Western Washington has a new Accellerant Detection Canine!  Chief Patrick Nicholson, from Jefferson County has recently arrived back from Maine Specialty Dogs with his K9 partner, Allie; She is a two-year old yellow lab. Chief Nicholson attended the 5 week handler program where he and Allie were united, on a scholarship funded by State Farm Insurance.  Allie can detect 30 or more ignitable liquid vapors and is certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Training Academy.  Allie is certified to conduct building/structure sniffs, outdoor/wildland, evidence, and suspect/people sniffs.

Chief Nicholson and Allie can readily respond to requests for the Arson Dog in proximity to the Olympic Peninsula, but will respond further out in Western Washington, depending upon availability...

The Washington Fire Chiefs (WFC) sent a letter to BNSF Railroad on March 6^th, 2015 expressing their concern regarding oil train safety, and requesting vital information regarding worst case scenarios, catastrophic insurance levels, comprehensive emergency response plans and route analysis documents.

BNSF contacted the WFC shortly after receiving the letter, and requested a meeting be set up.  This meeting took place on April 30^th, 2015 and included representation from the WFC, BNSF, Washington State Senate staff, Washington State Association of Fire Fighters and the Washington State Fire Commissioners Association. 

The Washington Fire Chiefs, in a pointed letter, have asked the BNSF Railroad to turn over “Worst Case Scenarios” for an oil train accident as well as “Comprehensive Emergency Response Plans” for high hazard flammable trains.

The letter comes as three oil trains pass through Seattle each day en route to northern Puget Sound refineries. Railroads now transport one-tenth of U.S. crude oil output — approximately 1.1 million barrels a day.“What is the potential impact of a crude oil disaster in Washington communities?” the chiefs want to know.

Writing to BNSF CEO Matthew Rose, the fire chiefs said Seattle “narrowly missed disaster” last July when three tanker cars derailed at a rail yard under the Magnolia Bridge.

The train was going only 5 mph, but the cars that derailed were carrying 27,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil from North Dakota.

Signed by Washington Fire Chiefs Executive Director Wayne Senter, the letter sounded a note of frustration, telling Rose...

A recent report released by the State Auditor’s Office found, local governments (including fire protection districts) still struggle to file their reports on time or at all. All local governments are expected to file their annual financial reports with the State Auditor’s Office within 150 days after the end of their fiscal year.

In both 2011 and 2012, more than 700 of 1,956 local governments did not file their reports as required for each year. Due to increased outreach by the State Auditor’s Office in 2013, such as trainings and workshops, about 100 more local governments filed their required annual reports...

Washington Fire Chiefs have sent a guiding document to Labor and Industries to provide support  to our members as they journey toward proactive compliance with the new live fire training requirements in WAC 296-305-05502.