Pennsylvania’s growing shortage of volunteer and career firefighters and EMS providers has reached a point where state lawmakers are calling for action to avert a crisis like the one Rep. Stephen Barrar described at a Monday news conference. “How would you feel if you had a fire or an accident or a life-threatening emergency and when you dialed 911, no one responded? These type of doomsday scenarios are not far-fetched,” said Barrar, R-Delaware County, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.
- PUB DATE: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

On the same day that a package of bills was introduced at the State Capitol to help Pennsylvania’s fire and EMS workers, one midstate community is applauding the decision. The Middletown Fire Department is 100% volunteer, so for about two years now, they’ve been offering a live-in program for young firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHTM-TV ABC 27 Harrisburg

Gov. Kate Brown has appointed a financial oversight team and will hire an independent contractor to address a cash flow crisis caused by the Oregon Department of Forestry’s failure to promptly bill and collect money it is owed for wildfire costs. The 13-member team, chaired by the governor’s chief of staff, is tasked with identifying the structural changes needed to expedite and standardize how the agency processes financial transactions related to wildfires.
- PUB DATE: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Oregonian, Hillsboro Argus, Oregon Live.com

Officials are urging residents throughout the San Diego region’s most fire-prone areas to prepare for this year’s peak wildfire season. The county is slated to mail out its “personal disaster plan” to roughly 200,000 homes and businesses starting next week. The recently updated 16-page document will be sent to those living in areas designated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as “very-high fire severity zones.
- PUB DATE: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The San Diego Union Tribune - Metered Site

Firefighters kept a blaze from destroying a house south of Bellingham Saturday afternoon, but the fire serves as a reminder of the importance of keeping a clothes dryer properly cleaned. South Whatcom Fire Authority and Bellingham Fire Department crews responded to the 900 block of Bass Street at 1:05 p.
- PUB DATE: 10/22/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Bellingham Herald