The Cathlamet Fire Department held an open house to show off their new rig on Sunday. "The Town of Cathlamet worked really, really hard the last couple of years to set aside money for this," Fire Chief Vernon Barton said. "This" is a 2017 Spartan, a traditional structural fire fighting engine. It is the first new engine for the department since 2001, according to Barton.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 1:46:06 AM - SOURCE: Wahkiakum County Eagle

The roar of sirens and engines gave way to the wail of bagpipes and the thunder of bass drums. Eyes watered, but not from smoke. Shined shoes and dress blues replaced soiled boots and water-soaked jackets. All this, as hundreds of firefighters from across Pennsylvania and as far away as Boston, Toronto, Kentucky and Chicago gathered to bid a formal farewell to fallen York City firefighters Ivan Flanscha, 50, and Zachary Anthony, 29.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: PennLive

House Speaker Tim Armstead has called for a bill that will double the death benefits for emergency personnel who die in the line of duty to be retroactively effective Jan. 1, in light of a crash that killed two members of the Pratt Volunteer Fire Department. In a letter addressed to Gov. Jim Justice, Armstead requested that changing the effective date of Senate Bill 625 “be placed on the call for a special session if one is to be held in the near future.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Gazette

A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant faces a misdemeanor charge after he punched his colleague in the face at a Far South Side fire station, according to authorities. Chicago fire Lt. Leonard Johnson, 53, was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor battery after an argument with a 52-year-old male firefighter descended into a fistfight, according to a Chicago police spokeswoman.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

The state fire marshal wants Michigan fire departments to report their use and disposal of a chemical-laden firefighting foam that has contaminated state groundwater. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) announced the survey effort on Wednesday, March 28. State Fire Marshal Kevin Sehlmeyer wants to know how much Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) is, or was, in use around the state and develop a strategy for its disposal, the state says.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mlive.com