Fire crews responded to a fire in downtown Spokane Tuesday night after flames sparked inside the Les Schwab Tire Center on 2nd and Browne. The fire then quickly spread to the nearby Days Inn Hotel. Fire officials said they are treating the fire as a suspicious act, but did not confirm if they were dealing with an arsonist.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 2:57:16 AM - SOURCE: Northwest Cable News

Thanks to a specialized paddle board purchased through a grant from Vashon Rotary, island firefighters say they can now respond to marine rescue situations more quickly and safely. Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) receives about 30 water-related calls a year, according to Ben Davidson, who heads the department's marine rescue team.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 1:49:57 AM - SOURCE: Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber - metered site

The cause of a fire that destroyed two hangars and aircraft at Bowers Field in Ellensburg on Friday was accidental, according to the Kittitas County Fire Marshal’s Office. Interim Kittitas County Fire Marshal Josh Hink said an IASCO employee was removing fuel from one airplane when static electricity caught the plane’s fuel on fire, he said.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 1:49:47 AM - SOURCE: Ellensburg Daily Record

A new fire chief took office last week just days after five police officers were killed in an ambush and the city was reeling from tragedy. “You don’t expect to get hired on a job and have five funerals to attend immediately, and that’s heart-wrenching,” said enw Chief David Coatney. Coatney was hired as chief of Dallas Fire-Rescue after serving as the chief for Round Rock near Austin.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas - Fort Worth

The small Susitna Valley city of Houston lost its top emergency official this month when Fire Chief Tom Hood abruptly resigned with just two days' notice. Houston, the only place in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough where marijuana businesses are currently allowed, is a city of more than 2,000 residents but no active police department.
- PUB DATE: 7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: alaska dispatch news