The University of Washington is rapidly expanding its ability to test people for COVID-19. A drive-thru testing site is already up and running at UW Medical in North Seattle that can test 40 to 50 people per day. Right now it’s only available to employees and students, but UW Medical plans to expand that testing later this week to include first responders, employees at long-term care facilities and UW patients showing symptoms.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2020 1:47:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

PHOTOS:Four Arkansas firefighters were hospitalized after an accident on Interstate 55 near Marion on Monday. The Marion Fire Department was clearing the scene of an unrelated accident at the 24-mile marker of Interstate 55 when the department was “involved in an accident with a semi truck.” According to a Facebook post, four fire department personnel were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNWA-TV NBC 51 Rogers

The Chicago Fire Department is swapping out coloring books for virtual reality headsets as its preferred educational tool to instill fire safety basics in the minds of elementary and middle schoolers. Fire Commissioner Richard Ford unveiled the technology Tuesday during a demonstration at St. Sabina Academy with a group of 5th and 6th graders who strapped on the headsets to find themselves getting out of bed to the sound of a beeping smoke detector.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Sun Times

PHOTOS: San Bernardino County Fire Department search teams staged a daring and complex rescue of a man trapped in a remote mine over the weekend, authorities say. Early Sunday morning, County Fire officials received a call from an unidentified explorer in a rural, unincorporated area of Twentynine Palms who had recently left a mine and reported that a partner was still inside and unable to get out.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Press

A bill is being discussed in a Kansas Senate committee Tuesday that would give fire investigators law enforcement powers in the state. This means, if an investigator encounters a crime in progress, they would have the legal right to pull-over, detain, and even arrest someone. The Kansas Fire Marshal, Doug Jorgensen, made clear during his testimony in favor of the bill that investigators would not be conducting traffic stops.
- PUB DATE: 3/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSNT-TV NBC 27 Topeka