With a heavy heart, South King Fire & Rescue announced that Retired Chief Bud Thorson passed away on Jan. 13, 2023 at the young age of 93 years. “Chief Thorson was a true visionary and left behind a legacy,” the department said. Chief Bud Thorson was born in Centerville, South Dakota, on July 16th, 1929, and moved to Seattle when he was seven.
- PUB DATE: 1/26/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Waterland Blog

Firefighters in Marysville were quick to control an apartment fire Wednesday morning. “You could just see the flames, the smoke, and little balls popping everywhere,” said Tony, who lives in the apartment complex. People like Tony who live in the apartments off 67th and 88th Street in Marysville got quite the wake-up call.
- PUB DATE: 1/25/2023 7:02:00 PM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

One motorhome was destroyed and another damaged by fire Wednesday afternoon in the Wenatchee Rescue Mission Safe Park. Wenatchee Valley firefighters responded at about 12:10 p.m. to reports of a vehicle fire at the safe park near Ohme Garden. One motorhome was a total loss. A second motorhome had fire damage, fire officials told Newsradio 560 KPQ.
- PUB DATE: 1/25/2023 4:00:00 PM - SOURCE: iFiber One News Radio

In the coming days, approximately 1,200 Slocomb water customers will receive, along with their monthly bill, a flyer from Slocomb Fire and Rescue asking residents to donate money to help replace a pumper truck, wdhn.com reported.

The funds will be earmarked to replace fire engine 4, which has served for almost 34 years and has reached its end, the report said.

The fire department says it’s important to get a new truck not only for the city but will help in fighting mutual aid fires, according to the report.

If citizens would like to donate to a new fire truck, they can fill out the flyer, which will come in the mail with their water bill, and drop it off at Slocomb City Hall, or at the water board office.

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Go Green Clean Cancer Awareness and Prevention Program is using a donated Alexis Fire Equipment pumper to educate firefighters and fire departments about the risk of carcinogens at fire scenes and distribute decon equipment for gross decon turnout gear at fire incidents.

John L. Swan, chief at Colona (IL) Fire Protection District and past president of the Illinois Firefighters Association, founded the program, which is registered as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Swan points out the program’s mission statement says the initiative is dedicated to developing and promoting an effective health intervention program to reduce the risks of cancer to firefighters at the local, state and national levels.

As part of the program, Swan accepted the donation of an Alexis pumper used to carry and distribute the decon equipment, which is then donated to fire departments after they go through a brief training on its use.

“We want to provide training and educational materials to all firefighters to raise their awareness of the firefighter cancer crisis,” Swan says. “So the program assists in the procurement of equipment necessary for post-fire or post-exposure cleaning and decontamination.”

Jeff Morris, president of Alexis Fire Equipment, notes that the pumper his company donated to the Go Green Clean program is a 1995 engine built on an HME chassis and cab with a 1,250-gallon per minute (gpm) pump and a 750-gallon water tank. “The pumper is a fully functioning unit that was originally built for Rochelle (IL) Fire Department,” Morris observes. “Whe