Newsbriefs

Volunteer

department responses reported

Volunteer fire Chief Richard Paris reported to the Grand Coulee City Council last Tuesday that his department made eight fire calls and responded to 34 ambulance calls during the month of July.

The fire calls included two in Grand Coulee as standby for fireworks, mutual aid for other departments, one in Grant County Fire District 14 responding to smoke, and two to Lincoln County Fire District 9 on fireworks and smoke investigation. In ambulance runs, seven were in the Coulee Dam area, 22 in Grand Coulee, and five were transporting patients to medical facilities out of town. In total, Paris reported, his department has responded to 262 calls so far this year.

Corps

to fly in

Airport Manager Bob Babler advised that the Army Corps of Engineers will be landing its Metroliner airplane here on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at about 4:30 p.m. The plane is based in Omaha and landed here two years ago. Babler said the plane will be here overnight and fly out Thursday morning around 11:30 a.m. The Metroliner is a 19-passenger airliner with a 57-foot wingspan, much larger than the small aircraft the Grand Coulee Dam Airport typically sees.

Bank

collecting school

supplies

for kids

North Cascades Bank is still accepting donations for its annual back-to-school drive for school supplies. The bank collects cash and items on specified on a list at the bank to help local students. Donations can be dropped off at the Grand Coulee branch, 608 Midway Ave., through the end of the month.

Fires banned on Lake

Roosevelt

The National Park Service Friday issued a ban on all fires, including camp fires and any other open flames in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

Exceptions include self-contained propane or gas stoves, but propane campfires are not allowed.

The ban was implemented due to “extreme conditions” that also prompted the state Dept. of Natural Resources to ban all fires in DNR-managed or protected lands.