California's corrections chief is defending the state's use of inmates with violent pasts to fight drought-fueled wildfires, while promising to mend relations with critics who fear the prisoners create a public safety danger. "This is not the time to do any retrenching with the fires we've been having — and there's no need to do any retrenching because there haven't been any problems," Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard said.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc news

A recent column published in the Washington Post suggested that because overall losses from fires have gone down in recent years, career firefighters are therefore largely irrelevant and their ranks could be diminished or replaced by part-time or volunteer workers. The column went on to describe firefighting as mostly about "eating and sleeping, mopping floors, lifting weights, grocery shopping.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: firerescue1

PHOTO - Emergency crews shoveled mud from a section of Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles after flash flood debris blocked the important roadway, stranded hundreds of vehicles, and forced some motorists to take refuge on top of their cars. Excavator trucks scooped and hauled away mud in the darkness Thursday night with the cleanup expected to continue well into Friday, leaving thousands of drivers searching for alternative routes.
- PUB DATE: 10/16/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: santa cruz sentinel

Toyne—Isabella (PA) Volunteer Fire Department, pumper-tanker. Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis.

If you live near the Pasco Kahlotus Highway, there is good news for you! Franklin County Fire District three has a new fire apparatus that will be in use this month. The water tender will be placed in service at fire station 31. Of the six fire stations in the district, three of them have water tenders.
- PUB DATE: 10/15/2015 9:39:39 PM - SOURCE: KEPR-TV CBS 19