VIDEO: The Onalaska Fire Department is advancing its life-saving efforts. Both La Crosse and Onalaska Fire Departments have used a device called the "Knox Box" for the last 20 years. It's a vault-like device that hangs on doors or can be mounted on the side of buildings, containing a spare key, and allowing the departments a way into homes and businesses without having to break in. - PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 4:02:21 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Lake Mills. Santa arrived in Commons Park on Nov. 30 by fire truck, accompanied by a special friend to firefighters everywhere, Gavin Martin. The five-year-old garnered statewide attention this summer for raising over $6,000 for the Sun Prairie Fire Department after the explosion that rocked downtown Sun Prairie, July 10. - PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 1:09:15 PM - SOURCE: Lake Mills Leader
VIDEO: A woman in Whitewater is training to become a 911 dispatcher all because a person in that same position helped save her life eight years ago. Back in June of 2010, Angieleek Lipski was 17-years-old and living in Clinton in Rock County. She says her mother and stepfather got into a heated argument and he grabbed a loaded gun. - PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEAU-TV 13 News
A woman’s home sustained significant damage and a dog has died after a fire was ignited in her home Saturday morning. According to a Racine Sheriff’s Office press release, deputies received a call at 10:34 a.m. that a home was on fire at Harvest View Estates, located in the 15900 block of Durand Avenue in Yorkville. - PUB DATE: 12/1/2018 5:09:30 PM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times
The Kenosha City Council has approved an $83.04 million operating budget that provides for the hiring of an additional five new police officers and two new firefighters in 2019. Approved by a 15-1 margin during a special budget meeting Wednesday, it also calls for a 1 percent pay increase for employees that will begin on July 1. - PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 1:46:45 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News
VIDEO: The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD), Milwaukee Admirals and Traction Factory kicked off on Thursday, Nov. 29 their joint partnership in association with the 2018-19 Warm Up Winter program. MFD works with Milwaukee Public Schools to determine the areas of greatest need. They then identify specific schools that do not currently receive other special funding or donations from similar initiatives — and work with them to provide warm coats for the winter season. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2018 10:41:53 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6
A four-car detached garage that contained living quarters and vehicles is considered a total loss after a fire Wednesday afternoon. Just after 1:30 p.m., fire crews were called to N9571 Townline Road in Fond du Lac County for a fire that was contained to a large detached garage, according to a press release from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2018 7:57:40 AM - SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter
The good news is the South Shore Fire Department may have found a way to raise an additional $300,000, but the bad news is that money will come from a big jump in ambulance fees. Currently residents seeking “basic life support” services pay $450, and nonresidents pay $650. For those needing “advanced life support” services, residents pay $600 and nonresidents pay $650. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2018 7:29:50 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times
A man escaped a fiery crash Wednesday night in Brown County. Sheriff's officials say the crash happened around 10:20 p.m. on Interstate 41 just south of Northfield Road in Suamico. Investigators say a 25-year-old man from the New London area was headed north when he crashed his vehicle into an unoccupied disabled vehicle that was parked on the side of the highway. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2018 6:47:29 AM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11
Firefighters on Thursday morning, Nov. 29 responded to the scene of a fire at an apartment building on Milwaukee’s northwest side. It happened around 5:20 a.m. near 93rd and Silver Spring. Officials say the fire appears to have been intentionally set — with multiple ignition spots. It is being investigated as arson. - PUB DATE: 11/29/2018 6:11:11 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6
Ongoing construction appears to be the cause of an Appleton house fire, crews say. Firefighters were called to a home in the 2000 block of N. Oneida St. Wednesday. A smoldering fire inside the wall near the front door of the home was extinguished. While the specific cause of the fire remains undetermined, crews believe it is construction related. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 1:54:11 PM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11
The Norway town chairwoman is taking a wait-and-see stand regarding allegations of misconduct in Dane County against Don Catenacci, the new fire chief for the Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Company.
Catenacci, in addition to his part-time position as fire chief in Wind Lake, is also a part-time assistant chief for the Verona Fire Department in Dane County. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 5:31:30 AM - SOURCE: Racine Journal Times
Area law enforcement and firefighters raised over $50,000 at the Battle of the Badges: The Fight for Autism charity boxing event on Sept. 29 at Racine Case High School. The event is organized by Kenosha resident Jim Kelley of the Mount Pleasant Police Department. A check presentation was held on Nov. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 4:14:39 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News
Scherrer Construction will oversee the planning and construction of a new firehouse under a contract approved Monday by the Wheatland Town Board. Town Board chairman William Glembocki said Scherrer is a local company and provided the lowest bid, coming in at 4.95 percent of what the total project cost will be. - PUB DATE: 11/28/2018 1:47:36 AM - SOURCE: Kenosha News
A weekend fire has the La Crosse Fire Department warning people about dehumidifiers. Crews responded to a fire caused by a malfunctioning dehumidifier on Saturday. The device was in the home's basement when it caught fire. The Department says about 6-million of the appliances were recalled in recent years, particularly ones made between 2007 and 2014. - PUB DATE: 11/27/2018 3:38:51 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse
A criminal complaint filed Monday in Brown County Circuit Court likens the scene of a chemical scare on the city’s west side to a hoarding situation.
Police officers who first entered the home’s basement found it littered with jars of chemicals and trash. They were quickly driven out by the smell of chemicals and concern for their own safety, according to a complaint charging Jennifer Lynn Gross with disorderly conduct and obstructing police. - PUB DATE: 11/27/2018 9:01:19 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette
When Christine Poje’s children woke her up the morning of Nov. 8 to see the sunrise, she thought the red sky might portend rain. Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning. “We could use a storm,” Poje thought, as she got up to cover the firewood with a tarp. California had only officially come out of a three-year drought last year. - PUB DATE: 11/26/2018 3:36:39 PM - SOURCE: Lacrosse Tribune
Firefighters say unattended cooking caused a fire in Oshkosh that sent two people to the hospital over the weekend. The fire has been ruled an accident. The Oshkosh Fire Dept. says firefighters were called to 145 High Ave. around 1 a.m. Saturday. One person was rescued from an upstairs rear window of the two-story building which housed a business and six apartments. - PUB DATE: 11/26/2018 10:15:37 AM - SOURCE: WLUK TV Fox 11
The Oshkosh Fire Department is pointing to unattended cooking as the cause behind a building fire along High Avenue early Saturday morning. Fire officials ruled the cause as accidental and did not release further details. Two people were injured during the fire – and they remain in a Milwaukee hospital. - PUB DATE: 11/26/2018 9:38:07 AM - SOURCE: KFIZ
Community blowback prompted the Wood County sheriff to reinstate a volunteer emergency response unit less than a week after he demobilized the service. Sheriff Thomas Reichert, who is retiring at the end of the year, said in a news release Monday that the "emotional response" from Wood County residents caused him to reinstate the Sheriff's Rescue so that people can have their voice heard with the County Board and the incoming sheriff, Shawn Becker. - PUB DATE: 11/26/2018 9:36:27 AM - SOURCE: Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
