VIDEO: Ten people were displaced due to an overnight fire at an apartment complex in Everett early Tuesday morning. Firefighters responded just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to the Marie Anne Terrace Apartments, and found a second-floor unit with an active fire. Two apartments sustained extensive fire damage, while several others dealt with smoke or water damage.
- PUB DATE: 2/7/2023 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

VIDEO: The Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) announced Monday it replaced its firefighting foam with new, safer foam. The new foam does not contain perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), chemicals that have been linked to contaminated water supplies. Washington state passed the Firefighting Agents and Equipment Law in 2018.
- PUB DATE: 2/6/2023 2:07:00 PM - SOURCE: KREM-TV CBS 2 Spokane

Belforest Volunteer Fire Department is pleased to introduce Engine 6455, a 1997 HME Fire Engine, the department posted on Facebook Sunday. Some of you may have spotted the truck upon its arrival in Belforest in early November. Since then, it has undergone a complete transformation, bringing the truck from the 1990’s into the 21st century. 

A multi-use asset with quick-response features and a host of modern capabilities, Engine 6455 is also equipped with: 

• 4-wheel drive
• A 15kW generator to power on-board hydraulic extrication tools, a light tower and other corded equipment
• 500-gallon water capacity and a 1000 GPM (gallon per minute) pump
• Hose, ladders and tools for structural and wild-land firefighting
• SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus) cascade bottle fill station
• Medical equipment and supplies

Our dedicated team of volunteer firefighters spent over 300 working hours on the transformation of Engine 6455. Their willingness to go above and beyond, completing most of the service, installation and upgrade work has saved thousands in labor costs alone. We are incredibly proud of this talented and hard-working team, and their commitment to the Belforest community.

From the Riggins Volunteer Fire Department Facebook post:

“I would like to introduce our newest fire apparatus. A 2006 Pierce International 1000-gallon pumper. Our department wants to send a huge thank you to the Bonneville County Fire District for allowing us the opportunity to come down and see their operation and purchase one of their fine trucks. We had a great time and met some wonderful people.”

The Nichols Fire Protection District, which already has one new fire engine being built now by Pierce, would like to purchase another to replace a 1996 truck, The Pioneer News reported.

In exchange for providing a bay for the county’s EMS unit, the department received funding for a new fire engine, and that engine is expected to be delivered in September, according to a Nichols Fire Protection District Facebook post.

A fire official said the district had requested state grant funds but was told that the county had been awarded millions of dollars in the American Rescue Plan Act and that should be where the request should be made, the report said.

Last year, the county appropriated $601,000 to purchase the truck through the ARPA funds. To purchase that same truck today, the cost would be $749,000, according to the report.

The fire official said the district would have to shop around to see if there are any demo trucks which might be available at a lower cost, the report said. With an annual budget of $300,000, the fire official said the district just didn’t have the funds to make such a purchase.

The district would like to purchase another fire truck to replace an older truck, help cover its own 17 square miles of territory as well as providing mutual aid for other departments, according to the report.