VIDEO: Stevens County Fire District One crews rescued a stranded deer from the ice at Loon Lake Tuesday morning after neighbors spotted the struggling animal. The yearling deer was discovered from shore on the frozen lake, unable to gain traction after recent cold weather caused area lakes to freeze over. “It was yearling deer about 200 feet or so off of our property on ice, struggling, trying to get up,” said Ginger Poleschook, who lives near the lake. “And it was making no progress.”

Poleschook and her husband Dan called Fish and Wildlife officials. Stevens County Fire District One rescue crews responded using new ice rescue procedures involving a firefighter in a specialized cold-weather flotation suit. “They came with two fire trucks and they’re doing a new ice rescue routine,” Poleschook said. “One person suited up in like, a wetsuit for cold weather and flotation and went out.” The rescue proved challenging as the deer became nervous when the firefighter approached. After multiple attempts with a lasso, the firefighter secured the animal.

“When he reached the deer had a big lasso so that he could put around the deer, and the deer jumped through it. So he had to do it twice, and he wasn’t able to really secure. The deer was struggling, so he laid on it,” Poleschook explained. “And the crew then on shore use the rope that the fireman had holding on to the deer and himself. So they just kept pulling and pulled the firefighter in with the deer.” Crews warmed the deer before releasing it back into the forest, away from the hazardous ice. “It’s just amazing how rapid it was. They’re very efficient with their rescue,” Ginger Poleschook said.

KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane

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Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, is working on a bipartisan bill that would make funding for aviation wildfire suppression permanent. The Aviation Assurance Funding Program, enacted in 2023, requires the Washington Department of Natural Resources to assist local fire departments with aviation resources for early wildfire attacks. If passed, House Bill 2104 would continue the program, ensuring local fire departments have immediate, consistent access to aviation support.

“If you hire an aircraft or a helicopter to come out and work through the morning and knock a fire down, it’s going to be — be anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on the name of aircraft, or we can spend a million dollars plus for a state mobilization,” Dent said in a public hearing Friday.

According to the DNR’s 2025 Wildfire Legislative Report, as of Sept. the department provided aerial support to 41 incidents, delivering more than 790,000 loads of retardant water, and protecting about $100 million worth of infrastructure through the program. Ryan Rodruck, wildfire communications manager for DNR, called the program a “big success” for expediting initial response times.

Columbia Basin Herald – Metered source

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A firefighter with the Northeast Nelson (KY) Fire Department was injured when the apparatus he was in collided with a tractor-trailer.

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Delivery of the Month: Romeoville (IL) Fire Department platform quint by Rosenbauer on a Commander R6000 cab and chassis.

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As the apparatus was traveling to the structure fire, the vehicle slid as it was coming down a hill and couldn’t make a sharp turn at the bottom.

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