The Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department responded to a structure fire on Bending Birch Drive, just off the Old Glenn Highway. The fire response first began just before 3 p.m. on Friday. Tankers brought water to the scene for the firefight, staging a basin alongside the Old Glenn Highway near the Chugiak Cafe. As of 6 p.m., fire crews were still on the scene. The home is not fully visible from the road. During daylight hours, gray smoke plumed from the structure, but no flames were visible. An incident commander was not available at the scene for questions. There is no official word on injuries or the extent of damage, but a man who said he's a renter in the duplex said one person who was present when the fire started was able to get out. A spokesperson with the department said there were no injuries but there were significant damages. Firefighters have not determined the cause of the fire.  

Sunday marked 32 years since six Kansas City Missouri firefighters died in an explosion. The explosion happened at a construction site on Nov. 29, 1988. The crews were fighting a trailer fire. They were unaware the trailer had thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil inside, and the firefighters were killed instantly. The fire that caused the explosion was deliberately set and was ruled arson. Five people were found guilty of setting the trailer on fire. And now six crosses at a memorial near East 87th Street and Blue River Road bear the names of Capt. Gerald Halloran, Capt. James Kilventon, and firefighters Thomas Fry, Luther Hurd, Robert McKarnin and Michael Oldham. KCFD tweeted about the explosion Sunday with photos of the firefighters and the hashtag "never forgotten."  

No-Shave November is almost over, and emergency responders across the state will soon go back to a clean-shaven face. But for some Oklahoma firefighters, the mustache will be long-lived. The handlebar. The toothbrush. The pencil. The walrus. The horseshoe. Firefighters with mustaches is an iconic image spanning back decades. "Back in the '70s, I know there was a whole bunch of mustaches. And we see pictures of them, almost all of them have mustaches," Oklahoma City Fire Department Capt. Witek Bycko said. And in 2020, dozens of Oklahoma City firefighters are donning lip whiskers. "We're pretty proud of the mustaches that we have," Bycko said. "The guys that we have here take care of them, clip them and put oils on them." "I wash it like I would my hair in the morning in the shower – condition it, oil it, then wax it to finish it all off," Oklahoma City Fire Department Corp. Kyle Parasich said.  

VIDEO: A retired New York firefighter who served on the frontlines during September 11, 2001 is on a mission to honor fallen firefighters. Frank Pizarro calls Las Vegas home, but served 22 years on the New York Fire Department. He is on mission to retrofit a fire engine to carry caskets of fallen firefighters on the West Coast. "On the east coast we had send offs for our firefighters and retired when they passed away. And they have full size fire engines that they retrofitted with a lift to carry caskets. Upon doing some research I noticed that the firefighters here don't have that same option. I want to try to bring that service and honor to those fallen here," Pizarro said. Pizarro was forced to retire because of several illnesses related to September 11th. He said this caisson will not only honor those that have fallen but will honor their families.  

The U.S. will finish the month of November with more than 4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, by far the most it has recorded in any month since the beginning of the pandemic. According to a database kept by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. recorded 4.3 million new cases of COVID-19 throughout the month of November. That represents more than 30% of the 13.3 million cases recorded throughout the country since the virus reached the U.S. in February. Throughout November, the U.S. set 10 daily records for newly-reported COVID-19 cases. The peak came on Friday, when Johns Hopkins says the U.S. saw more than 205,000 new cases — though those numbers may have been skewed by the Thanksgiving holiday when some local governments chose not to report new info. The mountainous increase in cases has resulted in a frightening increase in hospitalizations and hospital resource use.  

A grateful retired firefighter reunited with a stranger he says saved his life by getting him to safety after a fiery car crash in Florida. Retired fire lieutenant Richard Broccolo recalled the moment Aug. 23 he thought he was going to die after his car went off the roadway on Florida State Road 429. Family shared pictures showing the car upside down and mangled in trees. But Corey Purington, a stranger, heard the crash while working nearby and went to help. "I looked up and I said, ‘Hey, you listen to me. I need you to help me. If you don't help me, I'm going to die,'" Broccolo said. As flames ripped through the car, Broccolo says Purington pulled him out just in time. "A lot of flames, the car was upside down. I just, I seen a hand, so I reached in and did what I could do," Purington said. Broccolo faced a long recovery period, including more than a month in the hospital. He suffered burns to nearly a quarter of his body, a broken shoulder and several broken ribs.