PHOTO: A restaurant in Kotzebue is likely a total loss after a blaze Thursday morning. The popular Bayside Restaurant sat on Kotzebue's Shore Avenue, overlooking the Kotzebue Sound. "At this time, there are reports that there may have been one person in the building, who at this time they cannot account for," said Kotzebue City Manager Tom Atkinson on Thursday afternoon. Atkinson said no responders were injured and they are cleaning up the smoky rubble from the popular restaurant. Bayside was housed in a two-story building with a residence on top. During the morning, smoke and heavy blowing snow filled the air near the site, covering the area with a thick white and gray cloud. Atkinson says the fire started burning at around 5:30 a.m. As of about 2 p.m. Thursday, officials don't know the cause. Heavy winds battered Kotzebue all morning, at speeds from 40 to up to 65 miles an hour, according to the National Weather Service.  

Compared to the general public, New York City firefighters and emergency medical workers were 15 times more likely to be infected with the new coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic, researchers reported on Thursday in ERJ Open Research. They studied nearly 10,800 firefighters and 3,500 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. From the beginning of March to the end of May, 36.2% of these front-line workers were either confirmed as having the virus with a positive PCR viral test or suspected as having COVID-19 due to their symptoms. During the same period, the rate was 2.4% in the city's general population. Compared to the firefighters, the EMTs and paramedics were more likely to contract the virus and to develop severe COVID-19. Everyone in the study had previously undergone tests to assess their lung health, and those with declining lung function before the pandemic had higher risks of severe COVID-19.  

A Delray Beach firefighter is sharing his story of survival from cancer in an emotional post on Facebook. Throughout November, the agency is telling stories about firefighters who have battled cancer. They said it part of an effort to increase awareness of the disease and the importance of prevention for everyone. Firefighter Robert Pastor, now 36, was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 after an ultrasound technician noticed a small nodule on his neck. "The minute you are told you have cancer, the first thought in your head is 'I'm going to die.' You think the worst," Pastor said in the Facebook post on the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Facebook page. "I'm like, 'I'm married. I have two kids. I am going to die. Who will take care of my kids?" he said. It was an emotional battle for Pastor, but he said his wife's strength helped him through the process. "Not once did my wife ever show she was scared," he said. "Honestly, she was my rock."  

The Rutgers School of Public Health received a $1.5 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to support cancer research for volunteer firefighters. The funding will enhance research already being done in collaboration with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as part of the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study. The assessment and prevention study works with fire departments across the state to assess how to understand and prevent exposure to cancer-causing agents in New Jersey firefighters. "With this Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study will engage with volunteer firefighters and stakeholders in New Jersey and nationally to address the knowledge gap in cancer causing exposures and risk factors among volunteer firefighters and inform cancer prevention strategies," said the grant's principal investigator Judith Graber.  

For the past 24 years in Haskell, Texas, Steel Fire Apparatus has been transforming trucks into firefighting machines. "But we take it and add the bed, the tool boxes, the pump, the water," Wes Steele, owner, said. But before they're ready to fight brush fires, everything starts with Wes designing the truck on the computer based on a fire department's needs. "We take their ideas and try to build the best truck that works for them," he said. After cutting sheets of metal and having them bent into the desired shapes, they're welded together. He said it's typical to find a truck made entirely of aluminum because the lighter the truck, the more water it can carry. "Sometimes they have to travel 20, 30, 50 miles just to get water," he said. It's then over to their body shop for final touches and an extra layer of paint protection. "The heat that they're exposed to, it's an industrial coating, it's a lot thicker, it's a little bit harder than just your automotive coating," he said.