Austin-Travis County EMS on Wednesday began housing medics inside Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to improve response times as a record-high number of passengers are flying in and out. EMS officials said that due to the increase in call volume to the airport, ambulances were unable to respond to other emergencies in the areas.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin American-Statesman - Metered Site

A community on the North Shore is discussing an idea that would have police officers trained to become volunteer firefighters. The goal of the proposal is to help with recent staffing shortages in Manchester-by-the-Sea, but the firefighters union doesn't think it's a good idea. "The police department is understaffed," union president Bob Cavender said.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTS-TV NBC 10 Boston

The Moses Lake Fire Department has been awarded a $3.3 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security to employ a number of new firefighters and paramedics over the next three years, according to MLFD Chief Brett Bastian. Speaking to the Moses Lake City Council during a regular meeting on Tuesday, Bastian said the grant – which the city council unanimously voted in favor of – under DHS’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program has no strings attached and no requirement for city matching funds, so long as the grant money is spent solely on salaries and benefits over the next three years.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Columbia Basin Herald - Metered Site

A load of hay bales that was being carried by a semi-truck burned for hours along northbound Interstate 5 in Everett Thursday, closing lanes and backing up traffic for miles. The two right northbound lanes have been blocked south of the State Route 99/526/527 interchange since about 7 a.m. The carpool lane is open to all traffic to help alleviate the backup, which as of 9:42 a.
- PUB DATE: 3/2/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

The Gadsden City Council last Tuesday approved the $1 million purchase of a new ladder truck for the Gadsden Fire Department, weisradio.com reported.

The E-One HP75 Quint on an E-One Typhoon chassis will replace a 16-year-old ladder truck at Station No. 4 in Alabama City, and according to a fire official is a case of needing to move now or face a lengthy wait, the report said. 

The $1,019,956 tab will be paid from American Rescue Plan funds that had been set aside for renovations to the Memorial Bridge on Broad Street, according to the report. But the council must approve an ordinance shifting those funds to the fire department’s account after its second reading. 

A city official said he’s confident after a city delegation’s recent visit to Washington, D.C., that Gadsden will be successful in its request for federal grant money for bridge upgrades, the report said.