Faced with continued financial shortfalls, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District has announced that it will take “new urgent measures” to maintain its limited operations and keep firefighters safe. ECCFPD Chief Brian Helmick said during a news conference Thursday that the department will only send firefighters into burning structures if lives are at stake, starting on July 1.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

As the United States begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, ample praise has been focused upon the nation’s emergency first responders – and rightfully so. Millions of nurses, doctors, firefighters and police have set their personal interests aside, routinely placing themselves and potentially their families at risk so that critical frontline medical services remain operational at a time when tens of thousands of Americans have been sickened and died from a disease with no known cure.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Great Falls Tribune - Metered Site

VIDEO: D.C. firefighters saved the day Thursday when they threw their bodies on two dogs who were attacking people while other members were fighting a fire in Southeast. D.C. Fire and EMS officials say they were in the 4000 block of South Capitol St. SE when two dogs began attacking residents in the area.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTTG-TV FOX 5 Washington, D.C.

A group of New York City emergency medical service workers who gave interviews to the news media, including NPR, are suing the city for allegedly retaliating against them after speaking about their experiences responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the federal court in Manhattan, four EMS workers allege the city is violating their right to speak on issues of public concern under the First Amendment, as well as their due process rights.
- PUB DATE: 6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: National Public Radio

Police arrested a Tacoma woman accused of setting five Seattle police cars on fire during riots last month in downtown Seattle. According to the Department of Justice, Margaret Channon, 25, was taken into custody Thursday at her home in Tacoma. Channon is charged with five counts of arson. The police cars were parked around 6th Ave.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2020 5:20:29 PM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Seattle