The forecasted weather should continue to keep the McDonald Fire (#119) tempered from what was experienced during the initial days of the fire. This will allow firefighters more time to fine tune pump systems on the cabins in case conditions return to hot, dry and windy. Firefighters did site assessments of the last two cabins and will start implementing protection measures. They will also make improvements on two identified helispots west of the Tanana River near the cabins. There is no expected change to the perimeter Thursday. The fire received short shot of light rain overnight Wednesday. The BLM Alaska Fire Service will set up a portable weather station closer to the fire's southern edge to give fire managers more accurate weather information to use along with what's produced by the weather station located at Blair Lakes.  

VIDEO: Some ducklings rescued from a storm drain in Anchorage are now being cared for at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center. Firefighters didn't have to go far for the rescue since the ducks were discovered across the road from Station Four on Tudor Road near McGinnis Street in midtown Anchorage. The seven baby ducks were put in a bucket while the mama waited, and then the birds were taken to Bird TLC. Sadly, we have to report that the mama duck had to be put down because of a broken wing she suffered during the incident in Anchorage. "Kind of sad. We had a whole bunch of time invested in this bird, kind of just watching her, and she kind of became like the kind of new mascot. And we really wanted to get them and make sure they did okay," said firefighter Mitchell Hoehne of the Anchorage Fire Department.  

VIDEOS/PHOTO: Gasoline spilled out from an unsecured hatch on the top of the gasoline delivery tanker that overturned and ignited beneath an Interstate 95 bridge in Philadelphia a year ago, according to new details from federal investigators. Video evidence obtained by investigators shows the cover to the 16-inch "manhole" was open when driver Nathan Moody arrived at a Wilmington, Delaware, terminal to refill the tank and it was still not properly secured when he drove away to deliver it to a convenience store in Philadelphia, about 42 miles (68 kilometers) away. The crash killed Moody and disrupted transportation along a vital interstate for weeks.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: An inspiring story of innovation and technology — two of the E.M.I.L.Y. devices, a revolutionary life-saving drone, have been donated to both Silver Beach and New Buffalo. The new technology was unveiled Monday afternoon in St. Joseph. Beach staff from both St. Joe and New Buffalo, along with other emergency responders, are training with the new drone. The device was donated by a family determined to turn their tragedy into a lifesaving action. E.M.I.L.Y. stands for the Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard. The families of drowning victims Emily MacDonald and Kory Ernster donated the robot in their honor. Emily's mother said when she heard the name for the lifesaving device was the same as her daughter's, she felt it was a calling to help others.  

PHOTOS: While two triple-decker house fires left dozens displaced and two people dead, houses of this design do not make up the majority of the state's residential fires, the State Fire Marshal's office told MassLive. Triple-decker homes were originally built for factory workers and have been a common form of housing for over a century, GBH reported in 2022. Such homes make up the main source of affordable housing in Massachusetts cities that were previously major centers of industry, such as Worcester, Brockton and New Bedford. Part of what makes triple-decker homes a general risk during a fire is a balloon-frame construction that allows fires to spread very rapidly, unimpeded, from the basement to the attic and throughout void spaces, according to Jake Wark, public information officer for the Department of Fire Services.  

Evidence that Word Trade Center (WTC) responders during 9/11 and its aftermath have since suffered poorer brain health than others not exposed to WTC toxins has mounted in recent years. A new study led by Stony Brook University researchers that evaluates more than 5,000 WTC responders indicates that those who had more exposures to WTC-related toxins have dementia at a higher rate than other responders with fewer WTC-related toxic exposures. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study evaluated patients from the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program for signs of dementia. The study lasted more than eight years, from November 2014 to January 2023. The average age of the participants at the start of the study was only 53 years old.