What started a massive salvage yard fire in the Bronx remains unknown, but fire investigators consider its cause suspicious. The blaze and smoke seen for miles prompted a 5-alarm response from the FDNY on Monday afternoon. The heat was so intense that vehicles parked on nearby streets were burned, a fire chief said.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

New Orleans is getting $15.9 million from the federal government to hire 62 firefighters, city officials announced on Tuesday. The grant will pay the full cost of the new hires’ salary and benefits for three years, giving the city a way to expand the New Orleans Fire Department, which firefighters have said has been understaffed for years.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NOLA.com

Thirty-five years ago, on Labor Day in 1985, two Passaic boys unwittingly set a fire that would destroy an estimated 20% of the industrial base in a city already under considerable duress. In all, about 2.2 million square feet of industrial space burned down. The fire, known forever after as the Labor Day Fire, produced heat so intense it caused nearby buildings to combust before flames reached them.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NorthJersey.com

Ralph Gismondi knew he wasn't going to make it. The retired FDNY captain, who spent weeks on the smoldering wreckage of Ground Zero, only to find a second career as a JetBlue flight attendant, told his wife Ann in late March that he could no longer fight off the deadly coronavirus that had begun to ravage his 68-year-old body.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday - Metered Site

PHOTOS: The Visalia Fire Department will have a step up in training thanks in partnership with California Water Service. Cal Water awarded VFD a grant worth $102,000, which allowed for the purchase of a 10-foot mobile pump pod for the fire agency. According to Cal Water administration analyst Chrissy Balderama, the new water-saving device is a self-contained unit that recirculates water that is used during firefighter training and pump testing.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Visalia Times Delta

VIDEO: Members of the FDNY jumped into action after witnessing a recent assault in Brooklyn right outside a fire station. CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis got a look at surveillance video on Sunday. The clip shows a woman in a blue shirt walking down the sidewalk on Hancock Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant when a man on a bicycle swerves over and punches her in the face, knocking her down.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCBS-TV CBS 2 New York

VIDEO: The Ridgefield Volunteer Fire Department is rocking new footwear after movie star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson arranged for 100 pairs of his new signature sneakers to be delivered as a thank-you to the "badasses" who keep their community safe. The delivery of Under Armour Project Rock PR3 sneakers was presented on Aug.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NorthJersey.com

When the City Council next meets, it will hold a third and final reading for a face-mask ordinance and Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine will propose a partial exemption for first responders. Splaine’s proposed amendment includes the wording, “Exempted from the requirements of the ordinance requiring the wearing of face coverings include law enforcement personnel, first responders, or other workers actively engaged in their tasks if wearing a face covering may hinder their performance.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sea Coast Online - Metered Site

PHOTOS: More than 130 firefighters across three states were called early Saturday morning to contain a fire in Pocomoke City that heavily damaged a commercial warehouse, according to Maryland State Fire Marshal. Deputy state fire marshals were on the scene at 2 a.m. and are now investigating the origin and cause of the fire at Eastern Shore Forest Products.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Delmarva Now

An East Forsyth teenager who was recently surprised for his birthday with a parade and a visit from members of the school’s football team got an even bigger surprise. Timothy Tolley who has autism wants to be a firefighter when he grows up. The Alamance Community Fire Department Station 54 in Greensboro wanted to do something special for Tolley after hearing about his story and his ambitions to one day be a firefighter.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

A firefighter battling a wildfire in Washington state near the Canadian border lost his wife and three children in an early-morning blaze that destroyed their new home. The family's single-wide trailer was almost completely consumed when firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded to the Green Acres Mobile Home Park in Benton City, Washington, just before 1 a.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

VIDEO: If you came across this vehicle, you might have trouble deciphering exactly what it is. It's towering, it has wheels, but also, a propeller. "We pride ourselves in preserving the history of the firefighter," Joe Kufrovich of the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society said. "That would belong to the Reading Scuba Team in the city of Reading.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNEP-TV ABC 16 Scranton

The IAFC applauds the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) for recommending that all firefighters and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel be placed in the highest priority tier for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. While firefighters and EMS personnel need reliable access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 testing, vaccines are the ultimate form of defense for those serving on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal of Emergency Medical Services

VIDEO: When Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, it changed everything New York City thought it knew about storms. The storm left behind a trail of damage that put climate change into sharp focus. Scientists say Sandy's catastrophic flooding was made worse by rising sea levels. The "Rising Risk" docuseries explores how those rising sea levels will play out in lower Manhattan of the late 21st century.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

9/11 Day, the nonprofit that successfully worked to establish the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as a federally-recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance ("9/11 Day"), launched a major new initiative in response to COVID-19, called "9/11 Day At Home." This initiative features a new digital platform that enables millions of Americans to engage in a wide range of charitable service activities virtually, and from the safety of their homes, in observance of 9/11 Day, the nation's largest annual day of service.
- PUB DATE: 9/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFMZ-TV 69 Allentown

VIDEO: Flames engulfed a condemned church building Wednesday evening in downtown Rockford. Several Rockford Fire Department engine companies were on the scene, fighting the blaze at Kishwaukee and Walnut streets and First Avenue. The fire sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky over downtown Rockford.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rockford Register Star

The Centers for Disease Control has urged governors to be prepared for the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine by November 1, which is two days before Election Day. CDC Director Robert Redfield sent the letter dated August 27 to governors, informing them that the government is contracting with the company McKesson to distribute the vaccine to local health departments and doctors' offices and asked them to expedite any applications for distribution facilities requested by the company.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News

VIDEO: The everyday trauma experienced by first responders across the country and in Northeast Ohio continues to lead to growing levels of post-traumatic stress and the oftentimes life-altering side effects that come with it. In an effort to curb this trend, a coalition of researchers, experts and state officials developed a new science-based mobile app, making Ohio one of the first states with such an offering.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEWS-TV ABC 5 Cleveland

A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who has been missing for nearly two weeks is likely the victim of a "violent kidnapping," according to the head prosecutor of Baja California, Mexico. Frank Aguilar, 48, was last heard from on the night of Aug. 20, when he went down to check on the condo the family rents out through Airbnb, according to his two daughters.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV 5 CW Los Angeles

Alabama is the worst state in the nation to work in during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey out that rates the states based on their policies to protect working families. Oxfam America, a nonprofit agency dedicated to ending poverty, used 27 different data points in three areas of state assistance - worker protections, healthcare protections and unemployment support.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AL.com