A newborn was abandoned in a cardboard box at an intersection in Fairbanks on Friday afternoon, according to a report from Alaska State Troopers. Troopers say they got a report at about 2 p.m. that the child was left near Chena Marina. When they found the child, who seemed to have been abandoned recently, they also found a note "indicating the parent could not take care [of] it," the report said. Troopers say the child was taken to a local hospital, where they were found to be in good health. Fairbanks Memorial staff would not answer questions about the child's condition. Troopers are still investigating the incident and have not yet responded to questions about the infant and the circumstances in which it was found. The temperature in the area was about 1 degree at the time, according to the National Weather Service.  

Powerful winds that ripped through Southcentral Alaska over the weekend continued to cause chaos in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough on Monday -- damaging buildings, flipping airplanes and truck trailers, sending debris flying and leaving nearly 19,000 households without power overnight with temperatures near zero. The Red Cross opened emergency shelters in Palmer and Wasilla for people who need refuge from the winds and cold. The shelters are at Curtis D. Menard Sports Center in Wasilla, 1001 S. Clapp St., and the Mat-Su Senior Services Center in Palmer, 1132 S. Chugach St. The Mat-Su Borough advised residents on Sunday night to shelter in place until the storm ended. The school district canceled classes on Monday. "Reports of impassable roads blocked by trees, downed power lines, shattered windows in homes and vehicles have been received," the borough wrote on Facebook.  

PHOTOS/VIDEO: A 4-alarm fire at a commercial building in Hillsboro has shut down a city block for the rest of the day as crews work to put out hotspots after an hours-long battle against the flames. Hillsboro Fire and Rescue first reported the fire at SE Main Street and 3rd Avenue just before 3:30 a.m. When crews arrived the Weil Arcade building was fully involved. Two blocks were closed around the fire as crews from several neighboring agencies were called out to assist. Approximately two hours after first notifying the public of the fire, Hillsboro Fire and Rescue said via Twitter that it was still active. Shortly after 7 a.m., fire officials said the bulk of the fire had been knocked down, but that crews were still extinguishing hotspots. At the firefighting effort's peak, about 90 firefighters were on the scene.  

A child in East Haven was severely burned while attempting a social media challenge that calls for igniting a bottle of alcohol, fire officials said Wednesday. The victim was being treated at the Bridgeport Hospital Burn Center, Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli said. Firefighters responded Tuesday at about 8:30 p.m. to a call about a burn victim and learned the child had been trying the latest TikTok craze called "the whoosh bottle experiment," Marcarelli said. Igniting alcohol inside a bottle is meant to create a "whoosh" sound, he said. Warning that fire is not a toy, the chief said, "This could easily have led to a fatality as well as a major fire in the house. Alcohol is a volatile flammable liquid and can act as an accelerant." Fire Marshal Charles Miller investigated the incident and will be reaching out to local public schools to make sure kids are aware of the potential dangers.  

"I've always been one of those guys who liked helping out other people," said Jacksonville resident Michael Griffitts. Captain Griffitts is the Crew 3 shift commander, EMS coordinator and fire safety and prevention officer for the Jacksonville Fire Department. His 24-year career has allowed Griffitts to pursue his passion for helping other people while making the community a safer place. "Our need in the community is pretty big. If people don't know what to do, the police don't know what to do, the ambulance companies don't know what to do, they call the fire department," Griffitts said. "There is a huge, dynamic area of stuff that we get ourselves involved in. Someone has to have an answer to fix the problem, and more times than not, the fire department is the answer."  

VIDEO: One small town in Massachusetts is coming to the aid of another in Kentucky after its fire department was devastated by a recent tornado. The tornado that ripped through Kentucky on the night of Dec. 10 was on the ground for 235 miles, obliterating everything in its path. It hit the rural town of Cayce hard, tearing apart its all-volunteer fire department. "I live 2 miles from the station and I watched it walk right across my station," said Chief Wade Adams of the Cayce Fire Department. The department lost everything, including all of its trucks and firefighting apparatus. "When I topped the hill and you could see the station it was a pile of rubble," said Adams. When the call went out that Cayce was in desperate need of a 3,000-gallon tanker to replace one lost in the tornado, the town of Rochester, Massachusetts, answered that call.  

PHOTOS: More than six years after then-Cumberland Fire Department Chief Donnie Dunn sounded the alarm for the need for a new ladder truck, city firefighters now have a 2021 Sutphen model to help in their firefighting mission. "It's been a lengthy process," interim Chief W. Shannon Adams, Dunn's successor, said Thursday, a few days after the new purchase arrived at CFD headquarters. "The whole process took about two years discussing what we needed, meeting with Sutphen representatives and receiving approval from the mayor and council, who did a great job working with Chief Dunn getting this project funded." At a cost of $1.3 million, the new truck, equipped with a 100-foot aerial ladder, will be utilized in response to all structure fires in the city and outlying areas as requested by allied volunteer fire companies. For the last several weeks, the city department has not had a ladder truck as part of its fleet.