A basement fire with explosions displaced five people at a duplex Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 5, in the Sehome neighborhood of Bellingham. A woman living in one of two upper floor apartments at 908 Key St. noticed smoke coming from the basement around 5:20 p.m. Her significant other went downstairs with a fire extinguisher to put out any flames, said Bellingham Assistant Fire Chief Bill Hewett.
- PUB DATE: 10/6/2016 1:53:46 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

Pierce County investigators say a memorial for a beloved educator who died after a battle with cancer was torched in the middle of the night. Guidance counselor Colleen Blauvelt died in 2013. A bench was placed just outside the main entrance of Peninsula High School to mark her memory. But on Sunday night, September 26, surveillance cameras captured a man leaving his own mark on Colleen’s memorial.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 10:49:01 PM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13

Spokane Fire Department Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer was briefly named one of four finalists to be the next fire chief in Omaha, Nebraska, Wednesday before withdrawing his name from consideration. Schaeffer said he applied for the position early this year while the city was immersed in turmoil of the firing of former police chief Frank Straub.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 7:19:58 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

A fire at Universal Aerospace, Inc., was extinguished within minutes by the Arlington Fire Department Oct. 4. Universal Aerospace employees evacuated the facility prior to the arrival of fire crews and reported no injuries. At about 10:25 a.m. crews were dispatched to reports of a fire in a building in the 18600 block of 59th Dr.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 2:08:31 AM - SOURCE: Arlington Times

Despite fairly gloomy budget projections and a May memo sent to department heads telling them to prepare to curtail spending by 2 to 4 percent, the proposed 2017-18 budget for the city of Tacoma is notably absent major cuts or reductions in service. In fact, it includes many adds that City Council members — and residents — have been seeking.
- PUB DATE: 10/5/2016 1:45:28 AM - SOURCE: Tacoma News Tribune