Firefighters from as far as Australia and New Zealand have arrived in the West as massive wildfires raging in Washington state and elsewhere in the region taxed resources and led officials to put out a wide call for help. In Washington, a series of fires raging in the north-central part of the state that earlier killed three firefighters has now grown to become the largest in state history, fire spokesman Rick Isaacson said Monday.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2015 9:42:58 AM - SOURCE: KEPR-TV CBS 19

Winds shifted 180 degrees on Engine 642 as it headed up Woods Canyon Road about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday to fight the newly discovered Twisp River Fire. Inside were four firefighters. The engine somehow went off the road as flames approached. Three of the firefighters were later found deceased, inside the fire engine, said John Phipps, lead on the Coordinated Response Protocol Team that is investigating the deaths.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2015 3:21:38 AM - SOURCE: Wenatchee World

Wildfires near the town of Newhalem in the upper Skagit River Valley continue to burn, but they posed no immediate threat to facilities and buildings on Sunday, Aug. 23. A statement issued by the National Park Service on Sunday morning said eight fires of a total 3,900 acres are burning in the area, known collectively as the Upper Skagit Complex Fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2015 3:01:18 AM - SOURCE: Bellingham Herald

The fire official who led the response to a 2014 oil train derailment in Lynchburg criticized CSX Transportation, saying it took two hours for the company’s representative to arrive at a command post after the wreck. “I felt, from an incident commander’s perspective, that that two hours was a little bit long,” city Fire Battalion Chief Robert E.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: richmond times-dispatch

A new fire cadet program being developed by the FDNY could help move minorities to the head of the hiring line - but not without objection from the firefighters' union, the Daily News has learned. Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro will testify in favor of the proposal at a Monday meeting with Department of Citywide Administrative Services officials, sources said.
- PUB DATE: 8/24/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york daily news