Kent and Covington voters will decide on the Aug. 6 primary ballot whether to approve a Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority levy to increase property taxes and reduce fire benefit charges to maintain and adequately fund operations. Fifty-seven percent of voters rejected a similar measure in April 2018.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2019 1:43:59 AM - SOURCE: Kent Reporter

Seattle authorities have moved firefighters out of a Northgate fire station where worries have long been raised about unhealthy conditions and links to cancer. Mayor Jenny Durkan and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins made the relocation decision this week, citing initial results from environmental testing recently done at Station 31 by the Seattle firefighters union, Local 27.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Seattle Times - Metered Site

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released its annual “U.S. Firefighter Fatalities in the United States” report, which showed a total of 64 U.S. firefighter fatalities while on duty in 2018. This is the eighth time in the last 10 years that fewer than 70 on-duty deaths have occurred; the death toll is half what it was in the first five years that NFPA conducted this study.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NFPA.org

Santa Maria and Lompoc may be just 30 minutes apart but to some, its funding plans for public safety, city jobs and looming Calpers debt, feels worlds apart. Despite being more than $3 million in the red, the Lompoc City Council majority have long maintained that officials need to balance the budget before bringing a sales tax into the mix.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCOY-TV CBS 12 Santa Maria

In Gene Necklaus’ 36-person Scottsboro Fire Department, he’s seen three firefighters in recent years diagnosed with occupational-related cancer. One of them died last year. The other two were able to return to work after treatment. One had $20,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, including deductibles and co-pays, Nicklaus said.
- PUB DATE: 6/20/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Alabama Daily News