A new $6 million state-of-the-art fire station on Des Moines' northeast side will cut travel times in half but will cost the city of Des Moines thousands of dollars in overtime every week due to an ongoing staffing shortage in the Des Moines Fire Department. Fire Station 11 opened Nov. 1, despite the department facing 19 staff vacancies — a number that's expected to rise to about 23 by the end of the year due to retirements.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Des Moines Register

The minimum hourly wage for a new firefighter recruit is $12.33. New police recruits make around the same. That wage now qualifies these first-responders for subsidized housing in Knoxville. "It's been going on for decades," said Kevin Faddis, the President of The Knoxville Firefighters Association.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBIR-TV NBC 10 Knoxville

Local first responders had some extra help Friday morning while battling a fire at Pier 77 Seafood restaurant on Thomas Drive. For the first time in about 30 years, Naval Support Activity Panama City Fire and Emergency Services worked alongside our local first responders to put out a fire that started in the kitchen of the popular seafood joint.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMBB-TV ABC 13 Panama City

The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases — which had been on the decline nationally since September — first plateaued and is now ticking upward, with states in different regions experiencing the most pronounced increase in cases. The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the United States remained below 80,000 since Oct.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Becker's Hospital Review

A person was rescued in Yelm after trying to climb through an opening in a wall and getting stuck. S.E. Thurston Fire Authority says a person was trying to climb through the wall surrounding the Walmart parking lot in Yelm, made of interlocking stone panels. While going through the opening, the panels broke free and fell on the person’s leg, trapping them.
- PUB DATE: 11/15/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Seattle