Volunteer fire and EMS departments in Dubuque County have a new avenue to fund first responders — and possibly a helpful tool for recruitment and retention.

The state recently allocated $1.5 million to volunteer firefighters, emergency medical service providers and reserve peace officers through a program that requires a local match. First responders can receive an up-to-$500 benefit each, but the amount depends on how many departments apply.

“The Length of Service Award Program was designed as a way to enhance recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters,” said Mike Lambert, director for the Key West Community Fire Department. “Once our firefighters realize that this could be a benefit, maybe it’ll increase participation from our volunteers. With any organization, we always want to increase the participation.”

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VIDEO: Around 40 people are dead and around 115 others were severely injured after a fire broke out during a New Year’s Eve celebration at a bar in a Swiss Alps resort, authorities said Thursday.

Calling it an “unprecedented tragedy,” Valais canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said many of the injured are in critical condition.

“The priority will be to identify those who lost their lives,” Gisler said at a news conference. Swiss President Guy Parmelin said that many of the victims were young people and the victims include Swiss residents as well as tourists from neighboring countries and elsewhere.

“Behind these numbers are faces, names, families, destinies brutally interrupted,” Parmelin said at the press conference.

The new year was less than two hours old when the fire that devoured the Le Constellation in the town of Crans-Montana was first reported around 1:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday), Gisler said.

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A CSX train derailment on Tuesday morning forced residents to evacuate their homes or shelter in place after a railcar leaked molten sulfur, creating a dangerous gas plume. The Trenton Fire Department reported that fewer than 100 homes were impacted by the incident, which occurred around 6:30 a.m.

Chuck Sadler with the Trenton Voluntary Fire Department received a page stating that several CSX cars had rolled off the tracks. He was one of the first people on the scene. “The accident scene was within a mile of my house, less than a mile. So, we were there pretty quickly,” Sadler said.

“Two or three of us got there, and it was quite a bit more than we expected.” “There was some smoke, low-hanging smoke, and did notice like a little irritation to the throat, but nothing severe. And we just got upwind of it and stayed there.”

As firefighters realized one of the rail cars was leaking molten sulfur, they began alerting those who live within a mile of the derailment, telling residents to leave their homes or shelter in place with their HVAC systems turned off. Frank Amaro lives near Highway 41, about a mile from where the train derailed.

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Franklin’s Fire Department over the past three weeks has said goodbye to five high ranking officials who have retired after a combined 146 years of service.

“Each of these leaders has played a significant role in shaping the department and mentoring the firefighters who will carry our mission forward,” said Fire Chief Glenn Johnson. “Through their leadership, professionalism, and dedication, they strengthened both our culture and the level of service provided to the Franklin community. We are grateful for their contributions and proud of the legacy they leave behind.”

Some of the positions have already been filled. Battalion Chief Jose Periut was promoted to fill the position vacated by Battalion Chief Joe Polenzani. Additional promotion announcements are expected soon.

Here’s more about the five retirees and what they expect to do with their newfound free time:

Lieutenant Todd Stapleton (31 years) – Stapleton originally started his career in the Franklin Fire Department by accident. The Brentwood native was invited by a friend to a volunteer meeting in 1989 and then he and his identical twin brother Scott joined the Williamson County Rescue Squad (WCRS) as volunteer firefighters. Five years later, Stapleton was hired by the FFD. He plans to take a little time to get back to what would be considered “a normal schedule” before deciding what comes next.

Battalion Chief Joe Polenzani (27 years) – ​​Polenzani began his career in 1992 as a volunteer firefighter with the Ashland City Fire Department, where he served for 10 years, until he got married and moved to Williamson County. He then joined the Franklin Fire Department in 1998. He plans to remain active with the State’s Type 3 All-Hazards Incident Management Team, continue teaching at national training conferences and hopes to spend more time playing music, especially with the Nashville Fire Pipes and Drums.

Lieutenant Dave Metcalf (28 years) – After Metcalf’s military service in the United States Air Force, he entered the fire service as a volunteer in 1990 with Bullion Fire, later becoming a paid/call firefighter with the Nevada County Consolidated Fire Protection District while also working in construction. When his family relocated to Middle Tennessee, Metcalf followed and joined the Franklin Fire Department in 1997. Metcalf is planning to travel and spend more time with his four grandchildren.

