As the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the IAFC has voted to support the enhancement of communications for responders. "...More than 343 firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers died as a result of the attacks at the World Trade Center on 9/11. As the 15th anniversary approaches, the IAFC joins the families of these fallen public-safety officers in vowing that the sacrifices of 9/11 will not be in vain," officials said in a statement Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

Mark Johnson was elected chief of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company this week, the pinnacle of a volunteer fire service career that started 18 years ago as the result of seeing an ad in the newspaper. Johnson, a resident of Bel Air, was 34 years old, with two young children, in 1998 when he was sitting in the Bagel Works restaurant near the main South Hickory Avenue firehouse, reading The Aegis.
- PUB DATE: 9/9/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baltimore Sun

At around 10:26 this morning, McClure Elementary School was evacuated after the smell of gas filled classrooms. "Luckily staff pulled the pull box, evacuated the kids and no one was injured, but we did have a little bit of a gas odor inside of the building," said Jeff Pfaff, PIO for the Yakima Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2016 9:21:13 PM - SOURCE: kndu

Fire officials said someone drained the gas from a fire truck in Stevens County. Stevens County Fire District Commissioner Arden Fritz posted on Facebook that the truck was parked on the Evans Cutoff to help his fire district. This was to help with response to people living on Williams Lake Road. He said thankful they did not have to respond to a fire, but it could have been a bad situation if they did.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2016 9:13:04 PM - SOURCE: Northwest Cable News

Charles McKenzie, the Spokane firefighters injured in an apartment fire in north Spokane Wednesday was transferred to Seattle's Harborview Hospital for treatment of his burns. McKenzie was injured the during the two-alarm fire at the Rosewood Club Apartments trying to save two people. Those people, a man and a woman, unfortunately, didn't make it.
- PUB DATE: 9/8/2016 8:41:09 PM - SOURCE: kndu