Emergency services in Washington state have started to prepare an emergency response plan after a mudslide blocked a private access road residents rely on to get to town. Snohomish County sheriff's officials have scouted a horse farm as a potential helicopter landing zone for emergency air evacuation east of Monroe, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Seattle, the Everett Herald reported Wednesday.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2020 5:03:55 PM - SOURCE: Longview Daily News - Metered Site

Climate change threatens the productivity of Washington’s farms, forests and communities, but there are steps that can be taken to minimize those threats and create new opportunities in making the state more resilient, according to a new report released by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2020 11:57:51 AM - SOURCE: Department of Natural Resources

VIDEO: After months of devastation, all the fires burning in the Australian state of New South Wales were declared contained for the first time last week. And who else to thank but the thousands of firefighters who have put their life on the line to extinguish them? Knowing that a simple "thank you" wouldn't suffice, the NSW Rural Fire Service took out a 70-foot billboard in New York's Times Square to thank all the firefighters who helped battle the blazes.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

Despite putting a seventh city ambulance in service in mid-2018, Lincoln Fire and Rescue's paramedics remain swamped responding to emergency medical calls in the growing city, retiring Fire Chief Micheal Despain said. Call volumes in Lincoln continue climbing at three times the rate of population growth, mainly because of the medical needs of the city's aging population, Despain said.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lincoln Journal Star

A Pennsylvania House committee is weighing a measure that seeks to make changes in how fire and emergency services are administered in the state. The House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee took up House Bill 1819, which would create a state Fire Commission. State Rep. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport, the bill’s sponsor, said his district includes professional and volunteer-led fire departments that face issues regarding the ability to provide essential services and the ability to recruit and retain members.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Center Square