Assistant Fire Chief Greg Baltimore (33 years) – Baltimore joined the Franklin Fire Department in 1992 and progressed through the ranks from firefighter to engineer, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and assistant fire chief. He served 13 years as a battalion chief before being promoted to assistant fire chief in December 2020. During his tenure, he was a key leader in maintaining the department’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) Class 1 rating, a distinction earned by only the top one percent of fire departments nationwide out of more than 37,000 evaluated. He plans to spend time with his wife, his son, who is a high school senior, along with his adult son and daughter-in-law and their newly born daughter.

Captain Tom Chaffin (27 years) – A graduate of Franklin High School, Chaffin began his fire service career in 1992 as a volunteer firefighter in Bowling Green, Kentucky, while attending Western Kentucky University. After graduating, he returned to Franklin, joined the Williamson County Rescue Squad in 1994 as a volunteer firefighter, and was hired by the Franklin Fire Department in 1998. He considers one of his proudest accomplishments to be maintaining a strong family life throughout his career. He and his wife, Mindy, have two children, Alyssa (20) and Aaron (15). Chaffin looks forward to “our family’s adventure” of what comes next.

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A crew of firefighters Tuesday morning was able to contain a large fire at a cannabis grow facility in East Oakland.

The fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. on 44th Avenue and San Leandro Street. About 35 firefighters responded to the scene and were quickly able to put out the flames within 30 mins.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and thankfully there were no reports of injuries. The property, which was previously a ship maintenance and repair facility, was recently listed for sale.

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PHOTOS: Winter weather caused a series of accidents along I-196 near Saugatuck, including a major truck crash. Smoke and flames covered the icy roadways early Monday morning, after a tandem trailer semi-truck barreled through thick concrete barriers and exploded on impact with the ground below.

Saugatuck Fire Chief Greg Janik says the call came in around 7 a.m. when high winds and icy conditions created low visibility for drivers. Witnesses say the truck was driving alone in the northbound lanes when it suddenly jackknifed, sending it off the highway and onto Old Allegan Road.

Jared Slenker was stuck in standstill traffic in the southbound lanes when he saw the crash happen in a matter of seconds. “When he hit the ground and the fireball went up for the first time, I felt it through the windows of my van,” he said. Slenker was one of several bystanders who took the unconscious driver up the hill. Shortly after, Slenker heard the second explosion.

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PHOTOS: Swan Valley Fire was called to a trailer house fire Monday afternoon where they found flames coming from a bedroom window. The fire started around 12:50 p.m. at 3481 Swan Valley Highway. Firefighters quickly arrived. But as they started fighting the fire, the homeowners tried to go back into the burning trailer to recover items.

Firefighters had to physically stop them. Crystal said the homeowners attempted to re-enter the buildings several times after being told to stay back for their own safety. Fire Chief Travis Crystal said two mobile homes were joined together. Crystal said at one point, one of the homeowners climbed a ladder and was on the roof with an ax, trying to keep the fire from spreading to the attached house.

Firefighters were attempting to spray water on the buildings at the time. There are conflicting reports on whether or not the man was knocked off the building or if he jumped. When he was on the ground, he was restrained by firefighters. Chief Chrystal says that during that altercation, one of the firefighters was punched in the face. The firefighter was treated on the scene and released.

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VIDEO/PHOTOS: Google’s self-driving effort, Waymo, is at the forefront of the robotaxi movement. The company is already offering commercial service, with its distinctive white Jaguar I-Pace vehicles, in several American cities, with more to come in 2026. But robotaxis have not quite mastered all the human traffic world’s nuances yet.

So we’ve seen Waymo vehicles doing things such as driving around a parking lot honking at each other incessantly, bringing traffic to a halt by getting into standoffs, and, potentially more dangerously, driving passengers directly through an armed police standoff. It’s definitely still a work-in-progress.

Teaching the machines to interact with humans will require more time and effort. So in the meantime, Waymo decided to help diffuse some incidents by teaching human first responders how to interact with the machines. Waymo announced a partnership with the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) to create an online training program for police, EMS, and other first responders.

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PHOTOS: Two people were reportedly hospitalized after a large fire broke out at a house connected to a star NASCAR driver in North Carolina on Sunday. The blaze was sparked the night of Dec. 28 along Blacksnake Road in Gaston County. Lucia-Riverbend firefighters said several fire departments from across Gaston and Lincoln counties were called to the home.

Pictures shared by the Lucia-Riverbend Fire Department showed the main part of the house engulfed in tall flames, with much of the home gone by the time the fire was out. “We are thankful for the multiple agency response and ask that the public be in prayer for the affected family and our first responders in fire, GEMs and police,” the department wrote on Facebook.

