Kent-based Puget Sound Fire is getting closer to its allotted number of firefighters as 15 recruits recently finished training. The agency is budgeted for 232 in operations and the new hires puts the number of firefighters at 222, according to a May 26 email from Puget Sound Fire spokesperson Pat Pawlak.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kent Reporter

Pasco Fire Department and Franklin County Fire District 3 responded to a garage fire on the 800 Block of Kingsbury Drive in Pasco. PFD Public Information Officer Ben Shearer told us that the fire department received a call at around 11:19 pm. Shearer said the son, who was in the home at the time, heard snapping and saw smoke, which lead him to run upstairs and call his parents.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNDU-TV NBC 25 Richland

A fire impacted an entire city and a well-known building in Prosser is left in shambles. "It's the end of an era, it's the end of something that was important to us. And not just to us, but to generations of local people," said Alys Means, Curator at the Prosser Historical Museum. The M & E Seed and Grain mill stood at the intersection of Stacey and 7th for decades.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KEPR-TV CBS/CW+ 19 Pasco

The Spokane Fire Department responded to a reported fire at the old northside Lowes building on North Division around 2:20 a.m. on Thursday. Crews arrived and found security workers onsite who said there was a fire in the building with no other details. Firefighters found smoke in the building and began a rapid attack on the flames.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane

The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) is looking to replace an engine for approximately C$545,000 for the Bouchie Lake (B.C., Canada) Volunteer Fire Department and has launched an alternative approval process (AAP) to do so.

According to an FAQ page on its website, “one of the Bouchie Lake Volunteer Fire Department’s fire trucks is due for replacement in 2022 in order to meet certification requirements. The CRD thinks the best purchasing option is through a 10-year debt-financing model and needs permission to enter into debt financing arrangements that exceed five years in term.”

The apparatus will cost approximately C$545,000. If adopted, the bylaw authorizes the borrowing of up to C$550,000 to be repaid over 10 years, the website notes.

“Traditionally, the CRD has replaced fire trucks through five-year capital leases,” the district says. “By financing these purchases instead, with 10-year equipment loans issued by the Municipal Finance Authority (MFA), the required payments can be spread over a greater period. This will decrease short-term cash requirements and lessen the need for tax increases or borrowing to fund a future truck purchase.

“Financing the truck purchase with 5-year equipment loan requires total debt servicing payments of approximately C$328,613 over the five years in the current 2022-2026 Five Year Financial plan. Financing the purchase with 10-year debt financing would require debt servicing payments of C$168,617 over the same five years in the current 2022-2026 Five Year Financial Plan.”

If at least 10% (184) submit an Elector Response Form, the district would purchase the truck through the five-year financing model.

More information about the fire truck replacement project–and to vote by the July 5 deadline–click here.