A Renton man has been arrested and charged for allegedly bringing a dozen Molotov cocktails to the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) headquarters during a protest on Labor Day in 2020. Justin Christopher Moore, 34, was arrested Thursday in connection to a plot to burn down the downtown SPOG building, according to the Department of Justice.
- PUB DATE: 12/10/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

AQUILINE DRONES EXTENDS FREE ONLINE DRONE PILOT TRAINING FOR ALL FIRST RESPONDERS

(HARTFORD, CONN) – December 10, 2021 – As festivities fire up this holiday season, so do the dangers to people and property. Holiday decorations, heating, winter storms and candles all contribute to an increased risk of fire during the winter months, according to the National Fire Protection Association. To help firefighters and police handle increased winter emergencies, Aquiline Drones (AD), a commercial drone manufacturing and cloud technology company in Hartford, Connecticut, is giving them the gift of free drone pilot training to use drones in the line of duty.

Any first responder can enroll in the company’s online Flight to the Future (F2F) flight training program from now until June 2022 and receive free tuition, valued at $399. To date, more than 500 police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians nationwide have enrolled in AD’s proprietary drone training program.

“We initially offered free Flight to the Future training to all first responders in honor of the twentieth 9/11 anniversary; however, overwhelming demand inspired us to continue arming these heroes with crucial training to keep them safe and secure by raising situational awareness with drones and cloud computing technology whenever they answer a call,” said Barry Alexander, Founder and CEO of Aquiline Drones.

Alexander notes that through its teaming agreement with GlobalFlyte, its F2F program – specific to first responders, is now enhanced with AWARE^® technology, a centralized incident response platform that improves situational awareness for all involved in a crisis before, during and after the event.  The integrated platform of communication and visualization tools created by GlobalFlyte delivers boundary-less, location-based, cloud-hosted services to public safety field personnel, 911 operators, dispatch centers and command centers at their particular geography for a quicker and safer response through improved communication, collaboration, and comprehension.  AWARE is as useful to a small department as it is to a major urban disaster response and can be easily displayed on a tablet, vehicle’s MDT, large screen, computer or smart phone. 

“Both AD and GlobalFlyte understand that in the chaos of a new incident, time is the enemy,” explains Alexander. “The longer it takes to assess needs and deploy the appropriate response, the greater the chance of the incident escalating to dangerous and deadly proportions. Integrating AWARE technology into AD’s drone and cloud technology ecosystem ensures enhanced situational awareness and, therefore, better allocation of resources.”

The F2F interactive online course teaches police and fire professionals how to utilize drone and cloud technology safely and effectively – embedded with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their daily missions. The educational content is available on-demand at any time, so participants can take the course at their own pace and convenience. Besides earning their FAA Part 107 commercial drone pilot certification, F2F program participants will also learn about cloud computing, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technologies transforming the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry.

Interested parties may apply for free enrollment by sending an email with full contact information to: info@AquilineDrones.com. For a summary of the curriculum, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMpMdKK

A fire truck in Fort Lauderdale (FL) collided with a van at the intersection of West Cypress Creek and Powerline roads Wednesday afternoon and sent one person to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, reports wsvn.com.

Officials say the apparatus was headed to a call for a crash when the van tried to go around it.

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On the heels of a $24,900 grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), the Lake Coleman (TX) Volunteer Fire Department will soon be expanding its station to house additional apparatus and equipment, reports colemantoday.com.

The department will kick in an additional $32,500 for the project, which will see the facility add two bays and extra space for hoses and other equipment, the report says.

Also, the facility will feature energy-efficient components—insulation, LED lights, a solar-powered charger for truck batteries and radios—as well as gutters that drain into a storage tank to capture and store rainwater for firefighting use, the report says.

The department serves a population of about 6,500 in the local community and surrounding areas.

The grant is one of 32 awarded recently through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders, and nonprofits fund capital improvement projects, according to the report.

Vancouver (WA) city council will be seeking voter approval February 8 on a special election ballot for a property tax increase to fund fire and emergency services, equipment, and facilities, reports clarkcountytoday.com.

The measure seeks to increase the city’s regular property tax levy by $0.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. If passed, an owner of a $440,000 house would pay $18.33 per month to support the initiative, which would begin in 2023, according to the report.

If approved, the funding, which is projected to generate around $15 million per year, would be used to:

• Acquire one new squad apparatus and one ladder truck.
• Replace Stations 3 and 6.
• Seismically improve, expand, and/or renovate existing Stations 4, 5, and 8.
• Fund other administrative costs in other departments to support investments outlined above.
• Fund additional operating, maintenance, vehicle, and capital expenses to provide enhanced fire and emergency services as determined by city council.
• Hire fire personnel.

If passed, city council will determine the timing and order of project funding, the report says.