Throughout the response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and its ensuing illness COVID-19, fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel have consistently served on the front lines while caring for patients and responding to other calls for emergency service. These fire and EMS personnel place themselves in inherently dangerous positions while caring for patients in austere environments and responding to emergencies unrelated to whether a caller has COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

About one-third of the 1,600 wildfires reported in Washington state started west of the Cascades. Now, for the first time, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources is basing an air tanker, along with other aircraft, at the Olympia Airport so crews can fight those fires on the side of the state that’s most associated with rain, but where summers have become drier.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

The Green Ridge Fire continues to slowly grow in the Blue Mountains 30 miles east of Walla Walla, with an additional 49 acres burned Monday, Aug. 23. The fire, which has burned for more than six weeks, has consumed 39,471 acres of mountainous wilderness as of Tuesday, Aug. 24, and is 35% contained. Despite warming temperatures and drier conditions Monday, fire growth remained minimal due to residual moisture from the weekend’s light rains.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

Thousands of firefighters are on the ground in our region, trying to control wildfires that have already consumed hundreds of thousands of acres. They battle raging flames, haze that affects their visibility and air quality, and now, spiking COVID-19 cases. KLCC reporter Brian Bull has been entrenched with the men and women on the fire lines in the Pacific Northwest this season.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KUOW-FM 94.9 Seattle

Firefighters were called Tuesday afternoon to extinguish a series of blazes that broke out on the side of Interstate 5 in North Seattle after a motorhome caught fire and ignited the surrounding brush, authorities said. The fire occurred around 1 p.m. on the northbound side of I-5 near the Northgate Avenue exit, and live video from state Department of Transportation cameras showed active flames as vehicles traveled past on the freeway.
- PUB DATE: 8/25/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle