Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Roseville

Martin O’Hehir has been a radio communication operator at the 911 dispatch center in Roseville for 18 years. Once he puts that headset on, he springs into action and uses his words to help people in emergencies. "I can’t panic for you because it’s not going to do any good. You didn’t call me to panic, you called me to help," said O’Hehir. Oftentimes, O’Hehir and other dispatchers have to adjust from tragic calls that stick to less severe 911 calls that can also be hard to forget. No matter the situation, O’Hehir says every call is an emergency and is treated as such. Every year, dispatchers at the Roseville center answer about half a million calls. Even during a challenging time for the industry, they’re expected to keep up with the number of callers who need urgent help.
KMSP-TV FOX 9 Minneapolis

Battle of the Badges blood drive in Duluth helping Memorial Blood Centers

VIDEO: Members of the Duluth Police Department, Fire Department and area paramedics are competing against each other. The Battle of the Badges is a first ever blood donation event between DPD, DFD and area paramedics supporting Memorial Blood Centers. The current supply of O negative blood is critically low, and donations from these donors are especially needed. Type O negative is necessary for trauma situations, allowing for immediate transfusions during emergencies. Duluth City Councilor at Large, Terese Tomanek, has Type O negative blood. She said donating is incredibly important in her family. “O-negative are the universal donors and in my family we have three O negatives and one O-positive,” Tomanek said.
WDIO-DT ABC 10 Duluth

Maple Grove Fire Department Demonstrates Stovetop Firestops That Could Save Lives and Property Damage

VIDEO/PHOTO: Firefighters and community safety experts in Maple Grove encourage residents and homeowners to purchase stove-top fire stops to better protect their homes and families against the dangers of kitchen fires. “Most people don’t give a lot of thought to cooking fire safety, to be completely honest,” said Investigator and Community Educator Jeremy Berger with the Maple Grove Fire Department. “It’s a product if you don’t know about it and aren’t looking for it, and aren’t in the fire safety community, you don’t know about. They can be purchased online or at several local hardware stores.” The small metal canisters–slightly larger than a tin of cat food–attach to the hood of your stove with a magnet. If a fire breaks out on the stovetop, the flames will ignite a small wick on the can, and it will immediately release a fire extinguishing powder.
CCX Media

Wildfire burns across portion of Hibbing

VIDEO: A wildfire broke out Tuesday afternoon off of Highway 169 in Hibbing, near the Mitchell Bridge. Traffic was slowed or stopped for a time on Highway 169 as crews fought the flames from the ground and air. Some of the fire made its way into a salvage yard, igniting several small piles of tires, creating a lot of dark smoke. Hibbing Fire, the DNR and 13 other departments helped fight the fire. No injuries were reported. No buildings were damaged, but the flames came within a couple feet of one Hibbing business. “It’s been one fire truck after another. I think the entire Iron Range is up here. They’re currently fighting tire fires from the junkyard that’s on the back of the property,” said Corey Hodge, Manager of C&L Distributing. Hodge said he got a call around 1 p.m. from the secretary, saying that there was a forest fire approaching the building.
KBJR-TV NBC 6 Duluth