skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report Finds Fire Prone Areas “Unprepared”

play audio
Play

Friday, October 26, 2007   

Las Vegas, NV – Even as Nevada firefighters return home from the devastating blazes in California, at least one report says many fire-prone communities are unprepared. The "Safe at Home" study looked at the Love Creek community in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and found the district ill-equipped to handle a major fire.

Amy Mall, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, explains the data concluded that, even when families took steps to protect themselves, they usually came up short.

"Everybody needed a little bit more expert information and guidance on how to make their homes 'fire-wise.' However, we also found that it was really affordable to take the measures. The average cost for all the homes we looked at was about $2,500."

Mall says federal funding for firefighting has been cut by 60 percent in recent years, and only three percent of the remaining money goes to state and local fire departments. Mall worries the fire danger will only increase as more people move into high-risk areas.

"We really think the trend should be in the opposite direction, that state and local fire programs should be getting more funding, so they can get out into communities and help homeowners learn how to make their homes safe from wildfires."

The report includes proven techniques for protecting homes and communities and is available online at www. nrdc.org.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021