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National Fire News

NFPA Report: Firefighter Fatalities in the US—2019

Each year, NFPA collects data on all the firefighter fatalities in the US that resulted from injuries or illnesses that occurred while the victims were on-duty. The term on duty refers to: Being at the scene of an alarm, whether it is a fire or non-fire incident (including EMS calls). Responding to or returning from an alarm.
- PUB DATE: 7/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

With hundreds of firefighters in quarantine, Houston Fire Department is running on empty as pandemic surge continues

The Houston Fire Department said its firefighters are running on empty as they try to keep up with the city’s pandemic surge. HFD Chief Sam Pena said about 300 firefighters are in quarantine. Pena said the ones not in quarantine are overworked and there is no end in sight. “Yes, they’re being stretched thin, and yes, they’re being overworked and it is stressful for them,” Pena said.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHOU-TV CBS 11 Houston

Unruly July 4th Crowd in California Slowed Fire Response To Emergency Call

VIDEO: An Oakland fire crew was delayed on making an emergency medical call July 4th evening when an unruly mob near Lake Merritt blocked its path and climbed onto the engine. The incident was captured on a video released Sunday night on the Oakland Firefighters Facebook page. The video showed a crowd gathered around an Oakland fire truck at the intersection of Lakeshore and Brooklyn Avenues on the east side of Lake Merritt.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPIX-TV CBS 5 San Francisco

Four Indiana firefighters recovering after drunk driver crashes car into fire engine

Four Beech Grove firefighters are recovering after a drunk driver drove a car into the fire engine and then hit the officers. Five firefighters were responding to a trash fire Saturday night in the 5900 block of East Troy Avenue near North 25th Avenue just after 10 p.m. As the firefighters were deploying the hose line, a car crashed into the fire engine and hit a light pole and four of the firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTHR-TV NBC 13 Indianapolis

As COVID-19 cases rise in some states, leaders mull how to combat first wave resurgence

After consistently moving toward flattening the curve, positive cases of COVID-19 have been climbing in the last two weeks across several states. Florida had the most dramatic increase of cases, jumping from 3,235 daily new cases per 100,000 people on June 22 to 9,019 daily new cases June 27, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Marshall Independent

New York: South Buffalo fire evokes memories of 1997 tragedy

VIDEO: The fire believed to have been sparked by illegal fireworks that severely damaged a South Buffalo house Friday offered a pair of grim reminders. One was of the danger of fireworks. The other was of a tragedy that still resonates within the Buffalo Fire Department. “This fire was eerily similar to a fire that took the life of one of our firefighters, Michael Seguin, some 23 years ago,” Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said.
- PUB DATE: 7/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

Firefighters respond when building with many violations collapses in Brooklyn; 1 injury reported

Cleanup was underway Thursday at a multistory health club shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic that collapsed into a heap of rubble in Brooklyn a day earlier. Videos posted on Citizen app show FDNY trucks, an ambulance, and numerous police officers and other first responders near a pile of rubble and debris where the three-story building in Carroll Gardens used to stand at the corner of Court Street and Union Street.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNYW-TV FOX 5 New York

US Department of Commerce Awards $1 Million for R2 Network, Selects Team to Build Network for Innovation in Disaster Response & Resiliency Technology

Three U.S. Department of Commerce agencies, the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), announced the awardee of the Accelerate R2 Network (R2 Network) Challenge. The R2 Network Challenge is an interagency program that connects stakeholders in the response and resilience (R2) industries, accelerating the speed at which startups and other organizations can bring innovations to the public safety market, create new businesses and jobs, and support community resilience.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Economic Development Administration

Officials: Alabama students throwing 'COVID parties' to see who gets infected

Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday. Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students have been organizing "COVID parties" as a game to intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

Green, Yellow, Orange Or Red? This New Tool Shows COVID-19 Risk In Your County

How severe is the spread of COVID-19 in your community? If you're confused, you're not alone. Though state and local dashboards provide lots of numbers, from case counts to deaths, it's often unclear how to interpret them — and hard to compare them to other places. "There hasn't been a unified, national approach to communicating risk, says Danielle Allen, a professor and director of the Edmond J.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Public Radio

