The Mercer Island Fire Department presented local student Caroline Crow with a Fire Chief’s coin and a certificate on March 21, in recognition of her notable actions regarding a house fire last fall. On Sept. 11, 2016, the MIFD was dispatched to an automatic fire alarm event. Upon hearing the audible alarm, Crow went outside to investigate and discovered smoke and flames coming from her neighbor’s house.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2017 1:01:37 PM - SOURCE: Mercer Island Reporter

East Pierce firefighters were called to a large vapor leak in Sumner. Fire crews said it appeared to be two pressure relief valves activating and venting some type of product, likely natural gas, at a large rate at Williams Pipeline Mercaptan Station in the 2300 block of East Valley Highway East. East Valley was closed from Cascade Water in the 2100 block to Log Cabin at the 2700 block while crews assessed the situation.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2017 11:16:54 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7

Officials say pipeline safety regulators and Puget Sound Energy have reached a settlement over a complaint regarding a natural gas explosion in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle last year. The state Utilities and Transportation Commission said Tuesday the settlement would impose a penalty of $2.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2017 10:41:38 AM - SOURCE: CBS Seattle KSTW-TV & KPTK-AM

Could a fire engine steam boiler built in 1902 be brought up to speed to meet modern safety standards? That was the question facing Richard Coutant and firefighters with the Charlotte (NC) Fire Department. Illumination, an online publication of Duke Energy, recently looked at how they went about solving that question, and shared some photos and video from the project.

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In his 34-year engineering career, Coutant has worked on just about everything related to power plant boilers, but he never had anything come across his desk quite like this. The Charlotte (NC) Fire Department had maintained the Metropolitan horse-drawn fire engine since its purchase in 1902, and firefighters enjoyed showing off “Old Sue” for parades and public demonstrations. But the state Department of Labor wanted proof the steam boiler – which powers a piston engine driving the water pump – could meet current safety standards.

So Old Sue was sidelined. That’s where Coutant, a Duke Energy engineer based in Raleigh, and his colleagues came in.

"The detail of inspection that the state wanted was way beyond anything we had ever done and our knowledge of pressure boilers is very limited," Charlotte Fire Chief Jon Hannan said. "The only organization I could think of that still uses boilers extensively is Duke Energy."

After searching the company's directory, Hannan found a listing for Duke Energy Senior Vice President and Chief Fossil/Hydro Officer Regis Repko.

“I figured if anyone on the planet had the resources to solve this problem, it would be him,” Hannan said, “so I gave him a call.”

Repko set the partnership in motion so Coutant could help the fire department pro bono.

Although the fire department had the original operating manual and history for Metropolitan Steam Fire Engine 2813, no original design specifications existed. For these types of inspections, engineers typically have specifications for guidance. In this case, Coutant and his team had to establish the boiler's original design through reverse engineering.

Read more at http://illumination.duke-energy.com/articles/firefighters-reward-old-sue-with-new-life