There are over 1,500 photos by Alvah C. Card in the Athenaeum collection, documenting 20th-century Portsmouth and the surrounding area.

A lifelong resident of the city, Card (1913-1988) lived at 466 Marcy St. in the South End. He spent 40 years in public service with the city of Portsmouth, including 30 years with the Water Department and 25 years as a volunteer firefighter with Kearsarge Engine Co. No. 3.

In honor of Fire Prevention Month, the Athenaeum is sharing photos Card took of the Portsmouth Fire Department in action.

On March 15, 1943, Card captured the aftermath of a fire on Congress Street. According to the Portsmouth Herald, the seven-and-a-half-hour blaze “wiped out five stores” in the one-story block on lower Congress Street next to the two-story Montgomery Ward store (now Paul Mitchell’s cosmetology and beauty school).

The stores were Hubbards, Inc., Shaines Boot Shop, Katherine C. Connor hat shop, Louis’ Men’s shop and the Portsmouth Hardware and Plumbing Supply Company.

Seacoast Online – Metered Site

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VIDEO: A driver is recovering after their van crashed and got stuck between a wall and a building in Acworth, according to the Cobb County Fire Department.

Fire crews were called to the scene on Tuesday night. Once on scene, firefighters observed the van, which officials said, was suspended between the building and a wall.

The department’s Technical Rescue Team had the van propped up to keep it supported and stable as they worked to get the driver–who suffered minor injuries–out of the vehicle, according to fire officials.

Officials have not released any details about how the driver’s vehicle got into this situation.

WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

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Matters of life and death are what lieutenant Jared Wehde with Stevens County Fire District 1 responds to every day when someone calls 911. “Somewhere around 75 percent of our calls are medical calls. Everyone needs a fire apparatus and an ambulance to respond,” Wehde said.

That response, he says, is getting tougher, due to what fire commissioners in Stevens County say are rising costs that are putting that service under pressure — especially in rural areas where patients may be miles from the nearest ambulance.

“EMS transport services in this county are in dire straits,” Davenport added.

In a letter to the county’s EMS council and county officials, fire commissioners asked leaders to act before the situation gets worse. Their proposal would create a county-wide system with nine ambulances and staffing — at an estimated cost of $5.3 million.

KREM-TV CBS 2 Spokane

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While some localized smoke impacts from fires in the Cascades are still lingering, recent wet and cool weather has helped wind down this summer’s wildfire season. Looking back at air monitoring data, most areas of the state experienced at least one day of air quality that was “unhealthy for sensitive groups” (USG) or worse this summer. USG is a category on the Air Quality Index (AQI).

Coastal areas were the main exception, largely avoiding periods of unhealthy air quality. Central and Northeast Washington observed the most prolonged and extreme smoke impacts, largely due to their proximity to the season’s largest fires.

Most parts of the state saw unhealthy air quality this wildfire season. It was an especially smoky year for Chelan and Okanogan counties, as well as several counties in Northeastern Washington.

In the plot below, the black bars represent each county’s number of days with USG or worse air quality this year. The grey bars show each county’s highest number of smoky days (USG or worse) before 2026, with the year listed above each bar. While smoke is not unusual during Eastern Washington summers, a few counties saw their highest smoke exposure over the past 20 years.

Department of Ecology State of Washington

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The City of Selah is moving closer to starting construction on significant improvements to its civic center, with renovations designed to enhance fire safety and the building’s capacity to serve as an emergency shelter.

Mayor Roger Bell said the city recently opened bids for the project and plans to present the lowest bid to city council this week for approval. The timing positions the project to begin construction the week after Christmas.

The renovations address critical safety and operational needs. A new sprinkler system will improve fire safety throughout the building. Additionally, the addition of showers will enable the civic center to better function as an emergency shelter, providing essential facilities for residents during community emergencies.

Beyond safety improvements, the city is also updating the building’s layout. The renovation will create a new office area while maintaining the event space as a separate function within the building. This reconfiguration will improve the building’s operational efficiency and allow it to better serve multiple community needs.The Brief

Apple Valley News Now

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