Three people were taken to the hospital in critical condition following a house fire in Port Orchard on Thursday afternoon. Around 2:17 p.m., South Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews were called to a home on Fairview Boulevard, near Burley Glenwood Elementary, for reports of “heavy fire conditions” inside the mobile home, with possible victims trapped inside.

One victim was removed from the home by a neighbor and two more people had to be rescued from the home by South Kitsap Fire & Rescue. One of the people removed from the home was airlifted to Haborview Medical Center and the other two were taken by ambulance to a trauma center in Tacoma. All three were in critical condition. The cause of the fire is unknown. The investigation is ongoing.

KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

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The union representing Richland firefighters is speaking out about a proposal by the city to annex part of the Hanford site, including one of the most radioactively contaminated hot spots on the nuclear reservation. The U.S. Department of Energy asked Richland to annex 744 acres of Hanford land. The proposal would make Richland firefighters responsible for responding to emergencies to the area.

The area is generally north of Horn Rapids Road and includes the federal HAMMER training facility and the 300 Area, including Buildings 324 and 325. Local units of the International Association of Fire Fighters notified the city in writing last week that it wants to be part of any discussion and decision that makes its members responsible for emergencies in an area with well-documented radioactive contamination.

“Our ask is to be included in the decision-making and the effects,” said Ricky Walsh, a retired Richland firefighters and representative to IAFF District 7, which serves Washington, Idaho and Montana. Earlier this month, Richland’s elected leaders voted 6-1 to proceed with the year-long annexation process after first clarifying it won’t relieve the federal government of its clean-up responsibilities and that the city is not taking ownership of the land. The city already provides utilities to the annexation area.

Tri-City Herald – Metered Site

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VIDEO: Spokane leaders are moving to speed up wildfire recovery as impacted residents shift from cleanup to reconstruction. The Brown Administration is bringing forward two ordinances for long-term recovery resources, and Mayor Lisa Brown expects the ordinances to move quickly through the city council so people can continue to move forward.

Brown said the city wants to see recovery take shape in stages. “And over time, we want to just start seeing the progress in place, the hazardous waste removal and then the debris removed and permits starting to pop up. And we’ve already got a couple of those happening and then ultimately rebuilds,” said Brown.

The city is also waiting for federal approval on a major disaster declaration. That would provide more funds to help impacted people and assist the city with lost infrastructure. The City of Spokane has compiled a public damage assessment dashboard that shows the status of every impacted structure and those generally within 500 feet of the burn area.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

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Tri-Cities Animal Services is teaming up with local firefighters for an adoption event later this month focused on finding homes for pets and the firefighters helping them do it.

TCAS is hosting its Felines and Firefighters adoption event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 26 at the shelter at 1311 south 18th Avenue in Pasco. The event is free to attend, and folks who drop by will be able to meet adoptable cats and kittens, as well as dogs looking for homes. Visitors can also meet local firefighters while learning about the work that Tri-Cities Animal Services does.

Visitors can adopt on the spot at the event, and adoption fees are set at $50 per pet. All pets at the shelter are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped before going to their new home. TCAS staff urge those who are hesitant to adopt to look into volunteer and foster opportunities to help give shelter pets care and attention while they wait to find loving families.

Apple Valley News Now

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Wildfires have burned about 12 million acres across Nevada over the past 30 years, but only about 2 million acres have been rehabilitated, according to the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife.

The group took an EcoFlight over four recent burn scars — the Stallion, Bug, Elephant and Hawk fires — to view the damage. The fires burned sagebrush across the Peavine, Pah Rah, Virginia and Peterson mountain ranges.

Cheatgrass, an invasive species, has spread across many of the burned hillsides. Larry Johnson, president of the Coalition for Nevada’s Wildlife, said the plant was brought to North America over 100 years ago.

“All the yellow on the hills here on the left, all cheatgrass, invasive species brought in in the late 1800s on the backs of Asian sheep,” Johnson said. “Now in North America it has very little 4-H value, particularly to wildlife. Cattle will eat some of it in the spring months and late fall months. But the worst part about cheatgrass is that it’s extremely flammable. So the sagebrush would contain fires to a few acres where we used to have lightning strikes. All of a sudden cheatgrass explodes with fire and takes the whole mountain. So it burns again and again and again. The frequency of fire regime is much shorter. So that the native vegetation never ever has a chance to reestablish itself.”

KOLO-TV ABC/CW+ 8 Reno

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