About 20 minutes into the morning briefing, the Arcadia 20 Transitional Hand Crew announces it’s time for “Six Minutes of Safety.” While there’s some absences from the 18-man crew, of the just over a dozen in attendance, most chime in with concerns.

First, that the crew in the training image does not appear to have an anchor point. Second, that the teams are working in opposite directions. Six Minutes of Safety, one of several topics covered during the morning debrief.

“We’ve been seeing thunderstorms in this region,” the meeting leader says while describing the potential for lightning. Another comment, “Great Basin is cooking off,” is in reference to fire activity across the state.

Just like all other wildland crews, the Arcadia-20 wears their issued uniform to the briefing. But unlike other crews, the back of their sweatshirt is covered in a phoenix.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

The post Arcadia 20: how former inmates end up on the fire line appeared first on Daily Dispatch.

VIDEO: Firefighters know that every time they start the engine on a big diesel truck, they are burning money. Diesel is averaging $7.42 a gallon, up $2.35 from this time last year and just shy of the record of $7.47 set in September. Fuel prices are so high that fire engines might as well be measured differently. “It could be more like it gets a couple gallons per mile,” Darrington Fire Chief Joel Johnson joked.

In reality, the trucks get 8 or 9 miles per gallon on a good day, and they burn fuel even when parked because engines run to power the pumps. In Darrington, fuel costs have climbed 30% to 40% in recent weeks. The department expects to spend more than $26,000 on fuel by the end of the year.

“We try to project, but I don’t think anybody was projecting fuel prices were going to hit this high,” Johnson said. Fire departments across the state are freezing vehicle maintenance, putting off equipment upgrades and scaling back driver training to pay for fuel. At the same time, demand is growing. Darrington’s call volume is steadily rising — up 8% from last year.

KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

The post Diesel prices are burning through rural fire department budgets appeared first on Daily Dispatch.

Lake Geneva City Council authorized negotiations to buy 16 acres on South Edwards Blvd. for a proposed public safety building to house the fire and police departments.

The post Lake Geneva (WI) Moves Closer to Purchasing Land for Public Safety Facility appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Tri-Township Fire Department opened a new Sellersburg headquarters and added its first heavy rescue truck, a $10.5 million upgrade funded by a 20-year bond.

The post Tri-Township Fire and Rescue Unveils New Sellersburg (IN) Truck, Headquarters appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

San Miguel Fire Department got $1 million in federal funding to build an emergency operations center and multi-use public safety building to coordinate disaster responses in San Miguel.

The post San Miguel (CA) Fire Department Gets $1M to Build Emergency Operations Center appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.