Benton County firefighters extinguished a brush fire that grew to about a quarter acre on Thursday morning. The fire broke out along I-82 eastbound near milepost 99.2 around 10 a.m. According to Benton County Duty Chief Scott Hawley, a lack of winds helped the situation, and the first arriving truck was able to knock out the flames.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2019 11:46:40 AM - SOURCE: YakTriNews

In the 27 years Tom Hatley has worked as a structural and wildland firefighter, he says he has lost count of the number of fatalities he’s seen. “I’ve lost track — I’m sure hundreds,” he says. “I remember one year, I was called Dr. Death because every time I was on call — I had like six fatalities in six months.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2019 5:52:14 AM - SOURCE: Crosscut

In the three months since firefighters abandoned a north Seattle station long suspected of sickening crew members stationed there, response times in the area have slowed by as much as 60%. Between June 18, when Station 31 — nicknamed the “cancer house” by firefighters — was shuttered, and July 31, responding units took a minute and a half longer than normal to respond to fires and basic medical incidents in the area near Interstate 5 and North Seattle College, according to data provided by the Seattle Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2019 5:51:49 AM - SOURCE: Crosscut

Vashon Island Fire & Rescue is moving ahead with developing a rescue swimmer program, after various members of the district were divided in recent months about the program’s merits. At the Aug. 28 board meeting, the five commissioners voted unanimously to direct Chief Charlie Krimmert to draft operating protocols for the program, which the district first launched in 2016, but never fully implemented.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2019 1:55:44 AM - SOURCE: Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber - Metered Site

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation on September 11 to help ensure first responders and public sector officers and employees who developed a qualifying health condition as a result of their heroic response to 9/11 rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts at World Trade Center sites receive the pension and health benefits they deserve.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The National Herald