An unprecedented flag ceremony honored two retiring Port Angeles firefighter paramedics. The Port Angeles Fire Department flew two American flags over the station and presented them to Pete Sekac and Mel Twitchell on Friday in the first retirement ceremony of its kind for the department. Sekac will retire with 37 years of service to the department, and Twitchell will retire with 33.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 4:03:51 AM - SOURCE: Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News

A fire Saturday afternoon at an Ephrata apartment complex led to fire and smoke damage to several units. The Ephrata Fire Department, along with Grant County fire districts 13 and 7, responded to a structure fire at the Karen Lane Apartments on D Street Southeast. Firefighters arrived to find a fire in one apartment extending to the attic and venting through the roof, according to Grant County Fire District 13.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 3:13:35 AM - SOURCE: iFiberOne

A police and fire station shuttered earlier this year by the city of Springfield are reopening this month amid pressure from local unions. Fire Station No. 5 opened on Saturday — less than two weeks after the city announced plans to postpone its reopening from July 1 to Aug. 7 due to staffing and equipment issues — after calls from union leaders for it keep the promise it made to voters who expected coverage to resume after an income tax increase was approved at the polls in May.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Springfield News-Sun

Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. retired this week from the position he has held since 2010, citing health concerns, the need to assume more responsibility for caring for his aging parents and hoping to spend more time with his family. "I've been wonderfully blessed to have had this opportunity," Whitfield said.
- PUB DATE: 7/3/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Buffalo News