Memorial service for retired firefighter Michele Williams
 Family, friends and the SFD celebrated the life of fallen retired firefighter Michele Williams on Jan. 31, on what would have been her 62nd birthday. She passed away peacefully on the evening of Dec. 21, 2022, after a long-fought battle with a duty-related illness.
Firefighter Williams proudly served the Seattle community for 34 years and spent most of her career on Ladder 7/Rescue 1, the department’s technical rescue company in SoDo, before retiring on Ladder 3 at Station 6 in the Central District. She was an incredibly capable firefighter who always welcomed a challenge. She was a role model for future firefighters, often instructing at Camp Blaze—a week-long leadership workshop for young women interested in pursuing a career in the fire service.
She was a strong and fiercely independent person who seldom asked for help but would gladly give assistance when needed. Michele was kind, thoughtful and generous to a fault.
Thank you to the Shoreline Fire Department for helping us honor our beloved member in the procession.
Seattle Fire joins KIRO news to discuss fentanyl epidemic
 Seattle Fire’s Medical Director Dr. Michael Sayre joined KIRO’s live public safety segment in January to discuss the fentanyl and drug overdose epidemic in our region. Over the last 12 months, the department has seen more than 5,200 calls for suspected drug-use. The year prior, SFD saw more than 3,600 incidents. Visit stopoverdose.org for resources on how to help individuals and communities in Washington state respond to prevent opioid overdose.
Heart attack survivor meets the firefighters and paramedics who helped him
 It’s not every day that our members get to sit down with community members we’ve
helped. We were thrilled to help put Michael Arbuck back in contact with the firefighters
and paramedics who helped save his life last year. It was mid-November, early morning,
when firefighters from Station 6 in the Central District responded to a call from down the
street for a possible cardiac arrest. Katie Tomlin had placed a call to 911 after her
partner, Michael, began showing signs of a heart attack. Through instructions from
our firefighter/dispatcher, Katie was able to perform CPR until Ladder 3, Aid 10 and
Medic 17 arrived on scene. When recalling her experience with calling 911, Katie stated: “The dispatcher was there giving me hope the entire time. Then, as soon as I heard the firefighters downstairs, there was an overwhelming feeling of calm.”
CPR is most often performed on people close to us, which further emphasizes how critical it is for all in our community to learn hands-only CPR. Visit our website to learn more about classes offered by our Medic 2 program and watch this brief training video. You could save a life.
Councilmembers visit Stations 26 and 37
 Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda and Lisa Herbold visited Fire Stations 37 and 26 in January to meet with crews and see Medic 26 and Ladder 13 in action. Thank you to both Councilmembers for taking extra time to learn more about SFD operations first-hand.
Seattle Times features Seattle firefighters for story on women in the fire service
 In 1977, Bonnie Beers became the first female firefighter to join the Seattle Fire Department. She promoted through the ranks to Battalion Chief and started a long line of trailblazing women serving our community. Take a moment to check out a recent Seattle Times article, where retired Battalion Chief Beers and active firefighters Cora McManus and Lieutenant Sue Stangl were interviewed about their stories of working in the fire service. Photo credit: Seattle Times.
Fire education at Nathan Hale
 On Jan. 25 a member of Seattle Fire's Education and Outreach team attended Nathan Hale High School’s “Unity in the Community” event and co-presented fire safety with a student leader. The presentations were a huge success and 81 students learned more about home fire prevention and safety. We highlighted the importance of smoke alarms, cooking safety and home evacuation. Other topics included carbon monoxide alarms, heating safety, candle/incense safety, and how to not overload power strips and outlets.
Awesome job Nathan Hale Raiders ASB students. Thank you for having us!
Area first responders attend training on responding to electric vehicle fires
 General Motors offered a free electric vehicle training in late January at the City’s Joint Training Facility for nearly 300 area first responders. This training provided increased awareness of Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) safety and best practices, provided hands on experience with BEVs and helped attendees gain confidence to work around electrified vehicle fires.
The Seattle Fire Department’s Energy Response Team that responds out of Fire Station 25 on Capitol Hill is a national model for the fire service. This team is equipped and trained to respond to various energy emergencies the City may face.
Working smoke alarms save lives
Smoke alarms can reduce the risk of being injured by a home fire by alerting you that smoke is present and providing critical time to respond safely. Most fire deaths are caused by smoke inhalation, not burns. According to a 2020 study by the National Fire Protection Association, working smoke alarms reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by 55%.
Smoke alarms can be ionization alarms, photoelectric alarms or combination ionization-photoelectric alarms. They all work but ionization smoke alarms are more responsive to flaming fires, and photoelectric smoke alarms are more responsive to smoldering fires. While smoke alarms should not be installed in the kitchen, a photoelectric smoke alarm is the best type of alarm near the kitchen to reduce nuisance alarms from regular cooking smoke.
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Heating fire safety tips for the start of winter
Home heaters are working extra hard with the cold weather Seattle is experiencing. Heating-related fires are the second most common type of fires this time of year. As a reminder, make sure to give your heaters space and consider taking these precautions to prevent heating-related fires in your home. Read more.
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