Jan. 15, 2023 Las Vegas, Clark County and North Las Vegas firefighters used a defensive attack as flames devoured the long-vacant former Kmart building.
Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire that engulfed a vacant Kmart store building, a Clark County fire official said Saturday.
The Las Vegas Fire Department received the call about the blaze at 3 p.m. at 2975 E. Sahara Ave. near McLeod Street, and 30 units had arrived just before 4 p.m., according to Clark County Fire Department Assistant Chief Scott Carnahan.
The entire building was on fire as firefighters took a defensive posture outside, Carnahan said.
“There’s too much danger to going inside the building,” he said.
City of Las Vegas spokesman Jace Radke said the building was vacant.
Carnahan said the fire went to three alarms, and there was a partial collapse of the roof. No one was reported injured, and there were no immediate details on how the fire started or estimate of damage.
In an update Saturday evening Carnahan said the building was unstable.
“Building officials and public works have been requested for evaluation and the Parks Department is providing fencing to the area for security,” he said in an email.
Crews from the Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire Department and North Las Vegas Fire Department responded to the fire. Las Vegas police also assisted with drone support and traffic control.
A thick smoke plume could be seen across the valley.
The cohort of Saudi Aramco firefighters who traveled to the United States in an August 2022 photo with Atlanta firefighters.
A group of six Saudi Aramco Oil Company firefighters graduated Wednesday from a six-month international training program with the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department.
The cohort traveled to the United States to learn American firefighting standards and training by immersing themselves in the culture. It’s part of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ fellowship program that places Saudi Aramco firefighters in departments across the country.
The goal is for them to gain more aggressive, real-life experience in making strategic decisions under pressure by working in high-call volume fire departments, such as Atlanta, and taking those skills back to their department.
“These six months are your six months to learn, to experience, ask questions … to take back to your country — and to your department — everything you can,” Jeff Dulin, strategic advisor for the International Association of Fire Chiefs, told the group during their graduation ceremony at fire station 28 Wednesday morning.
The fire department for Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest energy companies, is charged with protecting the oil refinery’s industrial sites, as well as its communities. Each year, it sends multiple groups of firefighters to different U.S. fire departments. The IAFC picks up the bill, making it cost-neutral for host departments.
During their stay in Atlanta, the firefighters, many of whom already have several years of experience under their belt, lived at their assigned firehouses and worked alongside Atlanta firefighters. With the exception of providing medical care due to their visa status, they performed full firefighting duties according to their skill level.
Mohammed Alyahyawi, a 12-year veteran with Saudi Aramco, said he was initially worried it would be hard to be in such a new environment so far from home. But he was pleasantly surprised when he arrived. Everyone was welcoming and happy to help his group navigate the culture shock, and he made a lot of new friends, he said.
The Saudi firefighters all speak English, though some words — especially Atlanta’s slang — were a bit of a hurdle, Alyahyawi said.
It was “bittersweet” to see their time in Atlanta coming to an end, many of them said, coining a word they learned just the day before graduation. It described their emotions perfectly, they said.
“A few months ago, we left our home. We said goodbye to our families, friends and everyone we know. We embarked on a journey with no idea how it would be (in a) different country, different culture,” Ibrahim Alamri said. “And now, we will do the same thing (that) we did months ago: We will say goodbye to our friends here, to our families and to this country (that) now became our new home.”
The group will be headed back to Saudi Arabia over the next few days.
Since the program’s inception in 2016, there have been 22 cohorts with 160 graduates across the country, with plans for other countries to join the exchange program. Atlanta has hosted two fellowships, and the DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department has hosted one.
“It was our pleasure to open our fire stations to the visiting firefighters and we were honored to have been selected for the (fellowship) program for a second cohort,” said Michelle Middlebrooks, AFRD’s assistant chief of support services. “The fellows bring a new perspective to our department, and our firefighters consistently give feedback about the value that it brings. We are extremely proud to participate in this unique exchange.”
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.
