Two Ketchikan residents were left devastated after a house fire Sunday afternoon. No humans were injured, but two pets were lost, and the home is uninhabitable. Sunday afternoon, Sonya Skan said she woke up from a nap to the smell of smoke. She ran out of her house, grabbing two of her pets and not much else. When she tried to go back for her other dog and cat, she said she couldn't get back in — the home was already full of smoke. That moment is hard to describe, she said. "(It) felt surreal," she said. "You just can't explain that." Skan said she's still processing what happened. She and her husband Norman Skan were able to get to the second floor of the house after the fire was extinguished, but she said most of their possessions were lost or damaged. The worst fire damage was concentrated in the lower levels of the house, with more smoke damage in the upper level, said Ketchikan Fire Marshal Gretchen O'Sullivan.  

VIDEOS: Two adults and four children were injured in a house explosion in West Brandywine Township, Chester County, officials said. The incident was first reported just before 12 p.m. Wednesday on the 400 block of Hibernia Road. Firefighters and EMS responded to the home and found the victims suffering from burn injuries. Officials said one adult and two children were flown from the scene by medical helicopter to an area hospital. Two others were taken to a hospital by ambulance, and one person refused treatment. Linsey Carpenter, who lives nearby, said she heard the explosion and went to help. "We saw the little girl run across the street. We grabbed her and checked her out. Her hair was singed, her eyebrows were singed. Then the little boy came out and that's when the flames started," she said.  

Alabama firefighters are trying to change a new state law, which they said causes safety concerns in Alabama's schools. As written, HB 220, which passed in the 2021 legislative session, removes state oversight of K-12 school construction projects of $500,000 or less. It gives that responsibility to the school systems. The law's supporters say the goal is to remove government bureaucracy and save school systems money. But Alabaster Fire Chief Tim Love said it could lead to school buildings not being up to code. "There will be no independent third party inspection or review of the plans or process as it goes along," Love said. "Without that, there's no guarantee codes are being followed." Love is president of the Alabama Fire Fighters Association. He wants the law changed before it goes into effect February 1.  

Robeson County paramedics and residents can feel a little safer Wednesday, the day some county EMS personnel donned body cameras in an effort to protect paramedics from assault and to provide the best care to patients. Wednesday marks the start of a 14-day testing and evaluation phase for six body cameras being incorporated into patient care, said Nestor Rivera, Robeson County EMS Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement specialist and paramedic. Three will be worn during the day shift and three on the night shift. Each Reveal body-worn camera can store up to 12 hours of continuous imaging and costs $599. The cameras will work in conjunction with dash cameras already installed in ambulances. The EMS service hasn't decided whether or not it will buy 18 or 32 cameras, using donated money.  

VIDEO: There was an intense underground rescue near St. Louis nearly 200 feet down at a wastewater tunnel construction site. One worker was injured. The site is part of the four-mile MSD Deer Creek project that stretches from Lemay through Shrewsbury to Clayton. The site was closed Wednesday after the accident, which was very scary for the injured worker and others who were trapped, plus two Shrewsbury firefighter/paramedics who went down to get most of them out. An on-site construction team was able to free the one worker who needed medical care, the firefighters said. He hurt his leg after a 3,000-pound form used to shape concrete fell around 9:30 in the morning. The construction team was able to shift the form with a crane and lift him out. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening injury, authorities said.  

The Middle Eastern country of Lebanon is a long way from the Hilltowns, but thanks to the internet, a bagel company and an enthusiastic young firefighter, firefighters in the capital area of Beirut are wearing gear donated by four local towns. And those who organized the donation are looking to send over even more. "We're still trying to get more gear over there," said recently retired Goshen firefighter Bob Labrie. The young firefighter that started the effort is River de la Vida Williams, 20, a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and member of the Cummington and Goshen fire departments. "If you know River, you're not surprised by his ambition," Labrie said. When Williams joined the Cummington Fire Department at age 17, Bernie Forgea, the fire chief at the time, announced his recruitment at a town meeting. At the time, Forgea mentioned that the department had gear that was more than 10 years old sitting in unopened boxes