The city of Kenner announced Wednesday (Sept. 6) that Fire Chief John Hellmers has been placed on administrative leave while he is under investigation. Kenner Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Foshee's press release did not say what sparked the investigation. But the city will not comment any further on the matter until the completion of the probe.
- PUB DATE: 9/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Orleans Times-Picayune & Nola.com

A hundred Spokane and Spokane Valley firefighters today (Wednesday) received new tools that will allow them to save lives while they’re not on duty. They’re participating in a national pilot project designed to help save the lives of people who suffer cardiac arrest in their homes or other private places.
- PUB DATE: 9/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokane Public Radio

A wet winter and spring in the Western U.S. brought predictions that the 2017 wildfire season would be mild. It was anything but. It ended up one of the worst in U.S. history in land burned. The smoke, the flames, the aching lungs, the evacuations. They're summertime facts of life in the U.S. West, where every wildfire season competes with memories of previous destruction.
- PUB DATE: 9/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report

The wildfire that forced evacuations at Crystal Mountain Resort is now bigger than the city of Tacoma. Fire officials say the lightning-sparked Norse Peak Fire has grown to over 70 square miles and burned 45,433 acres on Thursday. Tacoma is 62 square miles in area. The fire was 8 percent contained as of Wednesday night.
- PUB DATE: 9/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: King5

As he stood along a recently cleared access road south of Archer Mountain, Chris Werner’s eyes remained glued to a few small flames that crackled as they danced on the forest floor about 10 feet away from him. “At any time, anything can happen,” he said. “You always have to be ready.” It’s tedious work, but Werner spent Wednesday keeping the flames from getting too high and spreading past the south line of the wildfire, which has grown to about 75 acres in the two days since it sparked from the Eagle Creek Fire raging in Oregon.
- PUB DATE: 9/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Spokesman-Review