The latest time line has Pierce County’s new 911 center opening in 2020, nine years after voters approved it. South Sound 911, the regional dispatch agency, plans to finish the design this year, choose a construction firm and start building next year. It expects to move into the building in the third quarter of 2020, the agency said in a community presentation Aug.
- PUB DATE: 9/5/2018 1:42:26 AM - SOURCE: Tacoma News Tribune

A new fire chief is on the job in Fairfax County. Chief John Butler, a retired Marine and former fire chief in Howard County, was sworn in Tuesday. He was chosen to help fix the past problems of bullying and harassment. Before a large crowd, John Butler, Fairfax County's first African America fire chief, spoke about his childhood in Liberia.
- PUB DATE: 9/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WUSA-TV 9 DC

Houston Fire Chief Sam Peña on Tuesday warned of dire consequences — including possible layoffs of more than 800 firefighters and deferred maintenance or upgrades on aging equipment, if voters approve the firefighters’ pay parity initiative on the November ballot. Peña’s warning came during a City Council Committee on Budget & Fiscal Affairs meeting to provide city leaders with their first look at how the Houston Fire Department might handle the costs of the ballot measure, which proposes to raise firefighter pay to that of their police peers.
- PUB DATE: 9/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

Mayor Tony George has resurrected a Community Fire Watch program in an attempt to increase public safety, but firefighter union officials say it’s a waste of money and is making conditions more dangerous. George confirmed he is enforcing a fire watch program started during former mayor Tom McGroarty’s administration in which firefighters hit the streets in fire engines during their down time to check on abandoned and vacant structures.
- PUB DATE: 9/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice

Inmates sent to help fight wildfires are back behind bars in Idaho after one inmate was charged with raping a woman working at a base camp in Utah, authorities said Tuesday. The Idaho Department of Correction is reviewing the way they select, train and deploy those inmates, spokesman Jeff Ray said. Most Western states have similar programs that allow low-level offenders to be temporarily released to help fight wildfires.
- PUB DATE: 9/5/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Twin Falls Times-News