The state House Judiciary committee tabled Wednesday a bill opening a three-year window for workers’ compensation benefits to be provided for all Montana volunteer firefighters. Senate Bill 29 cleared the Senate Jan. 29 but was not referred to a House committee until last week. The bill calls for all volunteer fire departments in Montana to provide workers’ compensation coverage by October 2022.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Independent Record

The drinking water in Paradise, California, where 85 people died last year in the nation’s worst wildfire in a century, is contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical benzene, officials said. Officials said they believe the contamination happened after the November firestorm created a toxic combination of gases in burning homes that got sucked into the water pipes as residents and firefighters drew water heavily, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV WB 5 Los Angeles

VIDEO: The families of two San Antonio firefighters have filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of a device that might have saved one of the men and prevented injuries to another, according to a law firm. The lawsuit also names the owner of Spartan Box Gym for allegedly setting the fatal fire at his business.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSAT-TV 12 News

After four years in legislative purgatory, a bill that would grant firefighters cancer coverage — in a stunning reversal brought about by sustained public pressure and allegations of political vendettas — is being fast-tracked to clear the Legislature this year. The bill cleared a key hurdle Thursday morning when the House State Affairs committee agreed unanimously to advance the proposal, after more than an hour of discussion marked by teary testimony and lawmakers’ vocal support.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Miami Herald - Metered Site

A man slipped into a Capitol Hill nightspot and moments later left a restroom filled with smoke and flames. Security cameras from Corvus & Co. show the man pushing past the crowd just after midnight on Wednesday. Seattle police are now using that footage to try and track him down. Owner Paul Berryman has never put a lot of restrictions on who can use the restroom at Corvus & Co.
- PUB DATE: 4/18/2019 11:34:56 PM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000