A wildfire that has been burning southeast of the Dalton Highway near the Yukon River crossing since last week is now estimated to be over 10,000 acres. Northwest of Fairbanks, the Isom Creek Fire was sparked June 5 after a rash of lightning strikes were detected across the state. Flames quickly spread among black spruce and hardwood trees, according to an initial information bulletin from the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Service. Around 300 firefighters are working to contain the fire. According to an update Thursday, southwest winds pushed the fire away from the highway, allowing crews to improve firelines along the highway and nearby Hovercraft Road. Fire officials say the fire is estimated to be 10,618 acres. It is only 10% contained.  

According to the state Division of Forestry, about 150 people from the Lower 48 are currently in Alaska helping the state control its fires. All firefighters went through testing when they landed in Alaska. They waited for test results to come back negative before starting work. "The agencies spent a lot of time developing these protocols and best practices to keep our firefighters safe and the public safe," said Tim Mowry, an Alaska Division of Forestry public information officer. "And also, to reduce the potential for bringing in COVID from outside." Mowry said teams have kept incident command centers and camps small to avoid large gatherings. Many of the fires that have burned in the 2020 season have been in rural Alaska, according to Mowry. He said that agencies have paid special attention to rural communities to make sure they are safe.  

Faced with continued financial shortfalls, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District has announced that it will take "new urgent measures" to maintain its limited operations and keep firefighters safe. ECCFPD Chief Brian Helmick said during a news conference Thursday that the department will only send firefighters into burning structures if lives are at stake, starting on July 1. "There are many realities and many forces that are driving the decision I am making," Helmick said of the defensive strategy. "We really don't have any choice, being underfunded and underresourced." The chief, in an earlier news release, said the district's three-station model — instead of the six needed to cover 250 square miles — is "pushing firefighters to their limits as they respond to twice as many calls for help." In addition, only three of the department's five fire engines will be sent to a working structure fire, Helmick said, noting East Contra Costa Fire is the only agency in the county to impose such a limit.  

As the United States begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, ample praise has been focused upon the nation's emergency first responders – and rightfully so. Millions of nurses, doctors, firefighters and police have set their personal interests aside, routinely placing themselves and potentially their families at risk so that critical frontline medical services remain operational at a time when tens of thousands of Americans have been sickened and died from a disease with no known cure. However, the same cannot always be said of the dedication and sacrifice displayed by emergency medical service personnel. Paramedics and EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians); the health professionals who arrive in the ambulance, are nearly always the first to closely interact with patients, including those infected with COVID-19.  

VIDEO: D.C. firefighters saved the day Thursday when they threw their bodies on two dogs who were attacking people while other members were fighting a fire in Southeast. D.C. Fire and EMS officials say they were in the 4000 block of South Capitol St. SE when two dogs began attacking residents in the area. Firefighters from Truck 8 threw their bodies on the dogs in an effort to hold them down and stop further attacks before police arrived at the scene. Officials say a firefighter and another person were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Humane Rescue Alliance is investigating the incident and the dogs are now being quarantined.  

A group of New York City emergency medical service workers who gave interviews to the news media, including NPR, are suing the city for allegedly retaliating against them after speaking about their experiences responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the federal court in Manhattan, four EMS workers allege the city is violating their right to speak on issues of public concern under the First Amendment, as well as their due process rights. In late April, the New York City Fire Department sent letters notifying three paramedics — including Elizabeth Bonilla, who spoke to NPR earlier that month — that they were restricted from treating patients, according to the complaint. Workers on restricted status are not allowed to receive overtime or work for any other emergency medical services in the city's 911 system. The letters, the complaint says, gave no reason why they were put under restrictions.