Jeremy Oster awoke the morning of June 14, 2021 as his wife told him to go outside. What greeted him was a startling sight he would not soon forget. “There were pieces of black debris 5 inches long throughout my yard and I could see the burning Chemtool plant,” Oster recalled. “I thought at first we were under attack.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News - Metered Site

Thousands of renters across the state will soon be getting new trashcans — with new regulations taking effect next month for valet trash services and new building codes aimed at reducing fire hazards. This comes after a deadly fire at the Aurella Cary Apartments in March, which was caused when cardboard and trash caught fire in the breezway.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRAL-TV NBC 5 Raleigh

At least eight people were rescued and 40 units were affected by a three-alarm apartment fire in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle overnight. Residents of the building, located in the 800 block of Madison Street, said they smelled smoke and saw flames last night. Many were woken up by firefighters telling them to evacuate.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

A burglary suspect barricaded inside a small shed and then set it on fire Sunday evening, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office. Just after 5:30 p.m., deputies were called out to the 2400 block of Northeast 107th Street after a homeowner reported a person being barricaded in the backyard utility shed and setting something on fire.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPTV FOX 12 Portland

On [Wednesday] at 10:30 a.m. dignitaries, firefighters, and the public came together to witness the first steps of building a new fire station for East Umatilla Fire & Rescue on the corner of Bannister Road and Mill Street in Weston, a Facebook post reads.

Chief Dave Baty had a family emergency he needed to attend to so Assistant Chief Jeremy Lasater was the MC for the festivities.

This was a historic event. The previous fire department: East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protection District purchased the land in July of 2011, with our previous Chief Don Jackson was where the dream started.

In 2017, EUCRFPD made an Intergovernmental agency agreement with Helix Fire Department to work as one department. In 2019 the communities voted to come together as one fire district under EUCRFPD. May of 2020, we asked the communities again to combine East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protection District, Helix Fire Department and Athena Fire Department as one entity called East Umatilla Fire & Rescue. There was a 3 to 1 vote to combine all three departments. There is an intergovernmental agreement between the new EUF&R with East Umatilla County Ambulance Area Health District at this time.

Chief Baty had contacted Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer about a grant to loan the money for a new fire station. Shafer called Senator Bill Hansell with Baty in the room and they discussed the need of the new station. Senator Hansell had the idea to use Capital Construction Funds (lottery funds) to get on a list and maybe get some money. He then met with the East Umatilla Fire & Rescue Board of Directors to try and “make things happen”. They needed about 5 million dollars to work with.

Senator Hansell explained that there was some federal grant money called ARPA that was given to each district. 4 million was given to each Senator and 2 million was given to each House Representative. “This came from just an idea to where we are today” said Senator Hansell.

House Representative Bobby Levy was approached by Senator Hansell and asked if she was willing to donate half of her ARPA funds to this fire district. They took a tour of the facility and she couldn’t believe there was a working fire station in some crazy conditions. First and foremost, trying to get fire trucks in and out of a steep incline to respond to each call.