The Tacoma Fire Department has responded to 101 encampment-related fires so far in 2023. Fire officials said this is similar to what they saw with last year's trend. Firefighters responded to an encampment fire near the on-ramp onto I-5 from 26th Street Tuesday morning before 6:30 am. No one was injured.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 Seattle

First came the voter-approved merger of Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue into East Jefferson Fire Rescue that went into effect Jan. 1. The next step will be approving new commissioner districts in the merged Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 and following a process that will whittle the number of commissioners from 10 (five each from the two districts) to five.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Peninsula Daily News - Metered Site

A semi-truck caught fire after a wrong-way collision on I-5 near Joint Base Lewis-McChord's main gate on Tuesday afternoon. Backups were at least 6-miles each direction at rush hour. Troopers said a wrong-way vehicle collided with a semi, but there were no serious injuries. Backups were as long as 6-miles each direction Tuesday afternoon at rush hour.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2023 9:30:56 PM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Tacoma

The Wichita West (TX) Volunteer Fire Department made the following announcement Monday on Facebook:

NEW STATION COMING SOON (it’s a long read, but promise it’s worth it) :

It’s no secret we’ve been growing, both in membership and our fleet. In the last year and a half, we’ve added 3 apparatuses which were all donated to us, and a new frontline engine on the way. These apparatuses will all need to fit in an area where we currently only have room for 2.

We are extremely fortunate enough to have maintained steady membership growth, and have outgrown our current training room. We’d also like to host outside departments on training nights, in order to have a more cohesive flow on scenes.

With the highway expansion still looming, and making the apron in front of the station unsafe for our firefighters to pull the trucks out on when responding to emergencies, making room in the bays for training, or when we do in house maintenance, clearly a change was needed.

A couple donors who wish to remain anonymous, approached us with an amazing opportunity. Approximately 6 acres of land and $600,000 was offered to us to start construction on a new station at 7952 Seymour Hwy, just west of the ServiceMaster location.

While this will certainly get us a great start on a new station, anything over the $600,000 will need to be paid for by the department. At this time, our goal is to raise an additional $150,000. We will be asking the community to assist us in reaching that goal.

Several remodeling options to our current station were looked at, each hitting several roadblocks and requiring additional work to land not owned by the fire department. This approach, we will be able to have room to grow, and have the option to expand the station far into the future should it be needed. Details of the building will be released in future posts as well.

This is a very exciting time for us and the community! We hope you’ll support us as you always have, to help us reach our goal and build this asset to the community.

By MARC LEVY Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday.

Shapiro’s office said he met with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw on Thursday and secured an initial commitment for financial aid as the cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment continues.

Norfolk Southern has made similar pledges to Ohio, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the company to cover the costs of cleanup from the derailment that toppled 38 rail cars in East Palestine, Ohio.

No one was hurt, but concerns that the chemicals could explode led state and local officials to approve releasing and burning toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars and to evacuate half of East Palestine and the surrounding area near the Pennsylvania border. Shapiro said Norfolk Southern will pay $5 million to reimburse fire departments for equipment that was contaminated or damaged and $1 million to Beaver and Lawrence counties to help business owners and residents whose livelihoods were damaged.

Another nearly $1.4 million will go to state agencies that responded, including for setting up a health clinic for residents, Shapiro said.

Shapiro’s office said he will push Norfolk Southern to cover any additional costs that accumulate.

In Ohio, Norfolk Southern previously announced more than $1 million to replace fire equipment used in the response to the fiery wreck, plus $1 million for East Palestine and more than $1.2 million for evacuation costs for nearly 900 families and businesses.

The company has said it is “committed to coordinating the cleanup project and paying for its associated costs,” and wants to ensure that East Palestine’s residents and natural environment recover.

Federal and state officials have repeatedly said it’s safe for evacuated residents to return to the area and that air testing in the town and inside hundreds of homes hasn’t detected any concerning levels of contaminants. However, some residents say they’re still suffering from illnesses nearly a month later.

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Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/timelywriter.