A former Whatcom County firefighter who died of cancer this week is being listed as a line-of-duty fatality under state law that classifies certain kinds of cancer as job-related. Firefighter John Swobody died Monday night after a years-long battle with lung cancer, said Chief William Pernett of North Whatcom Fire and Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 6/11/2018 5:38:29 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

Neagle

LORDS VALLEY - To enhance their training, volunteer firefighters at the Pike County Training Center will now have a new engine with which to train. The Delaware Township Fire Company of Dingmans Ferry donated a 1993 engine, that Jordan Wisniewski, the training and operations manager said is a pumper that supplies water to other apparatuses.

 

The engine can carry 1,000 gallons of water. The Delaware Township Fire Company had two engines. The one they gave to the center had been for sale for awhile, but there were no “serious bids,” said Wisniewski. Consequently, the department was “more than kind to us,” Wisniewski stated.

The pumper has been refurbished. Fire engines can be quite old, as one at the center was from 1983 and was later refurbished in 1991. There are other fire apparatuses 40 years old, that he said some stations actually have in service or use for parades.

The engine that was given to the center, while it is refurbished, Wisniewski said doesn’t have all of the modern day technologies. He said that is okay because a lot of the safety features cause problems and having an older truck for training is just fine.

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WSAW

The Minocqua Fire Department moved into a new $3 million home this year and it was meant for a growing department. It has a gym, more training space and more garage space, something that was needed in the old building. This will allow the department to store more equipment on-site and accommodate new trucks if they need them.

 

It has a gym, more training space and more garage space, something that was needed in the old building.

This will allow the department to store more equipment on-site and accommodate new trucks if they need them.

"It's three to four times the size of the one we moved out of. It seems like a lot of extra room now, but we'll be filling it up shortly with different seasonal things, boats, ATV's and winter type off-road vehicles for snowmobile accidents," Minocqua Fire Chief Andy Petrowski said.

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Wiscnews

It can be hard finding a place to do your work when it involves breaking in doors and starting fires, but the Portage Fire Department now has some space and new tools to train firefighters. The department held an open house Saturday at the Portage Fire Department Training Facility off Highway 33 at Wauona Trail.

 

In the new smokehouse they will have the luxury of filing it up with smoke and swinging axes wherever they please. Also, as they get practiced with the building, Simonson explained, there are plans for installing temporary walls that will allow firefighters to go into the house not knowing its layout.

The basement door leads to a dark cramped space in another part of the disused tank, which is also accessible through an outside door, like a manhole cover, meant for training in confined space operations.

Before the development of the training facility, Portage and surrounding firefighters would need to go to Madison to have access to training grounds and equipment, with the new facility eliminating much of that recurring expense in time and travel costs.

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Buffalonews

The North Tonawanda Fire Department celebrated its new light rescue vehicle at an event Friday. The city paid half the cost of the $200,000 truck, with a state grant lined up by State Sen. Robert G. Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, providing the remainder of the money.

 

The new vehicle will carry the department's rescue equipment, including the Jaws of Life for opening wrecked vehicles, and a supply of spare oxygen bottles for firefighters.

"Due to the fact that this vehicle goes on every call, it will play a vital role in the department's operations. The old vehicle was eight years old with over 100,000 miles on it," Fire Chief Joseph Sikora said. "With cooperation from the senator's office and the city, we were able to make this happen."

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