Firefighters have lined up their papers and ordered their coffee for a day’s event of chatting with community members. For the Lewis & Clark County Rural Fire Council, this “Frappe With A Firefighter” event helps recruit members during this crucial time. "Memberships are at an all-time low for rural fire, as far as volunteer departments,” says Dave Sammons, the Council President.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KRTV-TV CBS 3 Great Falls

The Columbus Division of Fire is nearly 200 years old, with 35 stations covering the city. Over the department's long history, some of those stations have garnered interesting nicknames. This led one WOSU reader to ask Curious Cbus "How did the Columbus fire stations such as the ‘River Rats' each get their unique names?" As it happens, a fire station getting a nickname or adopting a mascot is a fairly common practice across the country, and Columbus is no exception.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WOSU Public Media

For all of our grousing about COVID fatigue, a few novel trends are clear one year into the pandemic. In the early weeks of 2021, Californians are staying home way more than we did in our pre-pandemic life. Even so, we're heading out to shop, dine and work far more now than in March 2020, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order, or the dark period that followed the winter holidays, when we hunkered down as COVID-19 caseloads exploded.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: US News

VIDEO: An abandoned sailboat went up in flames along a Camano Island beach Monday evening. The boat had washed ashore at Barnum Point a long time ago, but neighbors reported seeing the boat afire just after 7 p.m., according to Bronlea Mishler with Camano Island Fire & Rescue. Fire trucks couldn't reach the location so a fire tender was sent to the bluff above the beach and eight firefighters ran 600 feet of hose to reach the boat, Mishler said.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

VIDEO: A master of a tug boat fell asleep at the helm in the moments before a massive barge drifted toward shore and crashed into three waterfront homes along Gig Harbor's Sunrise Beach Monday morning, according to initial findings from the U.S. Coast Guard. The Island Chief had been towing an unmanned gravel barge south toward Tacoma around 7:30 a.
- PUB DATE: 3/16/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle