VIDEO: Helena College is revamping its more than 20-year-old fire and emergency services program to meet the changing demands of employers. The program first opened in the fall of 1998 and focused on hands-on, functional fire training. The updated program aims to continue providing this kind of practical fire training, while also meeting the emerging needs and demand for professional certifications and general education.
- PUB DATE: 4/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Helena Independent Record

For the rest of the week, towns, cities, and counties around southwest and central Virginia are celebrating the men and women who serve as 911 dispatchers, the unseen heroes of public safety. According to the City of Roanoke, Congress proclaimed the second week of April as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in 1991.
- PUB DATE: 4/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXR-TV Fox 27 Roanoke

PHOTO: A 40-foot boat was badly damaged in a Monday morning fire at a marina near Port Orchard, officials said. Crews responded to the blaze, in the 1000 block of SW Bay Street, at about 7:45 a.m. after receiving reports of smoke spewing from the marina. Firefighters were able to bring the flames under control and prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby watercraft.
- PUB DATE: 4/12/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

Chelan County Fire District 6 in Cashmere and firefighters from DNR responded to a grass and brush fire shortly after 3pm on Saturday in Tripp Canyon above Cashmere. Dispatcher Justin Bishop with Central Washington Interagency Communication Center (CWICC) said the fire grew to about 3/4's of an acre before it was contained and mopped up by 5:30pm Saturday.
- PUB DATE: 4/11/2021 3:50:22 PM - SOURCE: KPQ-AM 560

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Naples Airport Authority and the City of Naples (FL) Fire-Rescue Department recently opened a new $5.8 million Naples Airport Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Station/Naples Fire Station No. 3 with a hose uncoupling ceremony.

Kerry Keith, senior director of development and facilities for the Naples Airport Authority, says the new state-of-the-art facility replaces the airport’s original station built in 1989. “The old station was past its useful life,” Keith observes. “It was built at a time when we had a lot less activity and staffing needs were different, so there was sleeping quarters for only two persons, the rooms were small, and the general layout of the station was not conducive to spending 24 to 48 hours there.”

Keith notes the new station was built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane to ensure continuity of service, and has a conference room with large flatscreen monitors for weather and communications information to allow it to serve an emergency operations center (EOC) to assist with Collier County response efforts. Besides the conference room, the station has three dorm rooms for firefighters, unisex bathrooms, a chief’s office and bedroom, a large exercise room that could be converted to a bunk room in an emergency, a kitchen/dining/day room area, and a patio with a barbeque grill off the kitchen.