’s often short-staffed departments look to get the most out of whom they’ve got, and that’s where Johnston’s business comes in.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sun Journal

Firefighter Hunter Space left his Beemverville Fire Department in Wantage with a pick-up truck full of firefighting gear. After a 14-hour ride, he arrived at the firehouse in rural Vance, Alabama. The trip was to donate the gear his fire department in Sussex County could no longer use to the southern department in need.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Jersey Herald

VIDEOS: Clark County firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in the southwest valley near Fort Apache and Tropicana Monday night. According to Clark County Fire, crews responded to the intersection of south Fort Apache Road and west Tropicana Avenue around 11:50 p.m. for a reported fire at an apartment complex that was under construction.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVVU-TV FOX 5 Las Vegas

VIDEO: Amid the pandemic, it’s been some time since the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums band performed publicly. On Wednesday, that will change when members take part in this year’s Inauguration Day festivities . "It was a great honor to be asked by the department to participate in this inauguration parade," said band manager and FDNY Captain Kevin Haugh.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News

VIDEO: Harrisburg city’s fire department has released video from a firefighter’s helmet camera that shows the rescue of a North 15th Street resident from his burning home shortly after first crews arrived. Chief Brian Enterline said the man was seen by firefighters at a second-floor, bedroom window in the 1400 block of North 15th as they were making initial exterior checks of the structure.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

Nearly 200 San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel have so far turned down a COVID-19 vaccine, showing reluctance as health officials scramble to protect frontline workers like firefighters from the highly infectious coronavirus. As of Wednesday, 191 personnel had declined to take the vaccine; 895 had gotten the shot, according to department figures.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune - Metered Site

As rental and home prices increase throughout the state, some firefighters say they can’t afford to live in the communities they work in. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, South Carolina’s annual mean wage in 2019 was $36,360, one of the lowest in the country. Bill Pesature, the vice president of the Professional Firefighters Association of SC, says salaries for firefighters have not kept up with the cost of living.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIS-TV NBC/CW 10 Columbia

One-hundred -twenty-six years ago this past week, the city of Butte was rocked by a massive explosion that killed 58 people. On January 15th 1895, the Kenyon-Connell Warehouse explosion not only ended the lives of its innocent victims; it devastated their families and broke the city's heart. For some time now, community leaders, historians and artists have been working on a project to construct a monument to honor the men who died in that explosion.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC Montana

VIDEO: A massive, five-alarm fire broke out in Brooklyn Thursday evening, roaring through four buildings on one block as more than 200 firefighters battled the flames, officials said. The fire started just after 6 p.m. at a building on Montrose Avenue in East Williamsburg, fire officials said, as flames began on the second floor, shooting up to the third floor and going through the roof shortly after.
- PUB DATE: 1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

A Georgia fire captain will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris next week. The International Association of Fire Fighters and the inauguration committee asked City of South Fulton Fire Capt. Andrea Hall to do the honors of reading the pledge.
- PUB DATE: 1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAGA-TV FOX 5 Atlanta

North Carolina is the first state in the country to implement a statewide voluntary registry to help combat the spread of COVID-19 among first responders, according to Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal Mike Causey. Causey’s office partnered with RTI International to create a survey on the Fire Marshal website to allow fire departments, emergency service workers, and other first responders to report positive COVID-19 cases and quarantines.
- PUB DATE: 1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WITN-TV NBC 7 Washington

VIDEO: A retired firefighter from Chester, Pennsylvania is accused of being the man seen on video throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers at the Capitol during the riot in Washington, D.C. last week. Robert Sanford, 55, was arrested Thursday morning on four federal charges, including knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, civil disorder and assaulting officers engaging in their official duties.
- PUB DATE: 1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the USA, vaccines have begun to be distributed across the country and its territories. Two different vaccines, one made by Pfizer-BioNTech and another from Moderna, have been authorized for emergency use and are part of the widespread distribution process. The first shots were given Dec.
- PUB DATE: 1/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

VIDEO: A large fire broke out at an apartment complex near the Industrial Canal in New Orleans East Wednesday night. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but it appears to have broken out at or near the Gentilly Ridge apartment complex off of Chef Menteur Highway. NOFD officials say the complex has about 100 units in it, about 90 of them occupied.
- PUB DATE: 1/14/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWL-TV CBS 4 New Orleans

The Thornton Fire Department is one of the first in the country to use new technology to monitor firefighters who were exposed to COVID-19. The department is using the Masimo Pulse Oximeter on quarantined firefighters to check their health status and be notified of a health decline. The device measures oxygen saturation, pulse and breathing rate, circulation and respiratory quality.
- PUB DATE: 1/14/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCNC-TV CBS 4 Denver

Electric vehicle fires pose safety risks to first responders and guidelines from manufacturers about how to deal with them have been inadequate, according to U.S. investigators. There are also gaps in industry safety standards and research on high-voltage lithium-ion battery fires, especially in high-speed, severe crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
- PUB DATE: 1/14/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

To the known risk factors for developing severe COVID-19—age, male sex, or any of a series of underlying conditions—a new study adds one more: high levels of the virus in your saliva. Standard COVID-19 tests sample the nasal passage. But several new tests look for SARS-CoV-2, the pandemic coronavirus, in saliva, and the new work finds a striking correlation between high virus levels there and later hospitalization or death.
- PUB DATE: 1/14/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Science Magazine

Broadview Heights Fire Chief Jeffrey Hajek is giving 19 News a first-hand look at a new piece of technology his department uses to save precious seconds when getting to an emergency. It’s called the HAAS Safety Cloud System. The device alerts drivers to move over because emergency vehicles are coming through.
- PUB DATE: 1/14/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOIO-TV CBS 19 Cleveland

A Prince George's County firefighter fell out of a fire engine truck that was traveling to a call around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Prince George's County Fire Department (PGFD). The fall from the truck happened around the intersection of Bell Station Road and Annapolis Road in Fairwood, Maryland.
- PUB DATE: 1/13/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV CBS 9 Washington DC

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has partnered with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) to develop firefighter tracking technology. The effort would allow first responders to locate team members in burning buildings more accurately. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, domestically, approximately 80 to 100 firefighters are lost in the line of duty each year.
- PUB DATE: 1/13/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Homeland Preparedness News