We now know what caused the fire that demolished a 31,000-square-foot packing warehouse in Orondo last Monday. Douglas County District 4 Fire Chief Jim Oatey says the fire at Pine Canyon Growers was caused by a ventilation fan that seized up. The federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives aided in the investigation and had determined the cause.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 10:51:08 AM - SOURCE: iFiberOne

The former Ogunquit fire chief has filed a complaint in York County Superior Court seeking to appeal his firing earlier this fall. Mark O’Brien had served with the Ogunquit Fire Department for 37 years before he was placed on leave, investigated and ultimately fired by the town manager, who had concerns about his ability to lead the department.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Central Maine

The afternoon of Aug. 15, Wilkes-Barre Fire Department’s Engine 1 filled up with 24.74 gallons of diesel fuel at the city pumps, a routine repeated 38 more times over the following eight weeks of daily patrols under the ramped-up community fire watches ordered by the mayor. Engine 1, based at the department’s headquarters at the East Ross Street station, took on 750 gallons total during the watches, almost double the fuel intake for the eight weeks in June and July, according to fuel logs obtained by the Times Leader through a Right-to-Know request.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wilkes Barre Times Leader

The thick black smoke from a savage warehouse inferno came quickly two years ago, but not quickly enough to spare 36 mostly young partygoers from the terror of knowing they were at life’s end: “I am going to die, mom,” one texted; a young couple fell into an embrace, dying of asphyxiation in each other’s arms.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Bay Times

Assistant Mayor Cliff Lazenby will ask the rest of the City Council to support his efforts to lobby the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct a health study on firefighters who have been exposed to PFAS chemicals. Lazenby said he intends to ask the City Council at Monday’s meeting to send a letter signed by Mayor Jack Blalock and the council asking NIOSH to conduct such a study.
- PUB DATE: 12/3/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online