The Senate voted Tuesday to extend funding for first responders suffering health problems as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In a 97-2 vote, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill that would effectively make the victims’ compensation fund for 9/11 first responders and other victims of the attacks permanent.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York

When Stan Caplan built his retirement home on the ridge of a majestic chaparral-covered hillside in an affluent gated community in Rancho Santa Fe, he wasn’t thinking much about insuring his property against wildfire. Today, the issue has been consuming the 70-year-old Texas transplant. In June, he received a letter in the mail that his homeowner’s insurance was being canceled because of the “increased frequency of catastrophic wildfires in California.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Union-Tribune - Metered Site

A record that stood for nearly 30 years fell this past week when the roster at the Alaska Smokejumper Base at Fort Wainwright was filled with the names of 206 jumpers at the same time. That’s more than half of the roughly 400 smokejumpers on rosters nationwide this year. The previous record in Alaska was 202 jumpers on the roster at once.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Aviation

You may have heard that freeze-dried food was invented to feed astronauts on the Apollo missions, and although “astronaut ice cream” was never actually used during the operations, it was developed for NASA in the 1960s. Two other items people commonly believe originated with Apollo 11 are Tang and Teflon, but this is apocryphal — NASA isn’t responsible for your non-stick pans or your fruit drink mix.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Digital Trends

King William County allocates more than a half-million dollars to volunteer fire organizations each year, but county officials say they have little, if any, oversight. The county has budgeted $1.43 million for fire and emergency services for the fiscal year that started July 1, according to the county’s adopted budget.
- PUB DATE: 7/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Virginia Gazette