It's a good thing, and maybe even a refreshing change, when one arm of local government reaches out to praise another. That's what happened Wednesday, March 3, all in the name of fire safety. "Let's make something positive. Let's make something that will actually have an impact on prevention." Acting Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski held a news conference to publicly thank a group of volunteers led by Alderwoman JoCasta Zamarripa.
- PUB DATE: 3/3/2021 6:46:42 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

Western Technical College has lots of space at its Sparta campus and is taking steps to utilize it. The college announced that work on a $4.7 million remodeling and expansion of the Public Safety Training Facility will begin later this spring. The project will accommodate the move of Western’s Emergency Medical Service training program from downtown La Crosse to the Sparta campus located in the Monroe County town of Angelo.
- PUB DATE: 3/3/2021 5:34:42 PM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune

The Racine Fire Department responded to a duplex fire near Pierce and Russet just before 5 a.m. Wednesday, March 3. Fire officials say all 12 occupants escape the two units prior to the arrival of firefighters. Officials say those first on scene discovered a small fire near the front entrance. Racine fire officials say the fire was fought by 20 firefighters, staffing three fire engines, one truck, one quint, and one ambulance, along with one command officers and two fire investigators.
- PUB DATE: 3/3/2021 2:15:52 PM - SOURCE: WDJT-TV CBS 58 Milwaukee

Firefighters rescued four people from a burning building Wednesday morning. Fire crews responded around 5 a.m. to an apartment fire at 501. S. Fisk Street with reports that four people were trapped inside on the third floor, according to the Green Bay Metro Fire Department. Firefighters saw smoke and found the trapped people at a window.
- PUB DATE: 3/3/2021 6:15:44 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

When the delivery of a new quint aerial unit happens sometime next year, the village’s Fire Department will be able to stay on track with the shuffling of its fleet. Consider it addition by subtraction. The department took another step toward that end Monday night when the Village Board unanimously approved the purchase of the engine from Reliant Fire Apparatus of Slinger for a total price tag of $1,084,955.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2021 1:09:50 PM - SOURCE: Kenosha News - Metered Site

Architecture and design firm Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA), which is based in Wisconsin’s largest city, has completed an adaptive reuse project in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward. The old building, which was built in 1847, has been converted by EUA to be a clinical location called the Ascension Medical Group–Historic Third Ward Clinic Project.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: HCO News

A fire damages a home in Stevens Point. Authorities say it started on the second floor and everyone inside safely evacuated. Investigators are still working to determine a cause. A house fire in Stevens Point is closing down WIS 66 at Michigan Ave, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9 Wausau

In the not-too-distant future, there will be some shifting among the Fire Department fleet. The department is expected to have a new rescue engine in its possession within the next week, and the Village Board on Monday night will act on the approval of a contract to bring a new quint/aerial engine into the fold.
- PUB DATE: 3/1/2021 1:04:18 PM - SOURCE: Kenosha News - Metered Site

PHOTOS: While warmer temperatures melt snow across southeastern Wisconsin, it could make for dangerous conditions on the ice. That's why local fire departments on Saturday, Feb. 27 trained in Kasnasville for ice rescues. As lakes begin to thaw, a reality sinks in: Ice rescues could start happening more often.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2021 5:59:20 PM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

A house fire Friday afternoon in Chippewa Falls caused about $100,000 in damages, according to Chippewa Falls Battalion Chief Jason Thom. The fire at 359 Maynard St. was reported at 1:05 p.m. The Fire Department reported to the structure fire, where they found furniture on the front porch was well-involved in fire, and it was spreading into the residence, Thom said in a press release.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2021 3:58:44 PM - SOURCE: Leader-Telegram

The heat from a fire caused a loaded gun to discharge, critically wounding a firefighter who was working to douse flames in northwestern Wisconsin, fire officials said. Justin Fredrickson, 35, is out of the intensive care unit and recovering, the Cornell Area Fire Department said in an update Friday on Facebook.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2021 8:39:28 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV Fox 6 Milwaukee

The Appleton Fire Department report that crews were successful in controlling a fire that had ignited at the Copper Leaf Hotel in Appleton on Saturday morning. According to the station, at around 4 a.m., crews responded to a Fire Alarm at the Copper Leaf Hotel in Appleton. Officials say the initial report indicated to firefighters that the Fire Alarm was detecting presence of smoke in the basement of the building.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2021 5:35:40 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

A fire Friday in the town of Rice Lake resulted in about $135,000 worth of damage to a 30-by-100-foot quonset-style structure. According to a Rice Lake Fire Department news release: Firefighters were dispatched at approximately 12:05 p.m. to a structure fire located at 1858 19th St., the property of Darren Rohde.
- PUB DATE: 2/27/2021 5:07:26 AM - SOURCE: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

The State of Wisconsin is resuming enforcing a code provision requiring fire sprinkler systems in certain multi-family homes, a policy that may help stop a plague of home fires in the Milwaukee area this winter. Multi-family homes taller than 60 feet, or six stories, and with three or more attached dwelling units will need to have an automatic fire sprinkler system installed.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2021 5:55:10 PM - SOURCE: WTMJ-TV NBC 4 Milwaukee

The Cornell Area Fire Department is rallying behind one of their own after a firefighter was shot by a gun that discharged due to heat from a fire, ending up in the hospital. "He went from work and he was on a hose line spraying water. This was probably at least an hour into the fire when he was struck by a bullet that was shot out of a gun inside the house," said Fire Chief Dennis Klass, of the Cornell Area Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WQOW-TV ABC 18 Eau Claire

The Oshkosh Fire Department received a rating of one by the Insurance Service Organization (ISO) for the first time ever. According to officials, the ISO rates over 40,000 fire departments across the nation based on a scale from one to ten. One is the best possible score and in 2020 only 388 departments nationwide received a rating of one.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

Now that the city’s new fire engine is in service and responding to calls, the old 1989 Ford it replaced will be sold at auction. City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved the sale of Engine 7 through Ripon, Wisconsin-based Auction Associates. No date for the auction was provided. The truck no longer meets National Fire Protection Association specifications and would not be cost-effective to refurbish, according to a staff report.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: River Towns

A homegrown nonprofit working to help ease the stresses of active military members, veterans, first responders, and their families is on the cusp of getting its first forward operating base. The Delafield Town Plan Commission recently granted Wisconsin Heroes Outdoors the initial permission it needs to use the town’s former Fire Station #2, W329-S890 Kettle Moraine Drive, as its headquarters, and the town and the nonprofit are currently working out the details of a three-year-lease for the property.
- PUB DATE: 2/26/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: GM Today

Green Bay Metro Fire Chief David Litton joined Local 5 to talk about updates regarding the Green Bay Metro Fire Department (GBMFD). Chief Litton says the Bellevue Fire Chief resigned and was seeking other communities to potentially merge with, before finally setting on Green Bay. The merger will benefit taxpayers from both municipalities, says Chief Litton.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2021 7:58:28 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

Consultants have determined the City of Platteville needs a new fire station. They proposed a nearly 32,000-square-foot concept that includes eight truck bays, training rooms, administrative offices and living quarters. A preliminary assessment indicated that a new structure could cost $8 million to $13 million.
- PUB DATE: 2/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Telegraph Herald