Buena Vista Charter Township has scheduled a town hall meeting regarding the proposed merger of its police and fire departments. The town hall will take place Friday, Jan. 3 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Buena Vista Community Center, located at 1940 S Outer Drive, west of I-75. The township’s goal is to gauge public opinion, answer questions and provide information to residents regarding a potential merger of the township’s public safety departments.
- PUB DATE: 1/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive.com

Santa Rosa artist Adrian Litman, who lost his home in the Tubbs fire two years ago, wanted to make a simple, direct statement with his new metal sculpture. He wanted to capture the importance of water in the often gut-wrenching work firefighters do every time an alarm goes off in the firehouse. Mounted atop a waist-high slab of concrete in front of the Santa Rosa Fire Station 1 on Sonoma Avenue, the metal sculpture is of a giant heart made of silver, flowing water that surrounds red tongues of fire.
- PUB DATE: 1/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Trains come through downtown Spokane every day hauling cargo like grain, airplane fuselages, and crude oil. Depending on the cargo, a derailment could range from minor to catastrophic, but it's something local first responders prepare for. Freight transportation by railroad is statistically an extremely safe way to transport the goods that fuel our economy and feed our nation, and in some cases, the world.
- PUB DATE: 1/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6

Elderly people escaped after a fast-moving fire broke out inside a detached garage in Kennewick early Friday morning. According to Battalion Chief Tod Kreutz with the Kennewick Fire Department, the fire was first reported around 1:15 a.m. near Perry Street and Kennewick Avenue. It sparked inside a garage attached to an apartment where no one was living at the time.
- PUB DATE: 1/3/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews.com

A house fire in the Old Evergreen Highway neighborhood late Thursday morning displaced two people, according to the Vancouver Fire Department. Firefighters were dispatched at 11:35 a.m. to 1500 S.E. 79th Court for a report of a residential structure fire. The first arriving crew found smoke billowing from the front of a single-story residence, Vancouver firefighter-paramedic Bryan Fredrickson said.
- PUB DATE: 1/2/2020 8:07:20 PM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian