Bluefield (WV) Fire Department’s Station 3 has received a $100,000 renovation that officials say will make it safer and reduce response time, according to a report in WVNSTV.com.

Built in the 1970s, Station 3 had fallen into such bad shape that it was on the verge of being shut down by the city, according to the report. Following two years of planning, it is now “a safe and clean place for Bluefield firefighters”—no more black mold or leaking.

Officials said the revamping would cut down response time “from six or seven minutes to two or three minutes.”

Crews responded to a 3-alarm brush fire around 4:00 pm Thursday that began near the 1200 block of Little Butte Ranch Road west of Chelan. Firefighters arrived to find a 1-2 acre fire burning in grass and light brush being driven uphill by the wind. Chelan Fire and Rescue Chief Mark Donnell said the cause of the blaze was a property owner trying to do the right thing by burning brush and vegetation to clear a defensible space.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2021 3:47:33 AM - SOURCE: KPQ-AM 560 Wenatchee

One person was killed and eight people were hurt in an explosion and second-alarm fire at an Ohio paint plant early Thursday. About 40 employees were working just after midnight when the blast occurred in one of five buildings on Yenkin-Majestic Paint's campus in Columbus, officials said. While most of the employees came out of the building as firefighters arrived on the scene, authorities learned two were trapped, according to Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

PHOTOS: An 18-wheeler pulled up in front of Coker Volunteer Fire Department on Thursday laden with a mountain of firefighting gear donated by departments in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The gear represents a windfall of equipment that many of the volunteer departments in West Alabama never would have been able to afford to purchase.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tuscaloosa News

John Capozzoli Jr. of Freeport remembers the moment he knew he was destined to join the fire service. He was 12 years old and riding shotgun in his father’s pickup when the Freeport Fire Department sounded its air horn. As he and his father pulled into the firehouse, he recalled the excitement he felt as he watched his father, a volunteer firefighter, don a thick bunker coat and helmet and climb aboard the fire truck.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday - Metered Site