Daily Dispatch

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

PHOTOS: It was a terrifying moment for two people and a child after their car left the road and crashed into a ditch filled with water. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) said on Friday, January 5, deputies responded to a crash with injuries involving two people and a small child. Body camera video captures the moment deputies arrived at the harrowing scene.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPEC-TV CBS 12 West Palm Beach

To soften the potential blow of tax season, first responder retirees in Illinois now have an increased opportunity to reduce their taxable earnings with a health care deduction. While this is a nationwide opportunity for retired law enforcement, firefighter and emergency services workers, the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association is making a special effort to spread the news to those who could benefit in Illinois.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Center Square

VIDEO: Serving San Francisco for decades, a "last of its kind" fire truck has been restored and is being returned to the city by the bay. Rising to its former glory, the 1939 apparatus featured in the World's Fair spent decades serving the city of San Francisco. The truck was one of only two ever built and specially designed to navigate the Bay Area's steep hills and very tall buildings.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCRA-TV NBC 3 Sacramento

Two mayday calls were issued Thursday night as two firefighters fell through a hole on the second floor of a Goshen home engulfed in flames. Their fellow firefighters executed a swift rescue, bringing them to safety, miraculously unharmed. Flames and smoke billowed from the residence at 5 Middle St. around 9 p.
- PUB DATE: 1/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: News 12 Westchester

The Baltimore City spending board approved a new program Wednesday aimed at solving the city's emergency medical services shortage. Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said the city is down 80 EMS providers, and that number has increased. In June, firefighters union Local 734 president Matthew Coster said there were 74 vacancies.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBAL-TV NBC 11 Baltimore

VIDEO: Bourbon is America’s only native spirit, and around it has formed a billion dollar industry steeped in legacy and tradition. Brought by some of the first immigrants to the newly formed United States and developed to perfection in Kentucky, bourbon was born. In the decades that followed, a collection of ambitious entrepreneurs opened their own distilleries and put their unique twists on the classic formula.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPTZ-TV NBC 5 Plattsburgh

VIDEO: In 2023, the International Association of Fire Fighters added 571 names to the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Wall, and 361 of those names died from occupational cancer. "It's real. We have probably had 5 to 10 just in Illinois in the last 18 months succumb to the illness," said Chuck Sullivan, AFFI President.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAND-TV NBC 17 Decatur

VIDEO: A large salary increase comes in with the new year after Myrtle Beach City Council approved a $4.9 million budget adjustment. It was approved on first reading in November. Since then, they approved a second and final reading. City workers — full or part-time, received their first 2024 paycheck last weekend.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTW-TV CBS 13 Florence

Dramatic video from Middletown Fire Company shows Delaware County’s Water Rescue Task Force saving a man’s life after getting trapped during the height of Tuesday night’s storm. "He phoned 911. All he was able to tell us was he lived off Flora Lane in Upper Chichester Township," Director of Delaware County Emergency Services, Timothy Boyce, described an emergency phone call.
- PUB DATE: 1/11/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTXF-TV FOX 29 Philadelphia

PHOTOS: On Jan. 10, 1962, all the talk was about bitter cold. At 3 p.m., with the temperature only 4 degrees, Carson Crocker was cutting a customer's hair at 702 Chouteau Avenue. Police officer Kenneth Jones tried to stay warm in his patrol car one block away. Major Nesbit worked inside the Ralston Purina feed mill that towered over the neighborhood just south of downtown.
- PUB DATE: 1/10/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Metered Site

VIDEO: There's new information about July's deadly cargo ship fire in Port Newark, as the Coast Guard previewed Wednesday's public hearing. Firefighters 45-year-old Augusto Acabou and 49-year-old Wayne Brooks Jr. were killed when a massive fire overtook an Italian cargo ship in Port Newark on July 5, 2023.
- PUB DATE: 1/10/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCBS-TV CBS 2 New York City

VIDEO: Three Belleville firefighters were taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after their fire truck was involved in a crash and flipped onto its side. It all happened at Route 161 and Carlyle Avenue, right by Belleville East High School. The good news is that nobody was seriously hurt. The bad news is that there is significant damage to both the fire truck and the Toyota 4Runner, which was also involved in the crash.
- PUB DATE: 1/10/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVI-TV FOX 2 St. Louis

PHOTOS: A massive 2-alarm fire destroyed a commercial building in a matter of minutes in Downtown San Antonio near the Bexar County Pretrial Services building. The fire started just before 7 a.m. Wednesday at a huge commercial building off Buena Vista Street near South Comal Street. Aerial footage shows the building fully engulfed in flames with the roof and several walls collapsing.
- PUB DATE: 1/10/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOAI-TV NBC/CW 4 San Antonio

One Firefighter from Niagara Falls is spending his winter training to take on the World’s Strongest Firefighter competition in March. Niagara Falls Firefighter Paul Emmick has been training as a power lifter and now a strongman for 20 years. “I feel so much stronger in my core, my lower back and my hips from doing these types of movements,” Paul said.
- PUB DATE: 1/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKBW-TV ABC 7 Buffalo

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Volunteer firefighters have a cleanup on their hands after they report possible straight line winds caused damage to their station. According to the Volunteer Fire Department for the village of Labadieville, straight line winds tossed a mobile home into Fire Station 3 on Highway 1011 in Assumption Parish as storms swept through south Louisiana Monday afternoon.
- PUB DATE: 1/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAFB-TV CBS 9 Baton Rouge

A small fire department in Haines City is now sharing its own story. 'Through the Smoke' is a documentary series created by the Haines City Fire Department that will feature their firefighters and command staff's day-to-day life, including what happens both on and off calls. Additionally, it will dispel some common misconceptions about the fire service and will showcase the first responders themselves and their unique personalities.
- PUB DATE: 1/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVT-TV FOX 13 Tampa Bay