This fall, the Seattle mayor’s office and city council have agreed to jointly create a new type of crisis response unit to be available when people call 911.
Right now, 911 calls in Seattle go overwhelmingly to police or the fire department. To offer more options — like in Austin, Texas, for instance, where dispatchers offer “police, fire, medical, or mental health" — Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold said they have to first undertake “back-of-the-house work." That means installing new software that allows for “criteria-based dispatch” at the city’s Community Safety and Communications Center.
“They’ve identified the vendor, I believe they’re finalizing the contract,” Herbold said. “The new system will have to be installed. They’ll have to get trained on it.”
KUOW.org
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The City of Port Angeles announced Thursday the promotion of Assistant Chief Derrell Sharp to Chief of the Port Angeles Fire Department. He will assume this new role immediately, following the retirement of Chief Ken Dubuc earlier this year.
Chief Sharp is a 30-year veteran of the fire service, with extensive training and experience in all aspects of Fire Department Operations, Emergency Medical Services, Health and Safety, and Training Program Management.
He joined the PAFD as Assistant Chief of Operations & EMS in July of last year. Before that, Sharp served Clallam County Fire District #3 for several years, beginning as a Volunteer in 1991, and rising through the ranks to become Captain of Paramedics and Safety Officer in 2015.
Chief Sharp keeps himself busy in the local community, as well.
My Clallam County
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VIDEO: Crews responded to a warehouse fire that sparked up twice overnight near Northeast Spokane.
Spokane Fire District 9 says they responded to the initial fire around 10 p.m. on Sept. 25 and when they arrived, the fire was small and was able to be completely put out. Then, at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 26 they responded to another call for a fire in the same location. When they arrived, the fire was much bigger.
Fire chief Jack Cates with Fire District 9 says these fires seem suspicious. Right now, there are no reported injuries and the fire is completely out. Crews are still on scene monitoring for hot spots. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane
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Fire District 3 extinguished a blaze in a multi-storied house in Sequim on Friday night.
All eight occupants of the house on Oak Court left it safely before firefighters arrived, said Fire Chief Ben Andrews in a press release.
Firefighters were dispatched at 7:28 p.m. for the fire in an upstairs bedroom. They put out the fire, confining it to the room of origin, Andrews said.
“Other than the fact that there was a fire, everything went right,” he said.
“The residents called 911 quickly. They evacuated everyone from the house. No one was hurt and the damage was limited,” he added.
The cause of fire was not reported by Saturday.
Chief Andrews noted that there were working smoke detectors and many of the rooms had their doors closed which limited the amount of smoke and heat damage to the rooms adjacent to the room that was on fire.
Peninsula Daily News Online
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Crews from the Spokane Fire Department put out a house fire burning near Franklin Park.
The fire was burning off North Howard Street and West Wabash Avenue inside the garage of a home on Saturday. When arriving to the home, firefighters saw smoke and fire coming from the home. Crews confirmed with the homeowner that no one was inside the garage.
Before firefighters went into the garage, they saw heavy fire in the overhead framing members of the home, getting to the point where it could have collapsed. Because of this, crews put out the fire from the outside of the home.
There was damage to the garage from the fire. Crews knocked down the fire in five minutes and stayed an extra two hours for overhaul operations to make sure the fire was completely put out.
No one was hurt in the fire.
KXLY-TV ABC 4 Spokane
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Changing weather patterns have increased the threat of the Bolt Creek Fire, causing a series of new evacuations as officials say the fire could get more volatile rapidly due to heat and dry conditions.
The fire, which has been burning since Sept. 10, has gone from 96% contained down to just 7% contained.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, some areas east of Skykomish, along with residences north and south of US Route 2 are under a Level 1 evacuation notice, meaning to start preparing to leave. Level 1 evacuations—’get ready’—are also in effect for Beckler River to FS Road 66, north and south of US 2, including Foss River Road and Index.
Skykomish, Baring, Grotto, and the area along US 2, east to the Money Creek tunnel are under a Level 2 notice, meaning to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
My Northwest
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