At the center of the investigation into crimes against Jehovah’s Witnesses – including two fires that destroyed worship centers – is a question that has vexed Washington state investigators, the governor and pretty much anyone who has come into contact with the religious denomination: Who could muster this much destructive rage against a religion full of pacifists? On Friday morning, Thurston County authorities responded to a predawn fire in the city of Lacey, Washington.
- PUB DATE: 12/10/2018 1:58:07 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

An abandoned residence in Elma was destroyed by fire early Sunday evening, according to Grays Harbor Fire District 5. Investigators say they plan to return to the fire site Monday to determine a cause and to confirm the structure was unoccupied. Fire crews were dispatched about 6:30 p.m. Sunday to the 100 block of Blockhouse Road North.
- PUB DATE: 12/10/2018 10:36:20 AM - SOURCE: Olympian

VIDEO - Eastside Fire and Rescue Station 83 visited local neighborhoods to collect gifts for underprivileged kids, and rode in a festive reindeer fire engine. Firefighters drove down neighborhoods with a fire engine decorated like Santa's slay and collected gifts for children of all ages. The engine, which included reindeer antlers, was greeted by residents who were braving the rain and cold.
- PUB DATE: 12/10/2018 10:11:26 AM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13

A car wash in Bellevue suffered heavy damage during a fire Monday morning. The fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. in the 12800 block of Bellevue-Redmond Road, according to the Bellevue Fire Department. Flames were showing through the roof when firefighters arrived. Initially firefighters were attacking the fire from the inside, but flames became too intense and they had to retreat to fighting the fire from the outside.
- PUB DATE: 12/10/2018 8:01:30 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

The Washington Fire Mechanics held a board meeting on November 28^th at the State Chiefs Office in Olympia. The Board discussed the year end financial reports and how we showed a positive year for our section compared to previous years. This year’s workshop planning has started already and we discussed a few suggestions such as getting the classes secured and registration information out to the membership earlier to provide a larger window for registration. We discussed picture collection for our historical archive of events, if any member has pictures of our event and would like to send them into us it would help immensely in photo documentation of our events for future generations to enjoy in our slideshows. New options are being explored for events, T-shirts, and giveaways, if you have ideas for content on the shirts please send them over to the group. As most of you may be aware, we had an incident with injury this year at the creeper drags and as a result, we are no longer able to continue this event. We discussed better ways to market the scholarship and sponsorships that are available, please remember to submit a request, these are awarded annually and cover registration and lodging, all you have to do is get there. Due to our newer location for the annual workshop we are still fine tuning little details to make it run as smoothly as possible, we reviewed the comments received and have started to take action on some items to improve the overall event. This year we are exploring the option of online preorders of shirts, this may allow us to produce a different style of shirt in addition to our normal tee and accommodate the influx of special request shirt sizes, be on the lookout for information on that. This would allow you to order the shirts prior and pick up at the conference. A committee was formed to set criteria to be approved for an instructor of the year award. The car show will be a large portion of our events new direction, and our new board member Arnie is heading this large coordinated effort. Our next planned meeting is scheduled for early February and dates will be announced as soon as they have been selected.