The budget Austin City Council approved on Aug. 23 for the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year comes with a number of different investments in Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
Much of the discussion around Austin’s new budget revolved around the ways the budget begins a process of transitioning around $150 million dollars from the Austin Police Department into other areas of public health and safety over the course of the next year. - PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAN-TV NBC 36 Austin
New York's first responders were given an unusual warning this week, a first since the Sept. 11 terror attacks: skip this year's in-person anniversary events. In a letter addressed to members of the FDNY, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro cautioned against the department's members attending anniversary events this year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the safety of everyone, especially retired members and families of 9/11 victims that are at a greater risk due to health and age. - PUB DATE: 8/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York
VIDEO: A raging fire engulfed a home in Great Kills early Friday morning, displacing a family and injuring nine firefighters.
Video from the scene shows flames and thick black smoke pouring from the upper floors and roof as FDNY members sprayed the inferno with hoses.
The three-alarm blaze was reported at about 3 a. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Staten Island Live
A new Oregon State University study suggests that firefighters are more likely to be exposed to potentially harmful chemicals while on duty compared to off duty.
The on-duty firefighters in the Kansas City, Missouri, area experienced higher exposures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are a family of chemicals that are known to have the potential to cause cancer. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Science Daily
VIDEO: With COVID-19 restrictions loosening in S.C. Shriners Hospital in Greenville along with firefighters from Greenville Fire Department surprised the children with a day full of joy.
“One of our employees just asked if they could donate some fun hats to the kids to brighten their day and they took it and ran with it from there. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSPA-TV CBS 7 Spartanburg
PHOTOS: When D.C. firefighters responded to the report of a fire in Northeast Thursday evening, a man suspected of setting the fire attacked Fire Engine 8.
As they were trying to put out the fire, which was outside in the 300 block of 18th St. NE, the man became aggressive toward the crew, according to a DC Fire and EMS spokesperson. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA-TV ABC 7 Washington, DC
Three new scientific studies published this month show that the COVID-19 virus can spread in more ways than we once knew. Research from various parts of the world considered three separate factors in each study: low humidity, public restrooms and airborne dust. The implications from all three of these studies? Mask up!
A study just published in Transboundary and Emerging Diseases confirms an earlier study conducted in the Greater Sydney, Australia area during the early stages of the pandemic reported a link between low humidity and community spread of COVID-19. - PUB DATE: 8/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Forbes
VIDEO: More than a hundred residents at a Buckhead apartment complex were displaced after a massive multiple-alarm fire broke out early Wednesday afternoon and quickly engulfed the building.
As Chopper46 flew over the Avana on Main Apartments in the 500 block of Main St. N.E., heavy plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the building as flames raged out of control. - PUB DATE: 8/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGCL-TV CBS 46 Atlanta
A new sense of urgency is emerging to get Seattle firefighters the gear they need at riots and other scenes of violence.
Crews are being called upon to take bigger risks to help people who are hurt and this equipment is one way to keep them safe.
“We're trying to be able to have every single firefighter be able to be protected,” said Debbie Steinhauer, founder and president of the Seattle Fire Foundation. - PUB DATE: 8/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle
Alarms were going off for some Chicago firefighters this week.
First, there was a COVID-19 outbreak at the Quinn Fire Academy, and now, hundreds are expected to gather in one spot to take a test.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Wednesday, some firefighters believe their safety is being put at risk, as well as the safety of the public they serve when it comes to potentially contracting and then spreading coronavirus. - PUB DATE: 8/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBBM-TV CBS 2 Chicago
When American Girl, the maker of American Girl Dolls, announced its “Heroes With Heart” contest to honor frontline workers, one girl knew exactly who to nominate.
April O’Quinn, an EMT with the Richmond Ambulance Authority, was nominated by her niece, Lacey. Families were asked to nominate a hero who makes a difference in their lives and goes “above and beyond. - PUB DATE: 8/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WWBT-TV NBC 12 Richmond
The COVID-19 pandemic has spread so rapidly since the first U.S. case was reported Jan. 20 that it’s now the third-leading cause of death in the country, Thomas Frieden, MD, former director of the CDC, told CNN.
"COVID is now the number 3 cause of death in the U.S. -- ahead of accidents, injuries, lung disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many, many other causes," Frieden said. - PUB DATE: 8/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WebMD
VIDEO: A massive fire at a plastics facility in Grand Prairie is likely to continue burning for several days and could knock out electricity in the area for some time, firefighters say. Meanwhile, officials are urging people to stay indoors because of the "toxic plume" rising from the scene that could be an irritant for people with respiratory issues. - PUB DATE: 8/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXAS-TV NBC 5 Fort Worth
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, motorists each day drove about 8.8 billion miles on American roadways, while the U.S. railroad system carried 85,000 passengers and 5 million tons of freight. Though travel habits have shifted since the coronavirus outbreak, transportation infrastructure remains vital to the health of the U. - PUB DATE: 8/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today
Funding commitments are now in place for the Rescue Hose Co. to add paid firefighters for the first time in its 140-year history.
Greencastle Borough Council agreed to develop a budget to support paid firefighters using a fire tax during a joint meeting with fire company representatives and Antrim Township supervisors last week. - PUB DATE: 8/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Echo-Pilot
On Aug. 17, the United States recorded its fewest COVID-19 cases in nearly 2 months, with 35,112 new cases and 445 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The new cases raise the total to 5,469,604 cases and 171,344 deaths. Though the decrease in cases is a sign that early summer hot spots, including Arizona, Texas, and Florida, are showing falling case counts, reports from schools that have opened across the country, as well as nursing home data, show congregate living is still a major contributor to COVID-19 outbreaks. - PUB DATE: 8/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CIDRAP
The Chicago fire academy is closed until further notice after an apparent COVID-19 outbreak impacting both students and instructors.
Officials said they are working to determine the source of the outbreak at the Robert J. Quinn Fire Academy, located at 558 W. De Koven Street in the South Loop. It's not clear how long the building will be shut down. - PUB DATE: 8/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLS-TV ABC 7 Chicago
New York City firefighters disarmed a stabbing suspect inside a firehouse in Queens Monday.
Daniel Gomez, 27, was arrested and charged with assault after he was accused of stabbing a 26-year-old man in the leg Monday morning.
Officials say FDNY Squad 288 encountered the victim and brought the man into the firehouse in Maspeth for treatment. - PUB DATE: 8/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York
Another day of dead marine life surfacing in Biscayne Bay as the swath of suffocated fish appears to be spreading.
On Saturday, members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue went out on the water to help the animals breathe. The effort was coordinated by Miami Waterkeeper after reaching out to Port Miami for use of their fireboats. - PUB DATE: 8/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPLG-TV ABC 10 Miami
VIDEO: No injuries were reported Tuesday after a fire damaged a tank at a Pasadena refinery.
The fire was reported about 5:45 a.m. in an oil tank on the northeast corner of the property at Pasadena Refining Systems.
According to Bill Stephens, a spokesman for Chevron, the fire was extinguished about 6:30 a. - PUB DATE: 8/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Click 2 Houston
