Prospective firefighters for the state Department of Natural Resources must complete a 3-mile course in 45 minutes – while wearing a 45-pound pack. But there’s good news for those who passed last year’s test: They don’t have to do it again. Because of social distancing guidelines due to COVID-19, only new recruits must take the test this year.
- PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Spokesman-Review - Metered Site

A ceiling at an Auburn Safeway store partially collapsed Thursday morning. The collapse happened in a stockroom and no one was hurt. Valley Regional Fire said it happened at the store at 101 Auburn Way South. Crews said the collapsed area is about 10 feet by 50 feet. Fire officials said the building was evacuated and sealed off.
- PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority recently took delivery on the first of four retrofitted wildland fire trucks equipped with a remote controlled nozzle allowing the driver to spray water on a fire from inside the truck’s cab. “The new wildland fire remote control monitor will allow our firefighters to engage fire much more quickly,” said Operations Fire Chief Robert W.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 3:39:57 PM - SOURCE: Centralia Chronicle

Firefighters extinguished a house fire in Kelso on Tuesday evening, with no injuries reported. Just after 6:30 p.m., dispatches took a call about a fire in a duplex in the 200 block of Barnes Street. According to 911 call logs, the neighbor saw smoke coming through their walls and called 911 when nobody answered the door to the adjoining apartment.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 2:08:22 PM - SOURCE: Longview Daily News

Children playing with matches reportedly sparked a small brush fire Tuesday afternoon near Ephrata. Grant County Fire District 13 and Ephrata firefighters responded shortly after noon to a wildfire threatening structures and vehicles in the 12000 block of Road C.5 Northwest. A quick response from fire crews kept the blaze contained at about two acres.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 9:12:10 AM - SOURCE: iFiberOne