Daily Dispatch

On September 29th, according to the Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDonald a fire began on the roof of BioLab, a manufacturer of pool and spa products in Conyers, GA. In the seven years she’s been on the job, this is the third incident of fire there. During a September 29th news conference, the County Emergency Management Agency made a statement that the fire was caused by “a malfunctioning sprinkler head”.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Fire Sprinkler Association

VIDEO: A Baltimore firefighter made a special South Florida stop to share how he survived a terrifying emergency. He said a simple technique saved him, and now it’s just one of several lifesaving lessons local firefighters are learning. It was January 2022 when firefighter John McMaster and many others from his department were responding to a building fire when the structure collapsed.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSVN-TV FOX 7 Miami

State Farm would like to congratulate the 100 volunteer fire departments selected to receive a $10,000 grant to purchase equipment that will help enhance safety, communications and operations for their departments. Volunteer fire departments play a critical role in the protection of communities across the country, especially in small towns and rural areas.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Good Neighbor Stories

Barnstable Firefighters and Barnstable Police responded to a fully involved vehicle fire that spread to a number of other vehicles early this morning. At around 3:35 a.m., crews responded to an impound lot located at 178 Thornton Drive. The fire was rapidly spreading to other vehicles when HN arrived on scene.
- PUB DATE: 10/4/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hyannis News

Aid from every level of government is flowing into Western North Carolina, and the city of Baltimore plans to be on that list. The city has an emergency crew at the ready, specifically emergency dispatchers, who will provide relief to local crews that have been working around the clock since Hurricane Helene hit the region Friday, said Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace during a news conference.
- PUB DATE: 10/3/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WYPR-FM 88.1 Baltimore

VIDEO: Firefighters have a higher risk of heart problems, much of it because of the environment on the job, like smoke exposure and lack of sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Orlando Fire Department is trying to find a solution to part of that problem with a new fire station alert system.
- PUB DATE: 10/3/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spectrum News 13 - Metered Site

VIDEO: The long-awaited ATF report concluded that the Lahaina fire was started by one fire by re-energization. “The origin and cause of the Lahaina fire is clear. The re-energization of broken power lines caused sparks that ignited unmaintained vegetation in the area. Exactly how this fire rekindled in the afternoon is considered undetermined with multiple plausible hypotheses fitting the known data,” said MFD Chief Brad Ventura in the news conference releasing the details of the report.
- PUB DATE: 10/3/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHON-TV FOX 2 Honolulu

VIDEOS: A man is in serious condition after he fell ten feet into an abandoned grain silo south of downtown Fort Worth, officials said. Officers responded to a call from a man who had fallen inside the abandoned silos around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 1937 S. Main Street, according to a press release from the Fort Worth Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 10/3/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas

VIDEO: The City of Hattiesburg unveiled the reconstruction of its first fire ladder truck. Restoring the 85-year-old truck became a passion project for the Hub City in the last 10 years. The truck, which was purchased in 1939, had been sitting in disrepair since the early 2000s. The project to restore the truck began after Sherrocko Stewart became the fire chief in 2018.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJTV CBS/CW 12 Jackson

VIDEO: Stopping sideshows with a piece of plastic—that's what traffic safety advocates are pushing in the city of Sacramento. They're called "armadillos" because the curved roadway dividers resemble the small animal with an armored shell. The plastic bumps get a driver's attention if they're run over, and at high speed, they could cause a tire to loose traction.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS 13 Sacramento

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Hurricane Helene laid waste to the southeastern United States. Its sheer wind force and deadly floods left behind a path of destruction stretching over 500 miles from Florida to the Southern Appalachians. In just 48 hours, vast swaths of the region became unrecognizable. The storm has caused at least 130 deaths, and officials fear the toll could rise as many people remain unaccounted for.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN Weather

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Video taken Tuesday afternoon shows flaming piles of old railroad ties. Approved drone video was captured by WXOW of the fire at the Omaha Track facility on French Island. Firefighters from multiple departments have been on the scene at the business off of Bainbridge Street for more than 15 hours attempting to put out the fire.
- PUB DATE: 10/2/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXOW-TV ABC 19 La Crosse

Stellantis said Monday it is recalling 194,000 plug-in hybrid electric Jeep SUVs to address fire risks after 13 fires were reported, and it told owners to park outside and away from other vehicles until recall repairs are completed. The Italian-American automaker is recalling some 2020 through 2024 model year Jeep Wrangler and 2022 through 2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrids.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

VIDEO: Cincinnati State is building the next generation of first responders amid a national shortage of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The EMT and Paramedic Program allows students to gain firsthand experience in hopes of bringing more EMTs and paramedics into the field. "It's really about building the program and getting more students to come in .
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCPO-TV ABC 9 Cincinnati

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A blazing tower of flame and black smoke sizzled the air Monday as a bright yellow airport fire truck quietly rolled up, then let loose with its two water cannons. Inside, next to a Jacksonville firefighter, was Mayor Donna Deegan, getting a test ride on the new diesel-electric hybrid truck that the fire department is investigating for purchase from Oshkosh Airport Products in Wisconsin.
- PUB DATE: 10/1/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Jacksonville Today

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The magnitude of devastation wrought by Helene intensifies by the hour as search crews discover more bodies and floodwaters slowly recede, revealing more neighborhoods obliterated by the storm. The death toll across six states soared to 119 Monday, days after Helene made landfall in Florida as a monstrous Category 4 hurricane.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

The number of people in the U.S. dying from drug overdoses is falling for the first time in years—and it’s falling quickly. Nationwide, overdose deaths fell 12.2% between April 2023 and April 2024 from 110,771 to 97,309, according to CDC data released in September. In comparison, overdose deaths fell by 3% between 2022 and 2023, the first annual decrease since 2018 when the number of deaths was 67,367.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Healthcare Brew

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Short on supplies, power and patience, storm victims who saw the brutal force of Helene upend their lives have emerged to a new week, facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding. Some of the roads and bridges they need to do the job aren’t there anymore. Electricity could be a week away or longer.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

Fire chiefs from Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the U.S. participated in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Urban Fire Forum (UFF) last week at NFPA headquarters in Quincy, MA, endorsing four important documents that address some of the most complex challenges facing the modern fire service.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: An incident at a Rockdale County chemical facility early Sunday morning has prompted orders for many area residents to evacuate and others to shelter in place. A shelter-in-place order has been given to the entirety of Rockdale County. Around 5:30 a.m., a sprinkler at the BioLab plant on Old Covington Highway in Conyers malfunctioned and sprayed water on a chemical, causing a reaction that created a large, hazardous plume, which then began drifting to the northeast, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said at a press briefing shortly after 10 a.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WANF-TV CBS 46 Atlanta