Alaska is reporting its highest rate of COVID-19 transmission in six months, and hospital executives in the state are warning of a looming crisis as the hyper-contagious delta variant catches fire. The last time case counts were this high it was mid-winter, Anchorage's city government mandated mask-wearing in indoor public spaces, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy's administration required visitors to be tested for the virus at Alaska's airports. But now that the COVID-19 vaccines are widely available, Alaska's most powerful elected officials are taking little concrete action to slow the virus's spread amid this latest spike in cases.  

VIDEO: Three Honolulu aircraft rescue firefighters are talking for the first time about their role in helping save two pilots earlier this month after engine failure caused their Boeing 737 cargo plane to crash in the ocean off Kalaeloa. On July 2, the pilot of Transair Flight 810 to Kahului alerted air traffic control it was headed back to Honolulu's airport because of an in-flight emergency. "We've lost number one engine," the pilot said over the radio. "And we're coming straight to the airport. We're going to need the fire department. It's a chance we're going to lose the other engine, too. It's running very hot." "It was about 1:40 in the morning," said Airport Fire Lt. Ray Vegas. Everybody at the fire station was asleep."You hear the alarms go off and you get up real fast," said Airport Equipment Operator Terrence Kashima.  

VIDEO: When tragedy or disasters strike, first responders rush to the scene — often putting their own lives in danger. Now there's a renewed focus in Boston to make sure that when emergency personnel head home, the traumatic images they witness on the job don't have dangerous or potentially deadly impacts on their mental well-being. "We have this hero kind of persona, the stigma is still real," Boston Fire Lt. Sheila Leahy said. Leahy is a peer supporter in the Boston Fire Department who is often tasked with starting a conversation with members who may not willingly admit they're struggling. "If you're used to being the person who's always the helper to other people, it's very hard to reach out and say, ‘Hey I need help,'" Leahy said. During the next month and a half, 1,500 Boston firefighters will be trained in suicide awareness thanks to the nonprofit Gelt Charitable Foundation that has designed a workshop specifically for first responders.  

VIDEO: The U.S. Navy said Thursday that charges have been filed against a Navy Sailor who is accused of starting the July 2020 fire that destroyed the warship while it was docked in San Diego. According to Cmdr. Sean Robertson, U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson, the evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to direct a preliminary hearing for the sailer who was a member of Bonhomme Richard's crew at the time of the fire. The massive fire erupted late on the morning of July 12 in a storage area aboard the 27,565-ton military sea vessel and soon was sending thick columns of acrid smoke above San Diego Bay and across much of the city. In August 2020, a senior defense official said that arson was suspected as the cause of the July 12 fire that left extensive damage to the USS Bonhomme Richard.  

VIDEO: Instead of wearing shorts and swimsuits, teens are in heavy fire protection gear at a special summer camp on Long Island this week. They're learning what it takes to become volunteer firefighters amid a national firefighter shortage, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported Thursday. Camp Fahrenheit 516 is named for the blazing heat campers encounter while training as the next generation of volunteer firefighters. "There's not switch to turn off in here. They're going into this building, what they come across burning is what, they're gonna go on a call one day when they're in their departments, and they go into a residence or a commercial building," said Jerry Presta, chairman of the Nassau County Junior Firefighter Association. At the nation's only junior firefighting training camp with hands-on experience like this, 28 Long Islanders ages 14 to 17 learn if they have the right stuff to serve their communities. Many already know they do.  

Twenty years after the devastating attacks on September 11, doctors are still uncovering the fallout from the destruction of the World Trade Center. In a new study, researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York have discovered a link between the toxic dust coming from Ground Zero and liver damage. Their findings show that the earliest first responders on the scene have an even higher risk of fatty liver disease than others in the area after the terror attacks. The report is the first to connect higher odds of liver disease to time spent near the rubble in 2001. Study authors find that emergency personnel at Ground Zero within the first two weeks of the attack encountered the highest concentrations of toxic materials. These individuals are now showing greater signs of decreasing density in their livers — a key measure of liver disease due to chemical exposure (or hepatic steatosis).