Pasco Fire officials say the damage is extensive at the facility and will get costly. Smoke was seen boiling up into the darkening sky, and upon arrival units from Pasco found one unit completely engulfed. Fire units from Kennewick and Richland joined in the efforts, and Ben Franklin Transit brought in a bus to help firefighters shift in and out to get warm.
- PUB DATE: 1/7/2022 3:44:16 PM - SOURCE: KFLD-AM 870 Pasco

Firefighter Cody Kahl’s next court date is January 13, reports wbrz.com. The 24-year-old was arrested after his fire engine fatally struck two vehicles in June on a highway in Livingston Parish (LA), FA reported at the time.

Kahl tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, after the crash which left 85-year-old Gail Rippel dead. He was charged with vehicular homicide and reckless operation, the report says.

Earlier: Car Collides Head-On with Livingston Parish (LA) Fire Apparatus

The Denham Springs resident was heading south on Pete’s Highway Sunday morning when an apparatus from Fire Protection District No. 5 in the northbound lane crashed into the rear of a trailer. The two vehicles crossed the centerline, colliding with Rippel’s car.

Officials say that the apparatus was driving the speed limit at the time of the crash. They add that the driver of a fourth car tried to make a left turn into the northbound lane of the highway in front of a vehicle towing a trailer, which sandwiched the trailer-towing vehicle between the engine and the turning car, FA reported.

Los Angeles (CA) and Rancho Cucamonga will get the first electric fire trucks—costing $900,000 apiece, bare bones—in all of North America, with the former intending to put its in Hollywood this year and Rancho Cucamonga opting for a station set to open in late 2023, reports pe.com.

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Dubbed the future of firefighting by department officials, the apparatus will be produced by Rosenbauer and the first apparatus to incorporate an all-electric drivetrain, the report says. However, both will come with a small diesel engine, in case of emergency.

There are only three such fire trucks, Revolutionary Technology, in the world: One’s in Berlin, another is in Amsterdam, and Dubai houses the third, according to the report.

With the desired equipment, the trucks will be just under $1.3 million each.

The Kirkland (WA) Fire Department recently responded the first call in its new Station 24.

“Thank you to our first responders, and to everyone who made the new station a reality!” the city writes on Facebook.

Station 24, whose ribbon was cut on December 16, is located on Northeast 132nd Street, just north of Juanita Elementary School.

The new location aims to help first responders reach any and all homes in Finn Hill and Juanita Community in six minutes.

Kern County (CA) sheriff’s deputies executed search warrants to seize devices from the workplace and residence of Kern County firefighter Christopher Vega on the heels of a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that the suspect had uploaded child pornography onto the Internet, reports bakersfield.com.

Deputies linked an IP address to the department’s station in Buttonwillow that Vega, 35, used to make videos of himself; it was the same address used to upload the approximately 600 images of child porn, the report says. Officials also determined that Vega was the only person working at the time of the uploads.

Throughout the investigation deputies determined Vega invested about $1 million in the stock market and his house was worth $1.2 million, according to the report. His bail was set at $2 million.

Officials say they traveled to Santa Barbara to execute a search warrant and arrest Vega, who denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.

A department spokesperson says Vega’s rank was a firefighter, and he served the department for 10 years; he’s on leave now and is due back in court on Tuesday.