VIDEO: Eric Jackson Jr. is just 19, but he’s already following in his father’s footsteps as a firefighter with the Pine Bluff Fire Department. If Junior has his way, he’ll eventually surpass his father, Eric Jackson Sr., in the profession they share.

“Thank you for letting me get this far and teaching me how to do it. And I’m still gonna be better than you eventually,” Junior said. His father welcomed the challenge with a laugh. “Oh, my goodness! He wants that challenge. We will see,” Senior said.

The friendly competition reflects a deeper connection between the two: a shared commitment to serving their community.

For Junior, the decision to become a firefighter began years before his first shift. Watching his father provide for their family and interact with people through his work helped inspire him to pursue the same path.

“It all started in high school,” Junior said. “I started seeing how he was providing for the family and what it brought to it, and also seeing how he interacted with other people on the job. So it made me want to do it even more.”

KTHV-TV CBS 11 Little Rock

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A17-year-old student is making waves with her fire safety innovation. Ángela Karime Hernández Venegas, from Tamaulipas, Mexico, created a fire extinguisher that doesn’t require water or chemicals. Instead, it uses low-frequency sound waves, saving resources while remaining as portable and easy to carry as a regular extinguisher.

Named Vortex Tech, Hernández’s device includes a custom bucket that is also a barrel, a 12-volt battery, a frequency generator, an amplifier, and a speaker. The gadget generates a low frequency of 30 hertz, or 30 sound pulses per second.

The speaker then turns the frequency into sound waves, which are thrust toward a small circular opening at the end of the barrel. This generates a phenomenon known as vortex rings, in which a donut-shaped flow causes a slight turbulence in the surrounding air, striking and dissipating the oxygen fueling the flames.

Hernández felt inspired to build Vortex Tech after watching a video from the United States’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which used a 13-foot-long sonic cannon to extinguish a flame using only sound waves.

“The main goal was to demonstrate that the physical principle [of vortex rings] could blow out a candle,” she told Spanish newspaper El País. “DARPA’s sonic cannon indicated that the method was feasible.”

My Modern Met

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Five first responders from fire districts across Spokane County and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office were awarded “Hero of Honor” medals in New York City on Wednesday at the First Responders Children’s Foundation’s National First Responders Day ceremony hosted by Jon Stewart.

The five local awardees were Chief Matthew Vinci of Spokane County Fire District (SCFD) 9, Chief Mike Nokes of SCFD 4, Chief Tom Williams of the Spokane Fire Department, Chief Don Malone of SCFD 10, and Sheriff John Nowels of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Just 19 first responders across the country were selected for recognition. The Spokane-area first responders were also awarded the SERVPRO Natural Disaster Award for their “incredible response to the Spokane Complex Fires, successfully evacuating 65,000 residents with zero lives lost,” the First Responders Children’s Foundation said.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

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According to Puget Sound Fire Authority, paramedics evaluated nine people for exposure to hazardous materials at Kentridge High School in Kent Tuesday afternoon, including one student.

Two of the patients, both staff members, were transported to a medical facility for treatment, fire officials said.

Puget Sound Fire Authority, Renton Regional Fire Authority, the Port of Seattle fire department and King County Medic One responded to the high school around 2:40 p.m. Monday. The school had already been dismissed for the day, so no evacuation orders were issued.

Around 3:25 p.m., Hazardous Material response teams entered the school and conducted air monitoring. No hazards were detected.

It’s not yet clear what contaminant was the subject of the response.

KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

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Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue and South Whidbey Fire/EMS are exploring how increased collaboration between their two districts can continue to make operations more efficient, an ongoing effort that could lay the groundwork for a merger in the future.

Mergers are becoming increasingly common among fire districts, especially in Washington, and the possibility has been entertained on Whidbey. It’s “just what the industry has gone to,” Nick Walsh, fire chief at South Whidbey Fire/EMS, said.

Fire protection districts within “reasonable proximity” can merge or form regional fire authorities under Washington State law, specifically RCWs 52.06 and 52.26, although those may not be the only options for districts looking to combine. While mergers and regional fire authorities differ, their benefits and purposes are similar.

Merging is logical for districts seeking to improve service as call volume increases and funding decreases, explained Walsh. Merged districts may be able to put more firefighters on the scene of incidents faster than multiple separate districts.

South Whidbey Record – Metered site

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