VIDEO: More than 50 firefighters from across the region and country are getting hands-on training to improve their response in saving people’s lives when they’re trapped in a vehicle.

It’s all part of a free 3-day class, which includes donated equipment, all thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by the actor dedicated to serving and honoring American veterans and first responders.

Firefighters will learn how to use different equipment to perform heavy vehicle extrication and rescues like load securement and cribbing to lift a vehicle.

“With the equipment, we’re able to make the rescue as quick as we can with the equipment provided for safety for the patient that’s inside, but also the rescuers,” said Englewood Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert Blasetti.

Chief Blasetti said about a year ago, there was an incident on 776 where a pickup truck was underneath a dump truck where they didn’t have the proper equipment to perform a quick rescue.

WWSB-TV ABC 7 Sarasota

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PHOTOS: Both directions of State Route 169 were closed north of Enumclaw on Thursday after a power pole caught fire and a transformer blew. At 3:21 a.m., Enumclaw Fire Department (EFD) crews were dispatched to the 40300 block of SR 169 (264th Ave SE). They arrived to find a burning power pole that was significantly compromised. “Traffic was rerouted, in a dramatic explosion of fire and electricity, the transformer blew, causing the weakened power pole to fail, making that immediate area extremely dangerous!”

KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

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VIDEO: Benton County Fire District 4 has approved its 2026 budget despite facing significant increases in operating costs and growing call volumes. The district is grappling with rising expenses for essentials such as fuel, new equipment, and updated requirements, including a 200% increase in the cost of new fire aparatus.

Public Information Officer Ben Shearer said, “Being responsible, the commissioners are looking at how do you continue to maintain the level of support that we’re maintaining. How do we continue to maintain these extra programs that we’re doing out in the community and taking care of all their extra needs.”

KEPR-TV CBS/CW+ 19 Pasco

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VIDEO: Stevens County Fire District One crews rescued a stranded deer from the ice at Loon Lake Tuesday morning after neighbors spotted the struggling animal. The yearling deer was discovered from shore on the frozen lake, unable to gain traction after recent cold weather caused area lakes to freeze over. “It was yearling deer about 200 feet or so off of our property on ice, struggling, trying to get up,” said Ginger Poleschook, who lives near the lake. “And it was making no progress.”

Poleschook and her husband Dan called Fish and Wildlife officials. Stevens County Fire District One rescue crews responded using new ice rescue procedures involving a firefighter in a specialized cold-weather flotation suit. “They came with two fire trucks and they’re doing a new ice rescue routine,” Poleschook said. “One person suited up in like, a wetsuit for cold weather and flotation and went out.” The rescue proved challenging as the deer became nervous when the firefighter approached. After multiple attempts with a lasso, the firefighter secured the animal.

“When he reached the deer had a big lasso so that he could put around the deer, and the deer jumped through it. So he had to do it twice, and he wasn’t able to really secure. The deer was struggling, so he laid on it,” Poleschook explained. “And the crew then on shore use the rope that the fireman had holding on to the deer and himself. So they just kept pulling and pulled the firefighter in with the deer.” Crews warmed the deer before releasing it back into the forest, away from the hazardous ice. “It’s just amazing how rapid it was. They’re very efficient with their rescue,” Ginger Poleschook said.

KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane

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Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, is working on a bipartisan bill that would make funding for aviation wildfire suppression permanent. The Aviation Assurance Funding Program, enacted in 2023, requires the Washington Department of Natural Resources to assist local fire departments with aviation resources for early wildfire attacks. If passed, House Bill 2104 would continue the program, ensuring local fire departments have immediate, consistent access to aviation support.

“If you hire an aircraft or a helicopter to come out and work through the morning and knock a fire down, it’s going to be — be anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on the name of aircraft, or we can spend a million dollars plus for a state mobilization,” Dent said in a public hearing Friday.

According to the DNR’s 2025 Wildfire Legislative Report, as of Sept. the department provided aerial support to 41 incidents, delivering more than 790,000 loads of retardant water, and protecting about $100 million worth of infrastructure through the program. Ryan Rodruck, wildfire communications manager for DNR, called the program a “big success” for expediting initial response times.

Columbia Basin Herald – Metered source

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