Ketchikan city officials say they're no longer looking at layoffs to fill a roughly $1.75 million budget shortfall. Mayor Bob Sivertsen says they'll be able to make up the difference by cutting projects, leaving positions vacant and putting some of the city's unspent federal aid towards paying first responders. "We are not laying off anybody at this particular point in time," Sivertsen said in a phone interview Wednesday. He says city council members found other ways to fill the gap. Five of the 15 positions were unfilled — so cutting those positions wouldn't leave anyone without a job. Among the 10 positions that were proposed to be cut were three firefighters and three police officers.  

Crews extinguished a large fire that gutted a commercial building in Chatsworth Wednesday night. The flames were reported around 9:50 p.m. at a one-story building at 20150 Sunburst St., the Los Angeles Fire Department said in an alert. The structure houses Arizona Pipeline Co., fire officials said. The pipeline contractor is based in Hesperia but lists the Sunburst Street address as its Chatsworth division. Shortly after 10 p.m., firefighters transitioned into defensive mode, fighting the blaze from outside the building as flames engulfed the building and a heavy column of smoke poured through the roof. Aerial video from Sky5 showed sparks among the flames inside the building. One firefighter suffered a burn injury and was taken to the hospital but was expected to survive, according to LAFD. By about 11:30 p.m., the fire was put out by 120 firefighters at the scene, LAFD said in an update.  

PHOTOS: Floyd Guenther wanted cereal. It was early Dec. 21, 2019, about 4 a.m. Quiet. Many of his neighbors at the Alpine Motel Apartments were asleep. Nothing seemed unusual as he headed for the corner store, closing up his third-floor room and walking down a narrow hallway toward the building's front stairwell. Floyd Guenther told police he saw "a ball of fire" in the Alpine Motel Apartments, and that nothing happened when he pulled multiple fire alarms. But on the first floor, where the stairs spit him out, he suddenly smelled smoke. Above him, near the front door, it gently hovered, swirling on the ceiling. He heard no beeping smoke detectors. No blaring fire alarm. Peeking out from the stairwell landing and down the first floor hallway, he couldn't see much. So he stepped a little farther out, peering beyond a vending machine and pair of fridges partially blocking the path.  

Columbus police and fire divisions this week have welcomed their most diverse recruitment classes in recent years, the city Department of Public Safety reported. Forty-five new Columbus police recruits and 35 new city fire recruits began working toward careers as first responders this week. Nineteen members of the Division of Police recruitment class are female or non-white, representing about 42% of the entire class. Columbus Division of Fire reported 40% of this class are female or non-white. "We are excited to see these qualified men and women coming to the (police division) with a desire to serve the residents of Columbus and be trained by the best," said Jennifer Knight, deputy police chief. "The division is excited about the opportunities this class represents for the division and the citizens of this city." Interim Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ shared the sentiment.  

First responders are asking drivers to slow down after a crew in Allegheny County was almost hit by a truck sliding on snow covered roads. Collier Township EMS posted the video to Facebook Wednesday as a reminder for drivers to use caution if they need to be out and about. Officials say crews were on scene of a minor crash and were checking on the occupant for injuries when a truck came sliding into one of their emergency vehicles nearly hitting one of them. First responders across Pennsylvania were kept busy Wednesday as a snowstorm made its way across the state.  

The state's first Safe Haven Baby Box was unveiled in front scores of residents, law enforcement and fire officials, as well as politicians and well-wishers at the southeast corner of the newly built fire and police building in Ocala. The occasion, attended by Monica Kelsey, founder and CEO of the Safe Haven Baby Box and Linda Znachko, founder of He Knows Your Name, was to let people know that a parent can leave a child in a safe environment. "Every life matters," Znachko said Tuesday afternoon, minutes before Ocala Fire Rescue Chief Shane Alexander removed a black bag used to conceal the box at 505 NW Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. According to a Safe Haven Baby Boxes information pamphlet, it's the first safe baby box in Florida, and the 53rd for the United States. The first baby box was made available to the public in Woodburn, Indiana, in April 2016.