Spokane County's Emergency Management Office has always shined brightest on the county's darkest days. Examples are the 2015 windstorm and the 2018 Upriver Beacon Fire, where the entire region worked together to repair nature's wrath. But now the City of Spokane is launching a new, independent Office of Emergency Management next year.
- PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 1:46:43 AM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

More firefighters have died by suicide than in the line of duty over the past year, according to the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance. The numbers are staggering. According to Jeff Dill, founder of FBHA, in the past seven days, eight firefighters across the United States have taken their own lives.
- PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIA-TV NBC 11 Atlanta

It was a hot, windy day in Southern California when a trash truck caught fire and the driver dumped the burning garbage on the side of the road. Minutes later, powerful winds blew the flames across a hillside and into a mobile home community, killing two people and destroying dozens of homes. No California law governs how trash haulers respond to a fire in their truck, leaving it to the waste industry to provide guidance.
- PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNBC-TV NBC 4 Los Angeles

The state House has voted to exempt volunteer fire departments from Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law, which journalists and the general public can use to request information from public entities. Supporters of the bill say it is a needed correction to a burdensome system, but opponents say it just makes the departments needlessly opaque.
- PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Essential Public Radio 90.5 WESA

A free specialized plate proposed for firefighters and emergency responders was intended to be free for the duration of an individual’s volunteer service, not just for the first year, according to an opinion just issued by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The opinion was sought by Senate Transportation Committee Member David Rust, R-Tioga, and House Transportation Committee Chairman Dan Ruby after questions were raised during the 2019 biennium related to implementing Measure 4, approved by voters in 2018.
- PUB DATE: 10/24/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Williston Herald