21 injured, including 16 firefighters, in New York apartment building fire

VIDEO: An eight-alarm fire tore through an apartment building in Queens Tuesday afternoon, leaving 21 injured, including 16 firefighters, and displacing more than 200 residents. The fire broke out as four-alarm blaze on the top floor of the six-story building on 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights around 1 p.m. and quickly spread into the cockloft. Approximately 400 FDNY members responded and continue to fight the ferocious fire. Officials say the FDNY will be at the scene through the night and the next few days. "When the units arrived, the door of apartment was open, there was an advanced fire," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "The first units in were trying to make their advance, three of the members were burned. Thankfully the burns were not serious, although they have been taken to the hospital."
WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

Pointing to the Future of Lifesaving Firefighting Technology

Six firefighters lost their lives responding to a fire in a century-old, abandoned warehouse in Worcester, Massachusetts, in December 1999. Worried that civilians were trapped inside, rescue teams initiated a rapid intervention; but, unfamiliar with the layout of the building, the smoke-filled warehouse became a labyrinth for those that entered. Unfortunately, the brave individuals that answered this call were unable to locate any exits before they ran out of air. We still remember them more than two decades later, and this incident—along with hundreds in the years since—served as the catalyst for groundbreaking new Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) tracking and location technology. Precision Outdoor and Indoor Navigation and Tracking for Emergency Responders (POINTER) will soon allow agencies to pinpoint their firefighters to within centimeters, helping to navigate them quickly and safely out of potentially disorienting emergency scenarios.
Homeland Security Today

Pennsylvania city partnering with public schools to recruit more women and minority firefighters

VIDEO: There are big changes coming to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, which include recruiting more women and minorities at Pittsburgh Westinghouse High School. When Mark Black puts on firefighting gear and trains to one day become a firefighter after completing the Career and Technical Education program at Pittsburgh Westinghouse High School, he hopes more female firefighters will be by his side. Black said, “I feel great about them recruiting more women." The city of Pittsburgh is reaching out to high school students, as part of a plan to bring more minorities and women into the Pittsburgh bureau of fire. Matthew Patrick teaches the class to help train future firefighters. He said there will be a female focus firefighting youth camp and young girls make up almost half of his class. Patrick said, "It just excites me beyond belief, seeing them have this opportunity now. I wish I had it when I was in high school."
WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh

Bill introduced to give North Carolina firefighters financial help when battling occupationally-related cancer

North Carolina firefighters remain cautiously optimistic as two Senate Republicans introduced bill to provide financial assistance for cancer treatment. For the past several years, firefighters across the state have been fighting to get presumptive cancer coverage expanded for themselves and their colleagues. While other states in the U.S. have some sort of cancer coverage, North Carolina does not. In fact, it is the only state in the country to not have some sort of presumptive cancer coverage for these first responders. “First in flight, last in helping firefighters,” is how Greensboro Firefighters Union President Dave Coker describes the fight. Senate Bill 472 was introduced on April 1, by Senator Todd Johnson and Senate Majority Whip Jim Perry. The bill, as written, would see that a trust worth $25,000 would be set aside for North Carolina firefighters.
WGHP-TV Fox 8 High Point

Five states account for 43% of the country’s new COVID-19 cases in the past week

Just five states have accounted for about 43% of new coronavirus cases over the last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had for more than 196,400 of the country's 453,360 cases reported in the last week, according to data available Wednesday morning. Those states are home to just 22% of the US population, according to estimates from the US Census Bureau. Case rates have risen especially in Michigan lately, averaging more than 6,600 cases a day over a week now against 1,350 daily cases five weeks ago. And elected officials and health experts have said highly contagious variants such as B.1.1.7 have helped spur increases there and in other parts of the country. Though vaccination rates have increased nationally, not enough people have been inoculated to outpace the spread. And with more-transmissible variants spreading, surges like Michigan's may soon be seen more widely, epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm said.
CNN

VIDEO: Multi-alarm fire rips through New Jersey recycling plant

PHOTOS: Trenton Firefighters battled a multi alarm (3 Alarm fire) on the 300 block of Enterprise Ave early Tuesday morning. The fire broke out just after 12:30 Am at the All County Recycling yard, Firefighters arrived on the scene to the whole yard nearly on fire with multiple explosions from the yard as 3 trucks went up in flames. The wind as well as water supply made it difficult for Firefighters to fight the fire. Firefighters brought the blaze under control sometime around 6 Am, there were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Peterson's Breaking News of Trenton

9/11 Museum Acquires Prayer Bench Used by Fire Department Chaplain Killed in World Trade Center Towers

PHOTO: A prayer bench used by the Rev. Mychal Judge, a Fire Department chaplain killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, was driven to the New York area on Sunday to join the collection of the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, museum officials said. The bench formerly belonged to Judge's twin sister, Dympnia Jessich, and spent the last five years at an Episcopal monastery in Rising Sun, Maryland, according to Sister Teresa Irene, a Carmelite nun there. Its path to the Sept. 11 museum has been circuitous. Judge, a Fransiscan who was praying in the lobby of the trade center's north tower when he was crushed by debris from the falling south tower, used to visit Jessich at her home in Berlin, Maryland, Sister Teresa Irene said. The prayer bench was kept in a bedroom Judge used, and its leather is worn from the imprint of his knees, she said. “It’s worn where his knees would have been,” the nun said. “It’s his life of prayer.”
WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

Firefighters use 500,000 gallons of water on Wisconsin fire

VIDEO: Firefighters continue their search for a cause for Friday evening’s fire on La Crosse’s Northside. Crews used half a million gallons of water to put the fire out. Last Friday La Crosse fire crews fought an industrial fire at Alter Metal Recycling in the La Crosse Industrial Park on the Northside. The thick black smoke shot in the air came from, what La Crosse Fire Department officials confirm, were 100 cars burning in a scrapyard. The smoke was seen clear as day on News 8 Now’s City Cam. The combination of the wind and scrap material meant this situation had the potential to become very dangerous. La Crosse Fire officials tell News 8 Now, investigators are working to find the cause. An official with the Wisconsin DNR says they are aware of the situation and will monitor it moving forward as needed.
WKBT-DT CBS 8 La Crosse

Iowa fire station flies flag encouraging organ donation

PHOTO: The Sioux City Fire Department is now flying a “Donate Life” flag at one of its stations. Iowa Donor Network donation services coordinator John Jorgensen says it’s hoped the flag will inspire more people to become organ donors. “This is the first one that we are aware of that’s ever happened at a fire station. It’s just a tremendous thing to do as we advocate together with Sioux City Fire to actually encourage people to say ‘yes’ and to donate life,” Jorgensen says. Paramedic Liz Ford helped get the flag for Station 4. Her husband died in an accident and was an organ donor. “I lost Ray five years ago and he was a tissue and eye donor. So, blessed it be, there are people walking around who benefited from his generosity — and I couldn’t be happier,” Ford says. Ford says having a conversation about becoming an organ donor is important.
Radio Iowa