At least seven people were left homeless Monday morning as flames swept through a four-plex in Kent, fire officials said. Fiefighters responded to the scene, in the 8400 block of 266th Street, at about 1:15 a.m. after receiving reports of smoke and flames coming from the residential building, said Randy Droppert of the Kent Regional Fire Authority.
- PUB DATE: 9/26/2016 7:42:31 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

When a wildfire is rolling toward a house built with a cedar shake roof, surrounded by decorative juniper up to the windowsills, and the only access road is overgrown and narrow, firefighters will likely skip it. “People think that we’re going to save their house,” said Paul Tester, Southwest Washington’s fire training coordinator at the state Department of Natural Resources.
- PUB DATE: 9/26/2016 6:08:06 AM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian

When Spokane fire Lt. John Goodman took his mask out, 3-year-old Lexi Mortlock buried her face in her dad’s shoulder and started sobbing. But within a few minutes, Lexi had calmed down and was running around a garage at the Spokane Fire Department’s training complex, happily accepting a toy whale from Goodman.
- PUB DATE: 9/26/2016 1:55:22 AM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

Arcan Cetin has admitted that he took a rifle to the Cascade Mall on Friday night and shot and killed five people, court documents say. The court documents, however, offer no clue about a motive for the shooting. Cetin, 20, faces five charges of premeditated first-degree murder and is being held on $2 million bail.
- PUB DATE: 9/26/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO News

The Coast Guard and emergency response organizations are teaming up with members from 14 agencies to conduct a full-scale international maritime mass-rescue exercise in U.S. waters near Ediz Hook Light with a triage staging area at Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles Tuesday, September 27, 2016.
- PUB DATE: 9/24/2016 12:03:28 AM - SOURCE: San Juan Islander