Two Skagit County fire districts are proposing a merger that would form a regional fire authority — the first of its kind in the county. Skagit County fire districts 4 and 9, which cover Big Lake and Clear Lake, respectively, are proposing a merger that would see the two districts become Lakeside Fire and Rescue.
- PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 6:24:09 AM - SOURCE: Skagit Valley Herald (GoSkagit.com)

Simmering tensions and acrimony between Houston firefighters and Mayor Sylvester Turner have boiled over after the mayor erupted at firefighters who spurned him at two recent public events. The most recent incident, which took place at a Houston Rockets game Thursday, prompted the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 341 to send Turner a letter warning him not to threaten the association's membership.
- PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

The Minnesota State Patrol has identified a paramedic killed when the ambulance she was riding in crashed into a stalled semi on Interstate 694 in Brooklyn Center Monday. Sara DuPaul, a Minnesota State Trooper, said the semi stalled at about 6:45 p.m. in the apex near the split with Interstate 94. She said about 15 minutes later the semi was being towed when an ambulance came from I-694 and attempted to merge, striking the back of the semi.
- PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KARE 11

As wildfires swept through and decimated neighborhoods in Northern California, some of the first responders lost their own homes as they were helping to evacuate residents. One of them was Mill Valley Fire Chief Tom Welch. Welch, a Santa Rosa resident, lost his home, then went back and helped with the fire response in Napa and Sonoma counties after he and his family evacuated, Linn Walsh, assistant to the Mill Valley city manager, said Tuesday.
- PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com

The head of the union representing rank-and-file St. Paul firefighters has filed a workplace conduct complaint against Fire Chief Tim Butler, saying he used a derogatory term in an email to a firefighter last week. Butler said on Monday that he used a term that was “unprofessional and uncalled for” when he was frustrated.
- PUB DATE: 10/11/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press - Twin Cities.com