VIDEO: The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) has become the first fire department in the country to develop an in-house fire gear cleaning system. IFD said “Project Washout” integrates advanced ozone technology with comprehensive gear maintenance, management and repair. On Wednesday, IFD Chief Ernest Malone unveiled the new system which fire officials said “was created for the sole purpose of better protecting our suppression personnel and implementing cancer preventive initiatives, to help fight the unseen enemies our personnel face every day, including COVID19.
- PUB DATE: 6/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

The Union for the Kansas City Fire Department says they are already short 60 firefighters. Cutting 4.5% of the department budget would mean close to $9 million. That would have dangerous impacts on public safety. “I believe that fire department cuts and public safety cuts should be the last to be made,” to International Association of Firefighters local 42 President Tim Dupin said.
- PUB DATE: 6/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCTV CBS 5 Kansas City

VIDEO: Thursday marks 13 years since nine Charleston firefighters were killed in a fire at the Sofa Superstore on Savannah Highway. It was June 18th, 2007 at 7:09 p.m. when the alarm sounded – firefighters sprang into action. Black smoke was seen pouring from the furniture store and warehouse, and as firefighters began to battle the flames, a 911 call comes in saying an employee is trapped inside.
- PUB DATE: 6/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSPA-TV CBS 7 Spartanburg

FirstNet, the dedicated public safety communications network built by AT&T through a public-private partnership, is getting more than $200 million for enhancements to its portable assets and core network for 5G. The First Responder Network Authority Board at its quarterly meeting yesterday signed off on $218 million for strategic investments targeting two areas: initial core network upgrades as the first phase of moving to 5G, and expanding FirstNet’s fleet of deployable assets.
- PUB DATE: 6/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fierce Wireless

More than 30,000 gallons of toxic fluorochemical foam has been collected from municipal fire departments and commercial airports in Michigan in an effort that state officials believe is the nation’s largest collection and disposal program of its type. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the state fire marshal’s office announced the milestone for their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, foam disposal program on Wednesday, June 16.
- PUB DATE: 6/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MLive

PHOTOS: Firefighters' tactical decision to use a front-end loader to open up a hallway while battling a fire at Clinton Assembly of God may have saved part of the facility, officials said Tuesday. The Clinton Fire Department was called to the church at 801 S. Mulberry at 8:19 a.m., and crews cleared the scene at 3:47 p.
- PUB DATE: 6/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Pantagraph

This page tells the tragic story of the Hotel Vendome Fire & Collapse, which occurred during the mid to late-afternoon hours of Saturday, June 17, 1972. As the fire in the upper floors of the former 7-story hotel (including penthouse) was being extinguished, a collapse of the southeast corner of the building occurred.
- PUB DATE: 6/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Fire Historical Society

Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-7th District) introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at honoring lives lost on September 11, 2001. Spanberger, along with Rep. Peter King (R-New York), filed H.R. 7183 — the National Nine-Eleven Victims and Emergency Responders Flag of Remembrance, Gratitude, and Education for Tomorrow Act, or the National NEVER FORGET Act.
- PUB DATE: 6/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVR-TV CBS 6 Richmond

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) announced today that Fire-Rescue International (FRI) 2020, scheduled to take place August 19-21 in Phoenix, AZ, has been cancelled due to the impact and ongoing concerns about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). A virtual FRI format will be announced on July 7, 2020, and will take place over the week of August 19th.
- PUB DATE: 6/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed five coronavirus cases among staff members at the Lakeland, Fla., base for its famed “Hurricane Hunter” research aircraft. The cases raise the possibility that one of the country’s vital early-warning systems could be hobbled during what is already an unusually active hurricane season.
- PUB DATE: 6/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Washington Post - Metered Site

The Newton Firefighters Association said on Monday it is taking legal action against the city for taking down a remembrance flag last week that had been hanging inside Station 4 for the last 2½ years. Marc Rizza, Local 863 president, said in a statement that hanging the Thin Red Line flag “is a protected activity under the collective bargaining laws of the Commonwealth.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wicked Local Newton

New numbers released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer a comprehensive picture of who in the United States has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and how they fared. The latest figures confirm that older people, minorities and those with preexisting health conditions are at the highest risk of death.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

Had the parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon instead been designed with Lisa Camp in mind, everyone in Friendswood and La Porte would have been directly or indirectly touched by the longtime emergency medical services leader. The Friendswood native is the EMS chief for the volunteer fire departments in both Friendswood and La Porte.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Within a few months, teams of mental health workers and EMTs will be dispatched in some Alameda County cities to help people having a mental crisis or substance abuse problems. The pilot program, called the “Community Assessment Treatment and Transport Team,” or CATT, will roll out in Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward and Alameda sometime this summer.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times - Metered Site

The following highlights some of the notable fires or building collapses in the lower Valley in the past 10 years... Sept. 11, 2010: Fire destroys the Housatonic Wire complex in Seymour. The building was slated to be the site of a new development. Jan. 6, 2014: A four-story Howe Avenue building opposite the Shelton end of the Derby-Shelton Bridge burns and collapses, leaving five injured and several homeless.
- PUB DATE: 6/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CT Post

Chief Gary Ludwig, IAFC President and Chairman of the Board, asked Congress to support local fire and EMS departments as he testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. During his testimony, Chief Ludwig highlighted the importance of local fire and EMS departments to helping victims of COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Survivors of COVID-19 are donating their blood plasma in droves in hopes it helps other patients recover from the coronavirus. And while the jury’s still out, now scientists are testing if the donations might also prevent infection in the first place. Thousands of coronavirus patients in hospitals around the world have been treated with so-called convalescent plasma — including more than 20,000 in the U.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

Firefighters across Ohio are mourning the death of Russell Brode, the former president of Akron’s firefighter union, who they said died Saturday from what’s referred to as “occupational cancer,” or cancer he acquired through fighting fires. Brode, 54, spent years pushing for better care and training for Ohio firefighters facing the same risk from inhaling cancer-causing toxins released by smoke and other chemicals.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Beacon Journal

VIDEO: Over 150 firefighters battled a fire at a vacant building in Shelton. Crews were called to the vacant building on Canal Street around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, firefighters said. Firefighters from Shelton, Derby and Ansonia responded to the fire and it took more than 155 firefighters to help put out the flames, authorities added.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVIT-TV NBC 30 New Britain

The firefighter’s fraternity is a tight one. Due to the many perils of the job, they must rely on each other to remain safe while saving structures and lives. “There is a lot of trust there,” said third-generation Elk River firefighter Chad Kreuser. But for Kreuser and fellow firefighter Ryan Wolcenski, it’s grown to be so much more: Kreuser learned that he suffers from polycystic kidney disease and in rapid need of a lifesaving kidney transplant.
- PUB DATE: 6/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCCO-TV CBS 4 Minnesota