Tax records connected the property to a company owned by NASCAR star Denny Hamlin, as well as his father, Dennis Hamlin. The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reported that two people were hospitalized after the fire, although it was not immediately clear who, nor how bad their injuries were.

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VIDEO: The Buffalo Fire Department on Saturday marked the 42nd anniversary of the deadliest tragedies in its history, honoring the lives of five firefighters and two civilians killed in a propane tank explosion in 1983. Firefighters, families of the victims and community members gathered at the memorial site on North Division Street, where the explosion leveled a warehouse and destroyed an entire city block just days after Christmas.

The call came in at 8:23 p.m. on Dec. 27, 1983, reporting a propane gas leak inside a warehouse. Moments after firefighters arrived on scene, the tank exploded. “Being on the fire department, you never know what you’re going to run into,” recalled Fred Langdon, who was Buffalo’s fire commissioner at the time

“I was at a dinner, and I came right away,” Langdon said. “In fact, we felt the explosion where I was, and I spent the night there,” Langdon said. The blast killed firefighters Michael Austin, Michael Catanzarro, James Lickfeld, Anthony Waszkielewicz and Matthew Colpoys — and the civilians, Alfred and Jessie Arnold. In the decades since, the corner has remained a permanent memorial to their sacrifice.

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PHOTOS: Firefighters battled to contain a massive blaze that sparked Friday evening at a historic wharf in Portland, Maine. One building was destroyed in the fire, and others were damaged in the blaze that broke out on the Custom House Wharf, FOX 23 reported.

The Old Port in Portland was a major 19th century and early 20th century hub for the commercial fishing industry in the area and is now a popular tourist area with restaurants and shops; working fisherman still keep their boats there.

“Unfortunately, it looked like the fire had a pretty good head start on us when we got down here, but the first companies did a great job. And they made a really aggressive attack to keep it from spreading down the rest of the wharf,” Deputy Fire Chief Jon Hendricks told FOX 23.

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A massive fire tore through a row of stores and an apartment building in the Bronx overnight, bubbling a virtual inferno into the dark sky but causing no serious injuries. The fire broke out at a one-story taxpayer building — a small, cheaply built building to cover the owner’s property taxes — on Prospect Avenue in Longwood around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the FDNY.

It was fully involved in flames by the time crews arrived. It chewed through a bodega, fruit shop and dollar store, then jumped to the roof and second floor of an adjacent six-story apartment building, which was evacuated. One resident was treated at the scene for a minor injury, officials said. Ultimately, more than 200 fire and EMS personnel responded.

The FDNY posted a dramatic aerial photo of the scene on X. The building appeared to be part of a row of businesses, some of which were damaged in the fire. Witnesses described the chaos. “You see people just running from all over,” recounted Maylani Napoles. “You see people in the building, waving their hands out the window, trying to catch somebody’s attention — everything.”

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VIDEO: Santa arrived early at UVM’s Children’s Hospital Thursday, hitching a ride with members of the Burlington Fire Department as part of Operation Fire Cuffs.

Burlington Assistant Fire Marshal Philip Edgerley helped come up with the idea for the annual event. “At the time, we had some co-workers — both of us that had children in the hospital at the time — and we just went with the idea and it kind of stuck,” Edgerley said.

Standing in for Santa’s elves, the Burlington Fire Department worked alongside businesses and dozens of police and fire agencies from across the state to collect new toys and gift cards for kids spending Christmas at the hospital.

The hospital’s Dr. Lewis First says the goal is to provide joy and a sense of normalcy during a time when it’s anything but normal. “Our goal is to have as few numbers of children as possible spend their time in the hospital, but right now, we’re pretty full, and we have a lot of children who are going to be here over the holidays,” he said.

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NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Greg Biffle was reportedly killed in a plane crash Thursday morning, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. Around 10:15 a.m., an aircraft crashed at Statesville Regional Airport, they confirmed in a post on their Facebook page.

Biffle and members of his immediate family were on the plane, according to an NCSHP news release. Troopers say they will be able to say who all seven people on the plane were after getting confirmation from the medical examiner’s office.

Biffle’s family, alongside other families, shared a joint statement about the loss of their loved ones on Thursday afternoon. The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office is assisting the investigation alongside the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and the FAA. They described the aircraft as a small passenger jet.

The NCSHP said that the plane had taken off from the airport and then turned back to land. The plane that crashed appears to be a Cessna Citation that is owned by the former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, according to FAA paperwork.

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A small plane crashed Wednesday afternoon into a residential neighborhood in Nashua. The plane crashed at a residential complex in the area of Cannongate Road, which is on the other side of Route 101A from Nashua Airport. The crash happened at about 2:15 p.m., and fire officials said the pilot was the only person on board.

