first responders News

Tree Falls on Garage, 19 Sent to Hospitals

PASADENA, Md. — A large tree toppled onto a detached garage in a Maryland neighborhood where people attending a child’s birthday party sought shelter from a storm, sending 19 people to hospitals Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Anne Arundel County Fire …

Health Workers Dealing with Shock of Virus Fight, Uneasiness in Current Quiet

Outside a back door to a hospital where the coronavirus hit like a hurricane, a half-dozen staffers gathered recently to look back, and look inward. “I am still scared,” Dr. Gwen Hooley told her colleagues at Elmhurst Hospital, which was …

More States Push COVID-19 Claims to Work Comp; Potential Cost Anyone’s Guess

Regulators and lawmakers in more states are demanding that workers who claim they were sickened by COVID-19 get a fair hearing, if not an outright presumption in their favor. The Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate both passed a bill …

California Prepares for More Wildfires as Coronavirus Challenges Budget

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has had 60% more wildfires so far in 2020 than last year because of drier weather, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday, and he promised increased funding for firefighting even as the state’s budget faces a …

CDC: Masks Given to First Responders Might Be Counterfeit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told West Virginia officials that respirator masks distributed to 50,000 first responders might be counterfeit, but officials decided to leave them in use, according to a report. After the warning, …

Fire Sweeps Illinois Recycling Center, Forces Evacuations

MADISON, Ill. — A fire swept through a recycling business in southwestern Illinois early Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes, officials said. The fire began about 2 a.m. Wednesday at a Madison, Illinois, industrial park in the Metro-East area …

Arrest Made After Fire Guts California Apartment Building

TUSTIN, Calif. — Authorities Wednesday arrested a man on suspicion of setting a fire that tore through a Southern California apartment building, gutting dozens of apartments, collapsing the roof and displacing about 100 tenants. Patrick Andrew Ceniceros, 59, of Tustin …

Scientists Warn Oregon is Lagging in Disaster Preparedness

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon state lawmakers abandoned a multimillion-dollar project to develop early warning systems for earthquakes and wildfires, and scientists warn that the funding shake-up could endanger public safety and put Oregon further behind other West Coast states in …

9-1-1 System to Increase State and Local Fees in Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Legislation that would increase state and local 9-1-1 fees in Maryland — part of the Next Generation 9-1-1 initiative that would allow faster communication with emergency responders via text, photos and videos — passed both the House …

New Jersey First Responders Plan to Use Drones for Emergencies

Joe Sterling has spent 36 years as a volunteer with the Leesburg Fire Department, but he’s recently taken on a new title – the township’s very own licensed drone pilot. The township is the first in Cumberland County to have …