Few Californians will have any idea why they’re being asked to vote this fall on workplace conditions in the private ambulance industry. But the backstory is a reminder of how ballot measures are the ultimate Plan B for those who don’t get satisfaction from the Legislature. The track record for such efforts is mixed.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Firefighters have been busy trying to douse a fire that was burning a pile of scrap metal at a Tacoma metal yard. The fire at Simon Metals on E. River Street broke out around 2 a.m. and sent a billow of acrid smoke across the Tacoma tideflats that was visible from I-5. Firefighters got the blaze mostly knocked down about 45 minutes later, but the pile has been smoldering since and continues to belch out smoke into mid Monday morning as firefighters dismantled the pile to douse the hot spots.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

While temperatures begin to cool down as we head into fall, there are several fires crews are still working to put them out. Here are the five biggest, and how they're looking now. The Crescent Mountain fire burning in the Okanogan-Wenatchee forest is the largest fire at 51,584 acres. As of Sunday it is 75 percent contained.
- PUB DATE: 9/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING 5 News

LeCenter (MN) Area Fire Department pumper. Kenworth T880 Full Response™ crew cab and chassis. Cummins ISX12 500-hp engine; Waterous CSU 1,500-gpm pump; UPF Poly 1,000-gallon tank.

A man grinding metal started a half acre brush fire off of Road 96 in Pasco on Sunday afternoon. Crews were called out to the fire at around 4 p.m. They say the man was using a piece of equipment to grind metal when the grass caught on fire, and the high winds caused the blaze to quickly spread. Firefighters were on the scene for a couple of hours trying to put out the blaze and making sure there were no more hot spots.
- PUB DATE: 9/16/2018 6:29:04 PM - SOURCE: YakTriNews