It is now a misdemeanor in Anchorage to violate a burn ban. That's after the Assembly unanimously approved an emergency ordinance Tuesday against open burning when it's prohibited. The Anchorage Fire Department declared a burn ban on Friday — until further notice. That ban prohibits all open fires including backyard fire pits. The emergency ordinance makes it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly create an open burn when it is prohibited, or to permit open burning without contacting emergency services. Penalties for a class A misdemeanor can include up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Before the ordinance, the consequence for violating a burn ban was a civil penalty.  

An outside electrical accident, sending sparks into dry grass, has been determined to be the cause. Driven by gusty winds the fire rapidly spread into a stand of black spruce. Groups of trees were observed torching and casting embers into the wind, igniting multiple spot fires. Several spots grew together as the fire quickly spread. Once the hotshots finished the saw line around the main fire and two smaller spots, it measured approximately 1 acre. The Chena Hotshots will remain into the evening insuring the perimeter is cold out and work into the interiors of each spot seeking out and extinguishing pockets of fuel still smoldering. They will make a final grid of the fire before being released tonight. A quick response from DOF, University Fire Department, Chena Hotshots and the support of two water dropping helicopters stopped this fire before it damaged any of the nearby residences.  

VIDEO: A school bus driver running their routes Wednesday morning spotted a house fire and quickly called 911 about 6:00am. The house fire, in the 3900 block of Hooker Road, was in Walker County, but Chattanooga firefighters assisted in the task of extinguishing the fire and shared helmet cam video. The house was condemned and vacant, allowing firefighters to focus on controlling and ultimately extinguishing the fire in short order. The firefighters did not enter the house, since it was condemned, and did their work outside the structure.  

Throughout the trailer for the upcoming CBS drama series, "Fire Country," the words Cal Fire are written on fire trucks, uniforms, shirts and paperwork. But Joe Tyler, director and 31-year veteran of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), wants Cal Fire staff to know that the department is not affiliated in any way with the television show. Tyler released a statement this week that was distributed department wide saying that Cal Fire, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Cal Fire Local 2881, an affiliate of the International Association of Firefighters that represents over 7,000 current and retired Cal Fire employees, had no involvement with the series. Moreover, Tyler criticized the show's depiction of firefighters.  

In the wake of the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting, KOIN 6 News talked to a former Oregon fire chief who responded to the 1998 Thurston High School shooting who also pioneered a program that worked to prevent school shootings for nearly a decade. On May 21, 1998, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel, a freshman at Thurston High School in Springfield shot and killed two student and wounded 25 more. "I got into my office before eight in the morning, which was my common practice and I got a phone call from the incident commander responding. He called me on the cell phone and told me that they were responding to Thurston High School," Dennis Murphy, who was the Springfield fire chief at the time, explained. "And I just dropped my jaw what they said they were responding to…and they said the report was multiple students down, an active shooter," Murphy said.  

VIDEO: What started as a way to connect with kids during the pandemic has evolved into a national award-winning cable access show. "Storytime with Chief Cassidy," starring Fire Chief Michael Cassidy and produced by Holliston Cable Access and station manager Bruce Gilfoy, was recently honored with an "Award of Excellence," at the 28th Annual Communicator Awards, presented by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. Other winners included The Walt Disney Company, Mattel, T-Mobile and NASA Television. "I think the product we've been putting out is really high quality," Cassidy said. Cassidy came up with the idea just over two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic. Without being able to go to schools and interact with children, he sought a way to continue reaching out to them. He came up with the idea of reading a fire safety book, recording it and posting it on Facebook.  

Gov. Dan McKee had a special guest at his COVID-19 briefing Thursday morning. White House COVID-19 Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha joined McKee virtually to announce the nation's first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening at the Clínica Esparanza/Hope Clinic in Providence. The new site comes as the White House announced more steps Thursday to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the United States. The site will provide patients with immediate access to the drug once they test positive. "I think it is an innovative idea that Dr. Jha and his team have looked at and Rhode Island is so fortunate to be leading the nation in this effort with vaccines and boosters also being available at these sites," McKee said. Anyone who tests positive at the clinic will immediately receive an assessment from a medical provider to see if they are eligible for oral antiviral treatment. If they are, they will receive the treatment onsite immediately.