firefighters Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Firefighters voice frustrations over struggling Tacoma city budget

By Lauren Gallup November 26, 2024

Tacoma Fire Department Engine 8 outside the station. (Courtesy: Tacoma Fire Department Facebook)

The City of Tacoma has a budget problem; its expenses are higher than its revenue. That means the city has a projected structural deficit of $24 million for the 2025-26 biennial budget. Staff and city council members have been working to balance that, and one thing they’re proposing cutting has a lot of community members upset. Read More

Gwen Fire rages across North Idaho wine country

By Lauren Paterson August 2, 2024

A wide shot reveals green sprawling rows of wine grapes beside a river near a blackened canyon cliff.

The Gwen Fire has burned nearly 30,000 acres in the Clearwater Canyon near Juliaetta so far. In this photo taken July 31, 2024, the Rivaura Estate Vineyard and Winery can […]Read More

Memorial in Olympia for firefighters in the works with bill passage

By Lauren Paterson March 6, 2024

Five people in suits and dresses stand inside a conference room at the Capitol building in Olympia, Washington under fluorescent lights.

Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers who are firefighters, gathered this week in Olympia to highlight the success of the bill’s passage. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB) Listen (Runtime :55) […]Read More

Precipitation, wind change slow growth of Spokane County wildfires

By Rebecca White August 21, 2023

Two firefighters face away from camera looking up at tree. They each hold large chainsaws and are dressed in long yellow sleeves, jeans and hardhats. In the distant background, smoke can be seen rising above black ground in front of scattered pine trees.

Workers remove trees impacted by the Gray Fire near Interstate 90. (Courtesy: Washington State Department of Transportation) Read By: Rebecca White / Spokane Public Radio Update: Interstate 90 has re-opened. Washington […]Read More

Crews keep Newell Road Fire from reaching solar farm, landfill

By Courtney Flatt July 24, 2023

Shrubs and trees and transmission lines are in the foreground of the picture. White smoke rises in behind them in the background of the picture.

The Newell Road Fire in south-central Washington has burned more than 50,000 acres. (Credit: Newell Road Fire Information, Facebook.) Read A fire in south-central Washington has threatened renewable energy projects, […]Read More

Volunteer firefighter, EMT shortage straining local departments

By Rachel Sun March 7, 2023

Debby Carscallen, emergency medical service division chief for the Moscow Fire Department, says over the past five years it’s gotten harder to recruit volunteer EMTs and firefighters. At the same […]Read More

Fire Danger In Benton County Is Very High

By Dori Luzzo Gilmour July 26, 2022

Listen (Runtime 1:21) Read The fire danger forecast for all of Benton County was raised to the level of VERY HIGH this week. This means restrictions for residents and farmers. […]Read More

Firefighters Hope Washington Bill Will Help Remove Toxic Chemicals From Protective Gear

By Courtney Flatt January 24, 2022

A new bill in Washington could help speed the process to regulate toxic chemicals in products such as structural firefighter protective gear.

Firefighters say toxic chemicals in their protective equipment are a big concern and need to be replaced with safer alternatives.Read More

Wildland Fire Managers Up Level Of National Preparedness, Seeing Increased Demand For Firefighters

By NWPB News June 22, 2021

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office blocks off a U.S. Forest Service Road outside of Flagstaff, Ariz., on Monday, June 21, 2021. Dozens of wildfires were burning in hot, dry conditions across the U.S. West, including a blaze touched off by lightning that was moving toward northern Arizona's largest city. CREDIT: Brady Wheeler/Arizona Daily Sun via AP

The National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday that it’s the second earliest it reached what it calls preparedness level 4 on the 1-5 scale since 1990. It’s also only the fourth time in the last 20 years that it has reached the level 4 in June.Read More

‘Nothing Looks Good.’ Across The West, Firefighters Prepare For A Potentially Bad Fire Season

By NWPB News May 30, 2021

A couple embrace Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, while touring an area devastated by the Almeda Fire in Phoenix, Ore. John Locher/AP

Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.Read More

Thankful, They Are: Western Firefighters Get Baby Yoda Morale Boost From Oregon Boy’s Gift

By NWPB News October 1, 2020

Lucas Galloway, from left, Jaebyn Drake, Rhett Schieder and Audrey Wilcox pose for a selfie with Baby Yoda on Sept. 20, 2020, while fighting the Holiday Farm Fire in Blue River, Oregon. In early September, a 5-year-old Oregon boy named Carver and his grandmother delivered a toy version of “The Mandalorian” character to a donation center for firefighters. Courtesy of Audrey Wilcox via AP

A Facebook page called “Baby Yoda fights fires” has been documenting his journey and spreading joy far beyond the fire lines. More than 30,000 people and counting are following the page as he travels from crew to crew.Read More

With Fire Season In Full Swing, Corrections Crews Adapt To Pandemic Safety Measures

By Courtney Flatt July 29, 2020

A member of a Washington Department of Corrections fire crew assisting on a previous controlled burn. Courtesy of Washington DOC

As wildfire season heats up, Washington fire managers are working out new ways for incarcerated people to help on the fire lines and stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. Correctional crews have helped put out fires and work in fire camp kitchens for decades. And things are a little different this year.Read More

Improvisation Necessary For Northwest First Responders Facing COVID-19 Threat

By Tom Banse April 24, 2020

South King Fire and Rescue Lt. Greg Willett stands in an aid car optimized to transport COVID-positive patients.

Coronavirus risk and ongoing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) are leading fire departments around the region to rediscover the enduring truth of the idiom, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Read More

‘Pretty Humbling And Enlightening’ Says King County Firefighter Recovering From COVID-19

By Tom Banse April 24, 2020

Fire Captain Shane Smith is recovering from a serious brush with COVID-19. He is mystified about where he contracted the virus. CREDIT: Brad Chaney/South King Fire & Rescue - 2019

More than 500 firefighters and EMTs in the Pacific Northwest have been temporarily quarantined after suspected exposure to the coronavirus over the past two months. The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters and the Oregon Fire Service Coronavirus Response Team have been monitoring the number of first responders taken out of service. Read More

Fire Camp Germ Spread Is Dicey In Normal Times. COVID-19 Could Rip Through Crews This Season

By Anna King April 20, 2020

Dillon Sanders looks on as a collection of wildland firefighters train for an upcoming season. Sanders is the owner of Inbound LLC in Oakridge, Oregon, which runs 20-person hand crews and 13 engines for fire suppression. CREDIT: TONY SCHICK

This year, fire camp could be as dangerous as the wildfires, and top Western managers are deep in planning how to make fire camps COVID-19 ready for fire crews. Hilary Franz is Washington’s commissioner of public lands. She says state, federal, tribal and local officials are trying to make fighting wildfires safe during a pandemic. Read More

Northwest Wildfire Season Is Coming Up — With Fewer Firefighters Trained Due To Coronavirus

By Courtney Flatt March 27, 2020

File photo of a firefighter using a driptorch to apply fire during a prescribed burn. CREDIT: SWANSON SCOTT

Each year, state, federal and local officials train around 1,000 firefighters. Trainings start in April and last through May. Now, that's all on hold.Read More

Working Americans Are Getting Less Sleep, Especially Those Who Save Our Lives

By NPR News October 28, 2019

More Americans have been getting less than seven hours of sleep a night in the past several years, especially in professions such as health care. CREDIT: ER Productions Limited/Getty Images

The number of workers getting less than seven hours of sleep a night is rising. Stress and our culture of constant connection may be to blame.Read More

Okanogan County Firefighter Dies From Injuries Sustained During Labor Day Weekend Fire

By Courtney Flatt October 3, 2019

Christian Johnson, 55, suffered burns over 60 percent of his body. His lungs were also burned. The veteran firefighter was helping fight a small brush Sept. 1 fire near Okanogan. Courtesy Amy Freel/GoFundMe

Christian Johnson, 55, had been flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after suffering burns over more than half of his body fighting the Spring Coulee Fire on Sept. 1. Read More

‘It’s A Long Road’: Doctors Share Update Of Still-Critical Okanogan County Firefighter

By Courtney Flatt September 16, 2019

Christian Johnson was severely burned while helping put out a Labor Day weekend brush is still in critical condition. Doctors said the recovery process will take several months.Read More

Okanogan County Firefighter Severely Injured, Remains In Coma At Seattle Hospital

By Courtney Flatt September 3, 2019

County and state firefighters responded quickly to the Spring Coulee Fire on Sunday, Sept. 1, in Okanogan County, where Christian Johnson was severely injured. He was flown to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center. Courtesy of Okanogan County Emergency Managment aerial video

A Washington firefighter was badly burned over the Labor Day weekend while fighting a small brush fire in Okanogan County. He’s currently in a medically induced coma at a Seattle hospital.Read More

Federal Agencies Boost Efforts To Address Wildland Firefighter Suicides

By NWPB News July 15, 2019

Bill Arsenault of the Idaho Falls Fire Department looks at memorial stones at the Wildland Firefighters Monument at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Federal officials at the NIFC are bolstering mental health resources for wildland firefighters following an apparent increase in suicides. CREDIT: KEITH RIDLER/AP

No figures on wildland firefighter suicides are available because federal agencies often track only fatalities that occur during work hours, and families don’t always release a cause of death. But lang management agencies are concerned about an increasing number of suicides, and seeking to address ways to help.Read More

Not Enough Is Known About Smoke’s Effect On Wildland Firefighters’ Health

By Jes Burns May 30, 2019

A line of wildland firefighters marches through the woods during the Yellowstone fires of 1988. The massive complex of fires, which burned more than 790,000 acres, was a transformative moment in the country's view of wildfire. CREDIT: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Over the past few years, Northwest communities have been getting better acquainted with wildfire smoke. But even in the most affected places, people can get some relief by limiting time outside and using air filters and inexpensive masks. These aren’t options for wildland firefighters. Read More

Pullman Firefighters Prepare For Stair Climb

By Murrow News - Ryan Peerboom March 21, 2019

A look at the importance of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's annual stair climb to Pullman firefighters as they prepare to make the climb.Read More