The plane clipped the roof of a home and then crashed upside down near a parking lot. Fire Chief Steve Buxton said the pilot was able to get out of the plane with the help of bystanders. He was taken to a hospital, and the extent of his injuries was unknown. No one else was hurt. Buxton said he believes the pilot was practicing taking off and landing at the airport before the crash. James Fogarty, one of the good Samaritans who helped pull the pilot from the plane, said he noticed signs of trouble before the crash.

“I knew it was going down because it was sputtering, the engine, and once I got over there, it hit the building, and it flipped upside down. He wasn’t really saying much to me. I kinda like backed up once I pulled him away. He had a gash on his head, on the top of his head, probably about 2 inches wide, long, I mean. He was bleeding pretty good,” Fogarty said.

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In a historic development, the U.S. Senate has passed the IAFF-endorsed Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), advancing a long-fought effort by the IAFF to secure federal recognition of occupational cancer as a line-of-duty death.

“We know the devastation occupational cancer has brought to our profession. When a fire fighter dies from job-related cancer, that is a line-of-duty death – and it is long past time the federal government recognized that truth,” said General President Edward Kelly. “Congress’s passage of the Honor Act marks a significant turning point. This legislation ensures our fallen are honored, and their families are not left behind.”

The Honor Act, led by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), updates the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program to recognize occupational cancer as a line-of-duty death. The bill extends death and educational benefits to survivors and presumes certain cancers are job-related, removing the requirement to pinpoint a specific exposure.

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A rare piece of Greensboro Fire Department history returned home Monday, more than a century after it was first purchased and decades after it last served the city, according to the department.

American LaFrance Steam Engine No. 496, built in 1904, arrived in Greensboro after being away for more than 85 years. The engine was originally purchased by the Greensboro Fire Department the same year and was the first engine produced after the formation of the American LaFrance Fire Engine Co. The nearly nine-foot-tall engine, which weighs more than four tons, served the city into the 1920s, remained in reserve through the 1930s and last pumped water in 1940.

The engine traveled across the eastern United States for decades before being restored by Firefly Restoration Co. in Maine, with most of its original components preserved. Dean Green, who recognized the engine’s historical significance, facilitated its return to Greensboro. City officials and fire department members marked the homecoming as a celebration of the department’s heritage and service to the community.

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PHOTOS: A massive blaze at a lumberyard shot flames into the air that could be seen by morning commuters as they headed through the Jackson Curve east of downtown Kansas City Tuesday. Firefighters responded to the blaze around 6:15 a.m. at the Central Missouri Reload Inc. lumberyard, 3900 E. 14th Terrace, said Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, a spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.

The first crews to arrive found a large outbuilding, where stacks of lumber that had come off the rail yard were fully engulfed in flames, Hopkins said. Firefighters took an immediate defensive attack due to the size of the blaze and sprayed large streams of water from multiple aerial trucks to bring the fire under control, Hopkins said. The fire was brought under control shortly before 9 a.m.

“We’re just working on hot spots, starting to unpile it and getting down to the meat and potatoes of it down in the middle,” Hopkins said. Smoke still filled the air at the lumberyard after the flames were extinguished. A stream of water flowed down from Truman Avenue where a tanker truck attached a hose to a fire hydrant. Earlier, the fire department issued a second-alarm assignment as they were battling the blaze, mainly to bring additional pumpers to run hose lines needed to supply water.

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VIDEO: North Collier Fire Rescue District is leading the way in Florida by introducing plant-fiber helmets for children to enhance connections with kids and educate them about fire safety.

The district noted that plastic helmets are rarely recycled and often end up in landfills for years. They expressed gratitude to the Bonita Shores community for the opportunity to unveil these helmets at a recent event.

They also thanked Better Choice Costumes, whose founder spent 30 years as a firefighter, for leading this initiative and finding a way for the fire service to join the effort to reduce plastic waste.

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PHOTOS: Fire crews watched as a property crumbled to the ground in Camden, New Jersey, early Wednesday, as firefighters worked to put out flames at the building.

NBC10’s SkyForce10 captured the moment the roof of the structure collapsed into itself as crews worked at the scene along the 1600 block of South 6th Street in Camden, NJ, at about 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

According to officials, the fire was placed under control shortly after the building collapse and no firefighters were hurt in the incident. Crews were dispatched to the scene at the two-story property at about 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

Officials said the property was vacant. Officials did not immediately detail what may have caused the fire. An investigation is underway.

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