Forty-nine states have announced plans to drop their indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations steadily decline across the country. The only holdout remains Hawaii. The island state has taken strong precautions against the coronavirus from the beginning of the pandemic and is still requiring out-of-state American travelers to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to avoid a mandatory quarantine.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

Firefighters rescued a man who fell down part of the steamplant structure at Seattle's Gas Works Park. According to the Seattle Fire Department, the man was trapped late Sunday about 30 feet up the Gas Works steam piping. Firefighters had to do a rope rescue to get the man to safety. Authorities said the man fell off the top of the structure - falling about 30 feet onto the catwalk.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Seattle

A Saturday morning fire at a Wenatchee fourplex left two units destroyed and families displaced. Residents at the apartment building on Central Avenue were evacuated and the roadway was closed as crews worked to knock down the fire. A report of an apartment fire came in just before 9 a.m. and the fire was knocked down just before noon.
- PUB DATE: 2/22/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPQ-AM 560 Wenatchee

An Edinburg fire truck rolled and injured one firefighter in northern Hidalgo County Friday afternoon, reports myrgv.com.

The driver in the single-vehicle accident, which occurred at some point after 5:30 p.m. on Farm-to-Market Road 490, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report.

Officials believe poor visibility is the culprit.

Port Alberni (B.C., Canada) city council recently approved a budget increase, tapping into the city’s equipment replacement reserve fund to account for C$675,000 overrun on a C$1.8 million aerial, reports albernivalleynews.com.

The apparatus’ 30-meter ladder is eight meters longer than its predecessor’s, the report says.

Council rejected a separate recommendation that would have raised the vehicle’s cost another C$55,000 to slightly lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The Port Alberni Fire Department is scheduled to take delivery in 2023, according to the report.

The meeting can be seen in its entirety here: