As part of our continuing outreach to our neighbors within the Town of Blooming Grove and our surrounding communities, the Blooming Grove Fire Department proudly participated in the City of Monona Annual Memorial Day parade. 

The first official Memorial Day was held on May 30, 1868, organized by General John Logan. To honor the fallen soldiers of the Civil War, flowers were placed on Union and Confederate graves in Arlington National Cemetery. 

New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday in 1873. In 1971, Congress enacted the National Holiday Act, and the observance of Memorial Day was changed from May 30 to the last Monday in May of each year. 

Thanks to all the BGFD staff and families for making this event a real success!!

You know you have them. Somewhere in the recesses of your medicine cabinet lurk the remains of unfinished medications. Pharmaceuticals have an expiration date for a reason. If you have medicines that are of no use and are just sitting around, make time to get rid of them. We have a few suggestions for the safe disposal of expired meds below.

MedDrop Meddropdane.org is a site devoted to Dane County residents who want to get rid of their old medications. This is a free service available to all Wisconsin residents, not just those in Dane County.

DNR information on waste pharmaceuticals The Department of Natural Resources has a comprehensive collection of information on household drug disposal and non-household pharmaceutical disposal.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection DATCP has a map of the entire state of Wisconsin which lists all communities-regional planning commissions, counties, cities, villages or towns-that received a Clean Sweep Grant.

 On Monday May 10, 2010 Firefighter Andy Spatola attended his last BGFD Association Meeting as a Blooming Grove Firefighter. Andy was recognized for his service and dedication to the BGFD serving ten years as a BGFD Firefighter.

Andy cited his new responsibilities as a father as the reason for his retirement. However he plans to stay active with the BGFD Association.

We wish Andy, Sarah, and Lydia the best of luck and look forward to any more new additions they decide to add to the BGFD Family.

Nurse: one that looks after, fosters, or advises or a person who cares for the sick or infirm. (From Merriam-Webster.)

Starting today, we begin celebrating National Nurses Week. The week ends with the recognition of the birthday of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, on May 13.

Nurses put in many hours of study, practice, and interaction with people of all abilities, races, and creeds. To know a nurse is to know someone who is always thinking of the people under his or her care. Even the word "nurse" projects an image of hope and caring. So this week, be sure to thank a nurse.

The history of nursing is often a history of positive societal change. To give you a sense of this and for a fascinating timeline of the nursing professional overall, you can visit the "Timeline of nursing history" on Wikipedia.

Interesting fact: Florence Nightingale, who ushered in the idea of modern professional nursing, was also a writer and statistician.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is investigating potential fire hazards that may be related to problem drywall. They need your help! While CPSC is not aware of any corroborated fire incidents to date, they are asking fire safety professionals to be on the lookout for and to report to CPSC any fires that appear to be connected to problem drywall to aid in their investigation. Corrosion (typically blackening) of air conditioning evaporator coils, electrical wiring, and other metal components is a common symptom of residences finished with problem drywall. Consumers raising concerns about drywall have typically identified a “rotten egg” smell within their house, several health symptoms while in the home, corrosion or blackening of metal items, and failures of electronic devices and appliances. Consumers have also reported frequent failures of the evaporator coils in central air conditioning units. For more information about CPSC’s drywall investigation, visit the Drywall Information Center.

On March 20, 2010 several brave Firefighters from the Blooming FD took on the Fight For Air Stair climb. The event which took place at the U.S. Bank Center in Milwaukee Wisconsin was a fund raiser sponsored by the American Lung Association . Fire fighter Jay Oliver organized  the group from BGFD and they raised over $795.00 on behalf of lung cancer research. Congratulations to these firefighters and hats off to the Blooming Grove Fire Department for sponsoring this group.

Firefighters need to be aware of a range of dangers and be on the lookout for warning signs of such sites.... Full Story 

As part of our commitment to readiness, the BGFD continually trains it's Firefighters in a number of areas. As part of this training, the Fire Department recently conducted a series of control wild land fire training burns in McFarland, Wisconsin.

A grim reminder on placement of the apparatus.