A spate of recent fires at homeless camps in the city has prompted new questions about the thresholds for removal of the encampments during the current COVID-19 crisis. Early Saturday morning, crews were forced to close Interstate 5 in both directions because of a fire in a small homeless camp located in the middle of the highway directly underneath the Washington State Convention Center.
- PUB DATE: 5/7/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

One person was injured in the first of four fires that burned in Yakima from Tuesday night to Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the 200 block of Oak Street at 11:28 p.m. Tuesday for a fire that started in a tree and spread to a six-plex, according to a fire department news release. While only the building’s siding and a vehicle parked in the area were damaged, a man with a second-degree burn on his arm was treated at the scene, the release said.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2020 6:36:12 PM - SOURCE: Yakima Herald-Republic

Crews from the Spokane County Fire District 4 have knocked down a fire at an abandoned house in Deer Park that started Wednesday morning. Firefighters say the abandoned house is at N. Colville Rd. and Crawford St., with flames being reported around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. One firefighters reportedly sustained minor injuries, cutting his hand on some broken glass.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2020 7:57:10 AM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

Right now, the families of first responders who die of the coronavirus must first prove that they were infected on the job before they can collect federal death benefits. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators say that’s unfair, and they’ve introduced legislation to automatically declare that first responders who die of COVID-19 gave their lives in the line of duty.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

Due to the highly infectious nature of the coronavirus, robots can provide contact-free alternatives. From decontaminating hospitals and public spaces to delivery services, robots are a game-changer in pandemics. A cylindrical robot rolls into a treatment room to allow health care workers to remotely take temperatures and measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation from patients hooked up to a ventilator.
- PUB DATE: 5/6/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: World Economic Forum