Google asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to test a drone for monitoring and fighting fires. However, its drone plans, which were published Thursday in the federal register, have since been extinguished. The request came from Alphabet's Google Research Climate and Energy Group -- not the company's Wing subsidiary, whose drone delivery service was certified by the FAA in 2019.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNET

PHOTOS: In nearly 50 years of reminiscing about his hometown of Park Ridge with fellow members of the Park Ridge Historical Society, a favorite topic for Ralph R. Bishop was his adventures with the Lil’ Pirsch fire truck, first bought by the city in 1921. His father, Ralph E. Bishop, was fire chief when the city bought the pumper truck, built by Nash.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal & Topics

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, recently commented in a blog post that a next pandemic could be 10 times worse than the one we are currently experiencing. In this context, the billionaire proposes to create "a squad of pandemic firefighters" to take action against such a threat. “The unfortunate reality is that COVID-19 may not be the last pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Hour

Authorities are investigating after a toddler died in a house fire in Tacoma on Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters were called around 1:40 p.m. to the 2000 block of East Columbia Avenue. When crews arrived, they saw smoke coming from the second floor of a home. They found a 2-year-old on the second floor while searching the home, but it was too late.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

Police arrested a father Tuesday for arson and murder in connection to a South Seattle fire that killed his teenage son. Authorities arrested Mohamed Abdi, 38, on suspicion of murder and arson for an early morning Jan. 22 fire at a home in the 9300 block of 39th Ave. South. Firefighters arrived to find four people who had made it out immediately report there was a fifth person still inside the home.
- PUB DATE: 2/4/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle