Firefighters from Petaluma Fire Department and other agencies responded to the fire.
Jan. 13—Fifteen people were displaced late Thursday night by a fire at an apartment complex in Petaluma, and a battalion chief confirmed that it appears to have started in the ground-floor carport area.
Firefighters were dispatched a little after 11:30 p.m. Thursday to Oak Creek Apartments at 110 Graylawn Ave., and arrived within three minutes to find the structure “well involved,” Petaluma Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Weaver said.
Heavy fire was coming from the carport area, with five vehicles on fire there along with the exterior of the building and upper-floor apartments, Weaver said. Firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the blaze, and no injuries were reported.
The complex was deemed uninhabitable, causing 15 people to be displaced, and damage is estimated to be near $500,000, the department said.
Weaver said firefighters always make a “head count” of displaced residents and report it to the local Red Cross in order to find them temporary housing.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Weaver said it could take days or weeks to make a final determination.
A resident of the complex posted on social media that the fire began with an electric vehicle in the carport.
“I can see that section of carport from my patio,” the resident said. “I was awake and had my slider open so I heard it when the flames started. I ran outside with my phone and called 911 and it was just that car on fire at that time. Then it quickly spread! Such a sad night for our neighbors!”
The resident added that “firemen spent a large portion of their visit focused on that car after flames were extinguished as well.”
Weaver confirmed one of the vehicles that burned was electric, but whether it was the cause of the fire was “hard to say because of the smoke and fire damage. … All the area was well involved when we arrived.”
Rancho Adobe Fire District, Sonoma Valley Fire Department and North Bay Fire District personnel also responded to the blaze.
An irrigation pivot waters a crop of sugar beets south of Meridian.
The United States has suffered from sixty $1 billion-plus weather and climate disasters in the last three years, totaling a loss exceeding $434.6 billion and 1,460 deaths, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Some of the most significant losses have come via hurricanes and tornadoes throughout the Midwest and the southeast, but other types of natural disasters have ravaged the west, including Idaho.
The primary causes of $1 billion climate disasters in western states since 2020 are drought and wildfires.
According to the NCEI, Idaho has been involved in five such disasters: three wildfire-related disasters and two droughts.
Here is a list of the five $1 billion disasters that have affected Idaho in some capacity since 2020:
Fall 2020 – Western wildfires
August 2020 had an average temperature of 74.7 degrees nationwide, ranking as the third-warmest August on record at the time. A summer of below-average rainfall set up the perfect conditions for a busy wildfire season in the west — Colorado saw its largest wildfire on record, while California recorded its 2nd- and 3rd-largest wildfires in state history.
Idaho experienced 933 wildfires statewide in 2020, which burned more than 318,000 acres. Wildfire damage nationwide cost about $16.5 billion and caused 46 deaths; Idaho incurred between $100-250 million in damages, but NCEI does not provide death totals for individual states.
2021 – Western drought and heat dome
An historic Pacific Northwest heat dome characterized the summer of 2021, of which Idaho was very much a part. Boise recorded a high temperature of over 100 degrees 12 times in July 2021; the lowest high temperature was a balmy 91 degrees.
But it wasn’t just the extreme heat.
An already ongoing drought was intensified by high temperatures and rapidly dried out vegetation across the west, according to NOAA. By May, about half of Idaho was under drought conditions because a mild winter and warm spring led to a low snowpack, meaning less water in Idaho’s reservoirs.
Nationwide, the drought and heat wave resulted in $8.4 billion in damage and caused 229 deaths, while it cost Idahoans up to $100 million in damages. Several Idahoans died in the heat dome, such as a 38-year-old Idaho City woman who suffered a heat stroke while on a hike, and a 78-year-old Caldwell man died in his bed dehydrated.
“This heat dome for the Pacific Northwest, specifically (in) the coastal cities, was just so far different than what has been experienced previously,” Katie Lee, associate professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Sociology at the University of Idaho, previously told the Statesman. “Their infrastructure wasn’t capable of handling this heat.”
2021 – Western wildfires
The summer heat wave and severe drought conditions in 2021 also led to another active wildfire season that year.
Idaho’s marquee wildfire of the season was the Boundary Fire, which sparked up in mid-August and lasted until late October. The fire merged with the nearby Scarface Fire in mid-September, becoming a single wildfire still called the Boundary Fire. In total, it burned 87,778 acres of mixed conifer, timber, brush and short grass.
Continued drought conditions led to another busy wildfire season in the west throughout the summer of 2022. Although no Idaho fires were as damaging as the 2021 Boundary Fire, the Moose Fire near Salmon burned more than 130,000 acres of brush and timber, about one-third of the state’s total burned acreage in 2022.
Although the Moose Fire was larger than 2021’s Boundary Fire, the latter burned down valuable natural and economic resources in the Salmon-Challis National Forest and the Lowman Ranger District of the Boise National Forest.
Other fires in New Mexico, Oregon, Montana, California and Alaska resulted in a total damage cost of $3.1 billion and took 17 lives. Idaho’s damage total was in the range of $100-250 million but the total loss of life for the state is not provided in the data.
2022 – Western/Central Drought and Heat wave
Nationwide, the 2022 drought was one of the costliest on record, according to NOAA. It cost $21 billion in damages and led to 136 deaths. According to data provided by NCEI, Idaho was somewhere between $100-250 million of that total; NCEI does not provide a more precise figure.
The summer of 2022 was the second-hottest on record for Boise, surpassed only by the summer of 2021. Throughout the summer months, Boise hit the triple-digit mark on 23 occasions and, including September, pushed that total up to 27 days. It’s a total that blows the previous record of 20 days in a calendar year, set in 2003, out of the water.
While such hot temperatures provide the perfect excuse to get outside and enjoy summer activities, heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious dangers for children and people over 65.
Heat stroke kicks in when the body cannot control its temperature and its sweating mechanism fails, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, resulting in body temperature rising as high as 106 degrees within 10 to 15 minutes.
“People should be mindful to always have a place to cool off,” Les Colin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boise, told the Statesman.
“Make sure if you go out or travel, have something to drink,” Colin continued. “Make sure you keep your animals well-watered and generally inside, out of the sun — basically, normal, common sense measures to not allow yourself to be overcome by the heat.”
The The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tips on how to avoid heat exhaustion and stroke and what the next step should be to alleviate the issue.
Heat exhaustion
Dizziness
Thirst
Heavy sweating
Nausea
Weakness
What to do: Move to a cooler area, loosen clothing and sip on cool water. Seek medical help if the symptoms don’t improve because heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke.
Heat stroke
Confusion
Dizziness
Becoming unconscious
What to do: Move the person to a cooler area, loosen clothing, remove any extra layers, and cool with water or ice.
A list of recent job postings by fire departments from around the U.S. Note, the closing dates vary by agency.
Dallas Fire Rescue Fire & Rescue Officer Trainee Dallas, TX Starting Salary: $66,960 Click here for details
Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue Firefighter Albuquerque, NM Starting Salary: $50,040 Click here for details
Escambia County Fire Rescue Firefighter Pensacola, FL Starting Salary: $12.99 Click here for details
Fort Worth Fire Department Firefighter Fort Worth, TX Starting Salary: $39,915 in academy/$63,806 upon graduation Click here for details
Santa Barbara Fire Department Firefighter Trainee Santa Barbara, CA Starting Salary: $90,347 Click here for details
Town of Bellingham Fire Department Firefighter/Paramedic Bellingham, MA Starting Salary: $61,417 Click here for details
City of High Point Fire Department Firefighter High Point, NC Starting Salary: $37,521-48,075 Click here for details
Schaumburg Fire Department Firefighter/Paramedic Schaumburg, IL Starting Salary: $74,049-109,529 Click here for details
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Firefighter/EMT or Firefighter/Paramedic Cincinnati, KY Starting Salary: $54,704 (EMT)/$57,886 (Paramedic) Click here for details
Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Department Firefighter/Paramedic Pendleton, OR Starting Salary: N/A Click here for details
Daisy Mountain Medical Firefighter Anthem, AZ Starting Salary: $48,184 Click here for details
While many departments hold dinners, breakfasts, bingo and raffles to raise money for equipment, Hermitage firefighters are turning to burning barrels.
Over 200 steel drums were donated by the city’s wastewater treatment plant, WKBN reported.
Money from the sales of the 55-gallon barrels will go toward the purchase of a new fire truck, according to Chief Fire Marshal John Flynn.
In addition to the money, firefighters believe residents will be helping them if they use the barrels.
“Brush fires that are on the ground typically will take off and go into the woods. Generally, when somebody is burning in a burn barrel, they generally have it contained. And it’s so it doesn’t get into the woods,” Flynn said
President Joe Biden said he understands that cancer is a leading killer of firefighters.
In a virtual address at the 2022 USFA Summit on Fire Prevention and Control in October, Biden said: “Toxic substances you’ve been exposed to as part of your job are almost connected to those cancer diagnoses. And we’re going to do something about it. The Cancer Moonshot is bringing together every part of our government to cut cancer death rates in half and to end cancer as we know it, including by addressing environmental and toxic exposures to prevent cancer.”
He continued: “I’m absolutely determined to make sure you have the gear that protects you without making you or your family sick.”
And, he stuck to his word by signing the Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances (PFAS) Act.
It requires the Department of Homeland Security to develop guidance to protect firefighters and other emergency response personnel from exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances from firefighting foam.
Biden also signed into the law the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act that will advance federal firefighter health and safety by creating a rebuttable presumption that federal firefighters who become disabled by heart disease, lung disease, and certain cancers contracted on the job.
Legislators also passed a measure adding an additional $1B to the World Trade Center Health Program. Without it, services were going to be cut and new enrollments denied, according to CFSI.
IAFF General President Edward Kelly says: “Recently, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research of Cancer declared a firefighter’s occupational exposure at the highest level, as a Class 1 threat.”
While research has concluded the connection between exposures and genetic mutations, additional work is imperative.
“We ask the federal government to establish a comprehensive firefighter cancer strategy that invests in research, provides access to cancer screening for all…” Kelly said adding that retired personnel should be included.
He spoke of the importance of educating insurance officials of the occupational risks and tests for early detection.
A Clallam County fire captain was found dead in his bunk Thursday morning.
Capt. Charles ‘Chad’ Cate, 46, was found by his crew hours after he had responded to a fire alarm, according to Peninsula Daily News.
Cate was last seen after a response to a fire alarm activation at a commercial building at about 2.25 a.m. when he returned to the station.
Crews went to bed following the early morning call. Later, after apparently heading back out to the site of an earlier house fire in the Dungeness neighborhood, he texted a fellow captain and the duty chief at around 4 a.m. to say that all was well at the scene, the station reported.
Members of his crew found him dead in his bunk about 7 a.m.
He had been with the department for 25 years.
The cause of death is pending.
Cate was raised in the area and graduated from Sequim High School where he has continued to be involved as the wrestling coach.
He was hired by the district in 1997 as a firefighter/paramedic and promoted to the rank of captain in 2020.
Cate leaves behind his wife, a 2-year-old son and two adult children.
Tacoma firefighters are feeling the results of a growing city — an increase in responses especially for EMS.
“We’ve noticed an uptick in our call volume. Notably in 2022, we responded to over 49,000 incidents,” Tacoma Fire spokesperson Joe Meinecke told King5. “Of those 49,000 incidents, eighty-percent, or about 40,000, were for emergency medical service.”
While fighters are trained to handle medical emergencies, the fire department only has so much to work with. “The obvious concern is that we won’t have enough resources to help everybody or our resources will be committed and we’ll have a significant event happen simultaneously,” he explained.
Tacoma city officials sees the department is stretched thin and have been working on a plan a plan to get additional revenue. They are proposing raising the EMS back to where it was previously — $0.50 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.
The levy fell to $0.32 due to higher property values since 2006.
Meinecke said the additional revenue is long overdue and badly needed. “It’s been since 2006 that we’ve had an EMS levy renewal before, or potentially before the community, and so that’s seventeen years,” he said. “That’s quite a long time and we’re at the point now where we really need to add additional resources.”
Boosting staffing will result in faster response times.
Four New Castle County firefighters were injured in a floor collapse at a three-alarm townhouse fire in Wilmington Thursday.
Crews called a ‘Mayday’ after the floor they fell through a collapsed floor, NBC reported.
Three were taken to a hospital, and one suffered serious burns and smoke inhalation.
Paramedic Sgt. Abigail Haas told the media two of the firefighters were stable while a third is in serious but stable condition.
“I think it speaks volumes that there were no civilian injuries so that’s great,” Haas said. “Everybody got out and didn’t try to go back into their home, which is a good thing.”
Neighbors helped alert residents to the fire.
Weather conditions helped crews as well.
“That was very important,” Mill Creek Fire Company Deputy Chief Joseph Stewart said. “No wind was a good factor in keeping the fire contained.”
It took firefighters about an hour to get the fire under control.
Jan. 13, 2023 Firefighters serving Plum Borough were out of service for six hours after learning there was a lapse in insurance coverage.
By Brian C. Rittmeyer Source The Tribune-Review, Greensburg (TNS)
Jan. 12—Plum’s volunteer firefighters were never without insurance protecting them if they were hurt answering a call, the borough’s manager said Wednesday.
Borough Manager Michael Thomas said the borough was late in paying a bill for the annual workers’ compensation insurance covering its four fire departments, but the coverage remained in effect.
He said the payment was missed because of the borough administration’s move to the new municipal center and such mail from the state not being forwarded.
Officials with the Holiday Park, Logans Ferry, Renton and Unity departments took themselves out of service for about six hours Tuesday on the understanding that the coverage had lapsed. During that time, departments from surrounding communities were providing fire protection to Plum through mutual aid agreements.
“If a firefighter had been out and injured, they would have workers comp coverage,” Thomas said. “This whole thing is a Shakespearean play in ‘much ado about nothing.’ It was confusion about terminology between one of my staff members and some people in the fire departments. By the time the whole thing went sideways and caught fire, they already pulled the trigger. It’s just that simple.”
However, Morgan McIlrath, the vice president of Unity Volunteer Fire Department, again on Wednesday said they got a call from the borough stating that the coverage had lapsed due to the policy not being paid.
“All we know is what the borough told us,” she said. “We never would have alarmed the public if there wasn’t a reason to.”
Thomas said Plum gets the workers’ compensation insurance for firefighters through an agent from the State Workers Insurance Fund (SWIF), which is part of the state Department of Labor & Industry. The annual cost for the four volunteer fire departments is about $40,000.
The coverage runs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. The borough gets a “front-end loaded bill” in December for $9,000 to $10,000, and pays the balance monthly through the year, he said.
Thomas said SWIF sends the invoice through the mail, and the borough pays it with a check. It is not handled by email or electronically, Thomas said.
That first invoice is normally received and paid in December.
But because the borough had moved its offices and mail from the state is not forwarded, Thomas said, it was sent back to the state, and borough staff didn’t have a bill to process.
Because of the volume of invoices the borough handles, Thomas said it’s not fair to expect that employees would have noticed.
A spokesperson for the Department of Labor & Industry responded to a request for comment Wednesday, but was not able to immediately address the matter.
Thomas said Plum’s insurance agent notified the borough Jan. 4 that the payment was outstanding. A check was prepared that day, council authorized it at its meeting Monday and it was overnighted to the state on Tuesday.
“However, in the interim, because SWIF hadn’t received the payment yet, the term that I guess my staff used with firemen is ‘the policy has lapsed,’ which is technically accurate,” he said. “However, you have 30 days within which to pay the premium. Once paid, any claims back to Jan. 1 are valid and covered.”
Thomas said the borough never told any of the departments that there was no workers’ compensation coverage, and the borough never advised them to go out of service. But word that the coverage had lapsed began spreading through the community anyway.
“On our end, we were not panicked at all,” he said. “We knew this was not a problem.”
To allay fears, Thomas said the borough got a rider policy with another carrier good for 24 hours. He could not say how much it cost.
No injuries were reported between when the payment was due and when it was made, Thomas said.
However, there were at least two calls that fire and rescue crews from other municipalities covered, including the rescue of a woman who fell over a hillside in Logans Ferry.
Thomas said the borough has reached out to state officials about getting SWIF to use electronic payment methods.
“These kind of problems can easily be remedied through technology,” he said.
A worker who was trapped for 45 minutes in the debris of a collapsed building on the South Side died Thursday afternoon, officials said.
The man, whose name and age were not immediately available, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was in “traumatic arrest.” He was pronounced dead at 12:08 p.m., the Cook County medial examiner’s office said.
Rescue squads took turns hauling rubble away to find the trapped man, and tried to minimize vibrations to the vacant building, in the 700 block of East Oakwood Boulevard, to prevent a “second collapse” and anyone else, including firefighters, from being injured, Deputy District Chief Shun T. Haynes said at the scene.
The victim was working with two other people, who were not hurt, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
“We asked where was the last place they saw him and they told us an area on the side of the building, and that’s where we started digging,” Langford said.
He was buried under “several feet” of debris, masonry, dirt and bricks, Langford said, adding it took squads 45 minutes from the time they got there to get the man out.
The worker was originally taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in “grave” condition, according to Haynes, who did not know why the building had fallen at about 11 a.m.
The Chicago Fire Department sent multiple ambulances and rigs to the scene of the collapse of the brick building that was being rehabbed, said spokesman Larry Merritt. No one else was injured, according to Merritt.
Only one wall collapsed, while the others — a common wall, the back wall and the front wall of the brick three-story building, which was constructed in the late 1800s — remained intact Thursday night, Langford said. The city Department of Buildings will have to decide if the rest will be torn down.