Nearly 400,000 vehicles on the road could catch fire and there is no fix for the problem

VIDEO: Nearly 400,000 Nissan vehicles on the road right now could catch fire. Nissan has issued multiple recalls about the problem, impacting some Muranos, Maximas, Infinitis and Pathfinders, but the company has no fix for the defect that has burned down vehicles, homes and even caught a car dealership on fire.
- PUB DATE: 7/2/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

Virginia first responders ‘pushed and kicked’ while responding to a deadly motorcycle crash

Virginia Beach Fire and EMS employees were “pushed and kicked” Monday night while trying to save the life of a motorcyclist, officials say. When firefighters arrived in the 900 block of Atlantis Drive in the Seatack community shortly before 9 p.m. “an unruly crowd gathered and rapidly grew in size and out of control, surrounding the scene,” according to a Virginia Beach Fire Department daily briefing report obtained by WAVY-TV 10.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAVY-TV NBC 10 Portsmouth

Firefighter interviews detail terrifying explosion in Maine

VIDEO: The state's final report about the Farmington explosion, obtained by the CBS 13 I-Team, reveals what firefighters experienced in moments just before and after the blast. They’ve never spoken about it publicly, but their interviews with investigators detail the terrifying ordeal and their brave actions that day.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGME-TV CBS 13 Portland

California supervisors cut firefighter overtime to address budget crunch

The Kern County Board of Supervisors took a series of steps Tuesday to address a looming budget crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. One of those steps included passing a $3 billion preliminary budget for fiscal year 2020-21, but the most prominent may have been the reduction of firefighter overtime benefits that the County Administrative Office said exceeds federal labor standards.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Bakersfield Californian

New pre-alert system for firefighters helps limit health issues

EaseAlert is a pre-alert system designed to alert firefighters of an emergency before the alarm sounds in their station. It was created by young entrepreneurs Blake Richardson and Elezar Tonev with the goal to reduce stress and improve efficiency for firefighters. “My dad has been a firefighter most of my life.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCJB-TV ABC/CW+ 20 Gainesville

For first time in 73 years, Connecticut town's fire departments officially merge into one

For the first time in 73 years, the town’s fire and EMS departments will operate as one unified department beginning Wednesday. The unified department, the result of merging the Coventry Volunteer Fire Association and the North Coventry Volunteer Fire Department, will be known as the Town of Coventry Fire/EMS Department.
- PUB DATE: 7/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal Inquirer

New York City mayor wants disciplinary records for firefighters and correction officers posted online, just like police

It’s not just cops’ disciplinary records that should be shared with the public -- firefighters’ and correction officers’ histories should be posted online too, Mayor de Blasio said Monday. Now that the state has repealed a part of the 1976 state civil rights law known as 50-a, there is no reason for any city agency to shield relevant records from the public, de Blasio added.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

Asphalt tank erupts into flames in New Jersey, forces evacuations

VIDEO: A fire at an asphalt processing plant resulted in a hazmat situation and evacuations in Camden County, New Jersey early Tuesday. Officials said a large tank containing asphalt began to smolder around 12:45 a.m. at Blueknight Energy Partners on the 200 block of Water Street in Gloucester City.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

First responders in Illinois get $3.5M in grants

A total of $3.5 million was awarded to 154 fire departments, districts and EMS providers through the Small Equipment Grant Program. The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal and Gov. Pritzker announced the OSFM received 540 applications, requesting around $12 million in funding during this grant period.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIFR-LD CBS 23 Rockford

The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases

The United States has long prided itself as the world's shining beacon. But its current status is a much darker one: the globe's leader in coronavirus cases. More than 125,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US, and more than 2.5 million Americans have been infected. American life has been irrevocably altered by the worst pandemic in a century.
- PUB DATE: 6/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

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