Firefighters were dispatched today, October 27th, about 10:15am to the south end of Portal Way due to a report of a residential fire. Whatcom County Fire District 7 Fire Chief Larry Hoffman told Whatcom News they arrived to see flames coming from a bedroom with someone attempting to douse them with a garden hose.
- PUB DATE: 10/28/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Whatcom News

The 2022 wildfire season in Western Washington is over, thanks to the rain the region has received since Friday. "Areas around the Bolt Creek fire, specifically the 14,000 acres the fire had burned so far, received between two and four inches of rain over the past week which is plenty to saturate the ground, to get through those dense canopies all the way down to the understory, and it really has halted the spread of the fire," said Matthew Dehr, a meteorologist with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
- PUB DATE: 10/28/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KUOW-FM 94.9 Seattle

It's called a Medical Services Drill. This is how First Responders prepare for the unthinkable. Officials from FEMA have been in the Tri-Cities for several days leading up to this simulated "catastrophic" event. Emergency Management staff from both Oregon and Washington are also working walk-in-step to sort out the details, triage, and mitigate loss during this simulated radiological accident.
- PUB DATE: 10/28/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KONA-AM 610 Kennewick-Richland-Pasco

A lease has been signed between the Bozeman (MT) Fire Department and Montana State University paving the way for a new fire station to be built on the campus, according to a report published by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

The report says the new fire station will replace Station No. 2 and will be built on land leased from the university for an initial 20 years with three automatic 10-year renewals built in, the report says.

In 2021, Bozeman voters approved a $6.7 million bond for fire station construction and the site was selected and the lease negotiated, according to the report which also said the final design is expected by the end of this year with construction bids sought early in 2023. Construction could begin as soon as April 2023, the report said noting it will take up to 14 months for the project to be complete.

The Corvallis (OR) Fire Station No. 3 has closed for an 11-month, $3.5 million renovation, according to a report published by The Daily Barometer.

Ground breaking on the project happened Thursday afternoon and it marks the first of a series of major improvements scheduled for buildings in the city.

The work at Station 3 will focus on creating more functional and equal work environments for employees and will be the pattern for future work at other buildings, the report says.

An apparatus bay is one of the major improvements to the station that’s expected to be constructed, the report says, noting that it will be fore the department’s brush truck, protecting it from vandalism and the weather.

Dormitories and showers will be done on the inside to modernize the station’s interior which was done in the 1970s and has no accommodations for women firefighters, the report says.

Firefighters normally assigned to Station 3 have been reassigned to other stations in the city until the station reopens in late 2023, according to the report.