Daily Dispatch

Freezing rain coated streets across the St. Louis region with ice overnight, resulting in several car accidents and ER trips for people attempting to traverse the dangerous conditions. Even first responders were not immune from Mother Nature’s wrath, as videos recorded Monday morning show a fire truck from the Rock Community Fire Protection District spin out of control and nearly slam into homes in a Jefferson County subdivision.
- PUB DATE: 1/23/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVI-TV FOX 2 St. Louis

VIDEO: A 10-year-old boy turned tragedy into triumph after a TikTok challenge left him with devastating burns. Channel 9's Almiya White spoke with the boy who formed an extraordinary bond with the firefighters who came to his rescue. Charlotte Fire Captain Garry Barham said the fire started with a social media challenge.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSOC-TV ABC 9 Charlotte

Through most of his career, Monterey Park Fire Chief Matthew Hallock would absorb the news of mass shootings with the discerning eye of a first responder, but with understandable detachment. His department trained. He cared. His instinct was to think “what if it happened here.” But year after year, shooting after shooting, they never did.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pasadena Star-News - Metered Site

Massive flames were seen shooting out of every window of a home on Second Street in Brownsville. Captured video shows heavy black smoke and the intensity of that fire just minutes after it started. "The house of origin was completely destroyed. The alpha and delta side exposures both suffered heavy damage," said Ron Barry, South Brownsville Fire Chief.
- PUB DATE: 1/22/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KDKA-TV CBS 2 Pittsburgh

As Brittany Jones and her fiancé Mike Freeland drove down a road in Jacksonville on Aug 16, 2019, they spotted a car on fire. As a seasoned newsperson, Jones was familiar with pulling over to cover spot news, but this situation was different. She was not working. While her Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department firefighter fiancé also was off duty, there was no way he was going to pass a motorist in great distress and not help.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Florida Courier

Fire and EMS departments nationwide are struggling to find volunteers, including in York County. “It’s more of a crisis than people realize it is," said Chad Deardorff, president of the York County Fire Chiefs and Firefighters Association. That’s why the county is taking big steps in an effort to help.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPMT-TV FOX 43 York

VIDEO: Atlanta Fire Station 15 on Tenth Street in Midtown is being planned with apartments on top of it. Some who live and work in the area found that surprising. "Why put it on top of the fire station? That don't even make no sense," said Nile Hollis. "I think it's different. You'll see a mall or a Starbucks, underneath apartment buildings, but a fire station?" said Terrance Rodney Lucas.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAGA-TV FOX 5 Atlanta

PHOTOS: A Washington, D.C. day care center full of children was safely evacuated shortly before a gas explosion ignited a fire on the floor above and collapsed the building next door. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly spoke with reporters Thursday at the scene of the fiery blast in the 1200 block Marion Barry Avenue as firefighters continued to douse the flames with water.
- PUB DATE: 1/19/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTTG-TV FOX 5 Washington, D.C.

VIDEO: Butte firefighters, police, and members of a local history group braved the bitter cold on Monday afternoon to remember the lives lost in a devastating explosion and fire that took place almost 130 years ago in the Mining City’s warehouse district. The Kenyon-Connell Warehouse fire of 1895 took the lives of all but two Butte firefighters when illegal dynamite exploded.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXLF-TV CBS 4 Butte

VIDEO: The Chico Fire Department (CFD) is utilizing a new alert system they say can cut down their response time when called to emergency situations. The new system, called MACH Alert, will make the dispatching process consistent across all fire stations in Chico, and create a more rapid response to calls.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRCR-TV ABC 7 Redding

VIDEO: FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh is in Washington D.C. this week to address the pressing issue of unregulated lithium-ion batteries. Joining “Mornings On 1” Thursday via video conference call from the nation’s capital, Kavanagh said she will be meeting with lawmakers and the U.S. Conference of Mayors to emphasize the need for urgent action on these potentially deadly devices often used in electric bikes and scooters.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News 1 - Metered Site

Emergency services in Kansas City rendered aid to 69 people, many for “hypothermia symptoms,” during the Chiefs’ Super Wild Card playoff win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday, a fire department chief told CNN. Conditions at Arrowhead Stadium during the Chiefs’ 26-7 win were tough for players and coaches to deal with, as well as fans: the temperature at kickoff was -4 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -20 degrees, making it the fourth coldest game in National Football League history, CNN has reported.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

Last year, a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) showed that the textiles used in protective clothing worn by firefighters often contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a class of chemicals that has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other health effects.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Phys.org

VIDEO: A new, all-terrain vehicle could help save countless lives during ice and water rescues in our area. The Boom Bay Volunteer Fire Department gave our Action 2 News team a first look. The vehicle is called a ‘Sherp,’ and it can travel through almost anything to rescue people. Boom Bay Fire Chief Dave Platta said it can tackle nearly everything from lakes to ice to swampy marshes.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: The Los Angeles Fire Department will mark the 30th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake Wednesday by urging residents to prepare for future temblors and other natural disasters, reminding them of the devastation that resulted from the historic shaker. The magnitude-6.7 Northridge Earthquake struck in the early morning hours of Jan.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTTV FOX 11 Los Angeles

VIDEO/PHOTO: Electric vehicles (EV) can be a major risk if they catch on fire. Retired Everett Fire Captain Gerry O'Hearn has a new invention to fight those fires. He calls it the Gerry Pipe. "We got to cool down the battery underneath," O'Hearn told WBZ-TV. "The key is no one gets hurt." The trouble with EV fires is their lithium batteries can burn for as long as 24 hours.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBZ-TV CBS 4 Boston

VIDEO: 20 years ago Monday, the city of Bangor lost of a piece of history in a devastating fire downtown that gutted the Masonic Hall. “Unprecedented,” said Bangor Fire Department Assistant Chief Greg Hodge. “We’ve never seen anything even remotely close to that. I can’t remember the number of millions of gallons of water that was flowed onto that fire.
- PUB DATE: 1/16/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABI-TV CBS/CW+ 5 Bangor

Emergency responders in Washington on Monday were dispatched to a false alarm at the White House after a 911 caller claimed there was a structure fire in the building. Noah Gray, the chief communications officer for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said its units were dispatched to the White House just after 7 a.
- PUB DATE: 1/16/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Hill

PHOTOS: Numerous fire departments responded to a massive blaze burning Saturday night at a fuel company in Epping, New Hampshire. The Exeter Fire Department said around 5:15 p.m. that firefighters had responded to 76 Depot Road in Epping for a large fire involving three oil tankers and a tractor-trailer at North Atlantic Fuels.
- PUB DATE: 1/16/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New England Cable News

PHOTOS: An unprecedented number of billion-dollar disasters — 28 in total — struck the U.S. in 2023, as the remarkably warm year wrapped up with a record-warm December. “For millions of Americans impacted by a seemingly endless onslaught of weather and climate disasters, 2023 has hit a new record for many extremes,” said NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration