The U.S. Forest Service can hire firefighters this year after winning an exemption from President Trump’s civilian governmental employee hiring freeze. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acting deputy secretary Michael Young announced exemptions to “ensure a safe food supply, fire-safe communities, safe and secure public lands and rapid emergency response to natural and human-caused disasters,” according to a USDA press release.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Missoulian

As a boy, Brandon J. Thibeau was so determined to be helpful, his grandmother had to cut her broom’s handle in half. That way, he could still pitch in sweeping up around the house, his mother said. It was an early glimpse of the young man her son would become. Never one to draw attention to himself, he was always looking out for others – even until his last days, she said.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Portland Press Herald

Prosecutors plan to file 12 counts of capital murder with special circumstance allegations today against three people arrested in connection with a 1993 fire at a Westlake apartment building that killed seven children and three adults, including two pregnant women, according to District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News

A Bronx first responder is not content to spend his vacations relaxing — instead, he patrols the Mexican border with a heavily armed vigilante group. “Our main goal is to stop narcotics trafficking,” said FDNY emergency medical technician Andy Poliakoff, whose time off is spent in the desolate Sonoran Desert hunting for Mexican drug runners.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

Sharon (VT) Volunteer Fire Department, initial attack unit. Dodge Ram 5500 cab and chassis; Cummins ISB 6.7-liter 320-hp engine; Waterous CSX 1,250-gpm pump.