A 12-year-old girl was able to revive her 2-year-old brother after he was found unresponsive in the family’s septic tank late Wednesday morning in Edgewood, according to East Pierce Fire & Rescue. Their mother was able to get the boy out of the septic tank but got stuck in the process, so the girl called 911, East Pierce Fire Chief Bud Backer said.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2018 7:45:05 AM - SOURCE: Tacoma News Tribune

The head of the U.S. Forest Service promised Tuesday that the way the Forest Service does business is going to change. U.S. Forest Service interim Chief Vicki Christiansen spoke at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s annual summit. “We have great opportunity and we have significant challenges and this is not going to be business as usual,” she said.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2018 6:02:20 AM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review

The Garden City Village Board voted Tuesday night to eliminate its paid fire department. The board voted 6-1, with trustee Stephen Makrinos dissenting, to abolish the paid department effective Aug. 27. All paid firefighters were placed on administrative leave and told not to report to work Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday

After voluntarily shutting down in March due to outdated equipment discovered during an investigation by the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Northfork Volunteer Fire Department reopened Wednesday morning, according to a news release from the fire marshal. Over the past four months, the department invested in new airpacks — the breathing apparatuses used by firefighters in structural fires — and sent all its trucks away for upgrades and maintenance, said John Adams, who began serving as chief of the Northfork VFD a little over a month ago.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Gazette-Mail

The highest-ranking fire chief punished in the aftermath of a drinking and test-cheating scandal at Cal Fire’s academy in 2014 could get his job back. A San Francisco Superior Court judge this month ruled that former Cal Fire Assistant Chief Michael Ramirez should get another chance to return to work three years after the department dismissed him.
- PUB DATE: 7/26/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sacramento Bee