A blazing haystack puts out a ton of heat and light, and smells like a big cigar. Early Saturday morning, Nov. 30, in Washington’s Tri-Cities region, a haystack was set alight north of Pasco in Franklin County. The fire was called in by an air traffic controller at the Tri-Cities airport in Pasco who could see it from miles away.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 6:50:55 AM - SOURCE: Oregon Public Broadcasting

Next year is all about adding people to help with Clallam County Fire District 3’s increasing call load. Leaders with the Sequim area fire department look to add four more line staff in 2020 bringing the total of firefighters/EMTs or paramedics from 34 at the start of 2019 to 39 next year. Fire commissioners authorized two new firefighters, with one hired so far and another three anticipated to be hired in 2020, District 3 Fire Chief Ben Andrews said.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 1:43:10 AM - SOURCE: Sequim Gazette - Metered Site

The FirstNet public safety communications platform – built with AT&T* in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – is growing in a big way. More than 10,000 public safety agencies and organizations across the country have subscribed. And over 1 million FirstNet connections are in service, bringing first responders and those that support them the reliability, capability and accountability they trust to carry out their mission.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AT&T

Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker are locked in a battle over whether the city should sign on to a new mutual aid agreement with emergency services districts in both Travis and Williamson counties and several small cities. While Baker appears to have the winning hand, he says he has worked hard to compromise with the union, giving it nearly everything it was seeking.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin Monitor

Los Angeles County firefighters on Tuesday won approval to ask voters for more money to help their sprawling department tackle increasingly destructive wildfires and a growing volume of medical calls. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place a proposed parcel tax on the March ballot. The tax would apply to residents in the department’s coverage area, which spans 58 cities and the county’s unincorporated areas.
- PUB DATE: 12/4/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles