King County health officials have an alarming warning amid the coronavirus pandemic. With just two months left in the year, King County is seeing a record-breaking number of fentanyl overdoses in the opioid epidemic. New numbers from King County Public Health said there were 116 fentanyl overdoses in 2019.
- PUB DATE: 10/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

A Mattawa man sustained serious injuries in a Thursday crash in Desert Aire. David Chiprez, 23, was driving a 2002 Mercedes, reportedly at a high rate of speed, west on Edgewater Way when he lost control of the car, which slid off the road and struck a PUD in-ground transformer, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2020 12:58:32 PM - SOURCE: iFiber One News Radio

Greetings all~

At the yearly business meeting of the WFAS, usually a part of the annual conference, 2020 elections were held. Two Regional Representative terms were up this year along with that of the Secretary and Chair. Cathy Blakeway, Tumwater Fire, will continue to serve as a Regional Rep and Tasiya Deering, Moses Lake Fire, was reelected to the position of Secretary. Kristen Cole chose not to run again for the Regional Rep position she has held but has opted to remain on the board as the Hospitality/Activity committee chair. Slita Bradley, Benton County Fire District 4, was chosen to fill that Regional Rep position. Caity Karapostoles, Clallam County Fire District 3, was elected to serve for the next two years as Chairman when Mykel Montgomery stepped down. Mykel will stay on the board as Past Chair, allowing her to help deliver the 2021 WFAS Conference in Chelan postponed from October 2020. A huge shout out to everyone for stepping up to run for positions on the board and to volunteer on the various committees, along with everyone who continues to serve as board/committee members. It takes all of us to create and maintain the valuable network that is the WFAS! And along those lines, the Vice Chair position is open if you or someone you know is interested, please let me know as soon as possible. In keeping with our policies and procedures, the vacancy will be filled by a majority vote of the Executive Board at our next meeting. The person chosen will serve until the next election at the 2021 WFAS Conference,

In lieu of this year’s conference and workshops, a number of webinars are being planned for our group. Check the website and the group’s Facebook page for more information as it comes available.

Please feel free to contact me or any of the other board/committee members, if there is anything we can help you with. I welcome comments, concerns and suggestions!

Take care and stay safe.

As always,

Caity K

WFAS Chair

Not much is left of the small town of Malden. A fire decimated the Northern Whitman County community on Labor Day. “It’s still really overwhelming. It just seems like every day there’s a long to-do list,” said Jessica Graham. For Jessica and Matthew Graham, as well as their five young children, the last few weeks have been a blur.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2020 10:29:44 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

Firefighters were called to two separate kitchen fires in Bellingham over the weekend. At about 8:30 a.m. Sunday, crews were alerted to a grease fire in an apartment in the 1300 block of Bay Street in downtown Bellingham and arrived to find a well-involved kitchen fire. Those inside kept the fire in check by using a fire extinguisher and closing the apartment door when they evacuated.
- PUB DATE: 10/20/2020 7:35:27 AM - SOURCE: KGMI-AM 790