The votes have been tallied and the winner is – Spruce the Moose. That's the name of the Alaska Division of Forestry's new wildland fire prevention mascot as decided by a recent public vote. Spruce will be the official spokesmoose of DOF's "Take Time to LEARN Before You Burn" campaign, aimed at reducing the number of human-caused wildfires in wildland-urban interfaces by 10 percent annually in Alaska. "Spruce the Moose will be a great addition to the DOF wildfire prevention team and will help get out the message to adults and children from all corners of the state about what they can do to reduce human-caused wildfire ignitions in Alaska." State Forestry Director Chris Maisch said. The "Take Time to Learn Before You Burn" campaign was created by House Bill 355 in 2018, which also directed updates to state wildland fire protection laws including new penalties for burning offenses committed on state, municipal, and private lands in Alaska.  

VIDEO: Jason Cortez, a beloved San Francisco firefighter-paramedic who was killed during a training accident last week, was knocked over a third-floor railing by a water blast from a valve he had "inadvertently" opened, authorities said in a preliminary report released Sunday. Cortez, 42, was participating in a training drill Wednesday when he was injured. The married father of two died an hour later at a hospital. Fire officials previously described his death publicly as a "training accident." His death has rocked the department. "Jason worked in a variety of assignments and was loved and respected by his colleagues," the fire department said in a statement. "We are aware of the many speculative reports citing what may have occurred, and ask that you respect Jason, his family, and our department as we determine the factual causes that lead to this tragedy … Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones, especially his wife and two young children."  

VIDEO: An extra-alarm fire involving multiple homes in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood Sunday night has left one firefighter suffering from minor injuries. The fire started just after 11:30 p.m. inside of a vacant 2 1/2-story home in the 800-block of North Lawndale Avenue, the Chicago Fire Department said. The vacant home was destroyed and two other homes damaged in the 2-alarm fire. The vacant home collapsed during the fire. One firefighter was taken to a hospital with a minor injury. At least four people are trying to figure out where to go next as their homes are boarded up. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but a neighbor told ABC7 he saw two men in the backyard overnight lighting a bonfire.  

Across the US, coronavirus outbreaks seem to be larger than ever before. On Saturday, 12 states hit record seven-day rolling average case counts, according to a Business Insider analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project, which compiles data from state and territory-level public health authorities. Alaska, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah recorded more new infections in the last seven days than they ever have in a one-week period. The US overall has recorded more than 50,000 new cases each day for the last four days. The country hasn't seen such a streak since mid-August. Case counts are high - with a seven-day daily average of at least 15 new cases per 100,000 people - in 26 states, according to analysis from The New York Times. Daily case counts are growing in another 16 states and Washington, DC.  

More than three-quarters of FDNY employees who retired last year qualified for annual pensions exceeding $100,000 — with many awarded extra because of disabilities related to 9/11, a new study and data reveal. Forty of the 491 retirees landed gold-plated pensions of more than $200,000 a year, according to the study by the Empire Center for Public Policy. The largest pension went to retired Assistant Chief James C. Hodgens, who once headed the Fire Academy and was eligible to collect $282,476 a year. He qualified for a disability pension, which enables uniformed officers to retire with pension payouts of at least 75 percent of their final salary instead of usual 50 percent. Such disability pensions made up 60 percent of all of the department's retirement costs last year, according to a Post review of the FDNY's annual pension report.  

They're the first on the scene at major trauma events and this weekend, San Antonio firefighters, EMS and police officers were the first in line to give back to the community by donating blood. Conrad Gonzales, a retired San Antonio firefighter, felt he needed to step up when he heard that the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center's blood supply continues to be at an all-time low, due to the pandemic. "I thought, you know, let's get the firefighters (and) make this, like, a first annual first responder blood drive," Gonzales said. Gonzales reached out to Christy Cracraft, a supervisor at STBTC, to plan the Battle of the Badges Blood Drive, a two-day event hosted at the San Antonio Fire Department's Union Hall. "I feel like by leading the way, that we get a better community response," Cracraft said. According to STBTC, blood drives provide about 70% of the community supply.