A fire at a Draper Valley Farms-owned facility Monday night killed about 14,000 2-week-old chickens. Company spokesman Bill See said the fire started in one of the farm’s chicken houses at a facility on River Bend Road. No injuries to people were reported, Mount Vernon Fire Chief Bryan Brice said. Firefighters were called at 6:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2018 4:13:20 AM - SOURCE: Skagit Valley Herald (GoSkagit.com)

The Cowlitz County commissioners will make the final decision on whether the Cowlitz 911 Center will separate from the county and become an independent agency at a public hearing at 6 p.m. March 13. This Tuesday announcement was made in light of the County 911 Council and E-Board unanimously agreeing to asked the commissioners to create a separate 911 public development authority in January.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2018 2:11:38 AM - SOURCE: Longview Daily News

California may be in the thick of winter, but state fire crews are on the front lines of a new battle. Fire officials met at the state Capitol Tuesday, planning for another destructive year and to prevent one like 2017. From Napa to Ventura County, 2017 may have been a record year for destructive fires in the state.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOVR-TV CBS Sacramento

The psychologist who conducts psychological exams for men and women who want to become Buffalo police officers and firefighters may be on his way out, after complaints of racial bias and inappropriate questions probing applicants' sexual histories. And the entire system for how candidates are hired for the departments will be evaluated and likely overhauled.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News

A recent NIOSH report found that a volunteer firefighter was killed when a tanker backing out of the fire station fatally struck him. According to the report, the volunteer fire department had participated in a motorcycle benefit for a children’s cancer organization and were using their apparatus to control traffic for the event.
- PUB DATE: 2/28/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FireRescue1