Port Huron firefighters responded to 83 fewer medical calls from June 15 to July 13 than they did during the same time period the previous year. Administrators hope the decrease in medical runs — a result of a new medical response policy — will lead to cost savings. Public Safety Director Michael Reaves said it is much too early to tell.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the times herald

Firefighters working for the Navy in Hampton Roads say a manpower shortage is forcing them to work mandatory overtime that often means shifts of 72 or 96 hours straight with just a 24-hour break. Local union leaders say their members are suffering under exhausting schedules, while complaints to their civilian and Navy bosses have not yielded results.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot/HamptonRoads.com

Huge explosions in a warehouse district sent up massive fireballs that turned the night sky into day, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundred in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, officials and witnesses said Thursday. That was more than double the number previously reported. Twelve of the dead were from among the more than 1,000 firefighters sent to fight the blaze set off by the explosions shortly before midnight, the official Xinhua News agency said.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: cbs news

The Wolverine Fire in north central Washington has burned up more than 30,000 acres. Hotshot crews are now trying to save a small Lutheran religious retreat center called Holden Village near Lake Chelan. Fire crews are not having a lot of success stopping or containing the Wolverine Fire burning on the northwest side of Lake Chelan.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2015 8:23:18 PM - SOURCE: Northwest Public Radio