(By Washington State Department of Labor and Industries)

A life-threatening emergency can occur at any time, including during a normal workday. When every second matters, the quick action of people on the job can save the life of a coworker or even a stranger whose life is in danger.

Every year in our state there are inspiring stories of people who go above and beyond the call of duty while on the job to save a person’s life.

The Governor’s Industrial Safety and Health Advisory Board (399 KB PDF) presents awards annually to these workplace heroes. Now’s the time to nominate people for the 2017 Governor’s Lifesaving Awards.

The heroic act could be administering CPR or saving someone who’s choking, recognizing signs of a stroke and getting help, or rescuing someone from a car crash, a fire or other kinds of imminent danger. More

(By Washington DNR)

Fire camp will be set up at high school…

More than 400 firefighters will train in basic and advanced wildland firefighting skills at the Eastern Washington Interagency Wildfire Training Academy (EWIFTA). This academy is part of a larger coordinated effort that will allow agencies responsible for responding to Washington’s wildfires the opportunity to train together before fighting fire together.

Patterned after last year’s resounding success, a fully operational fire camp will be set up at Deer Park High School to help prepare firefighters for living conditions they can expect during an actual wildland fire operation. The training will be a one-stop shop for beginners, intermediate and advanced firefighters. EWIFTA is an interagency operation of federal, state, tribal, and local agencies. EWIFTA instructors are all NWCG qualified with real life firefighting experience and use dynamic instruction techniques including classroom, simulations, leadership scenarios and outside field exercises on land owned by DNR.

The academy will offer expert training for beginner, mid-level and senior-level firefighters. Courses focus on how to use firefighting equipment working in the wildland urban interface and field training exercises.

According to Randy Johnson, Chief of Spokane Fire District 4 and one of the Incident Commanders of the event, “summers are getting hotter and lasting longer. These interagency collaborations help firefighters receive important training, as well as provide agencies with the opportunity to practice working together before an incident and develop relationships critical to future emergency response operations.”

(By Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)

“Free Fishing Weekend” is June 10-11, 2017, when fishing licenses are not required of anyone to fish in Washington. Free Fishing Weekend in Washington is always the first weekend after the first Monday in June. More