It appears 2021 will prove to be a record year on the number of calls for Capital City Fire Rescue. During 2020 the department had 4,203 by the end of November. The total this year by the end of November numbers 5,153. That's according to the update provided by Fire Marshal Dan Jager while a guest on Action Line. He said the calls through the end of November just include fire and emergency medical calls from the fire stations. The total does not include calls generated by the mobile integrated health or CARES programs. When asked if 2021 will be a record year Jager said, "I believe so. Yeah. Absolutely." He added that they're not sure exactly why. He said some days they'll receive eight or nine calls, but a lot of days calls will number 15 to 20.  

When Cliff Alexander started fighting fire in 1977, his grandfathers were two of the squad bosses on his Type 2 emergency firefighter (EFF) crew. Now a squad boss on the Capstone 1 Type 2 BLM Contract Crew, Alexander had a few grand-nephews working on the crew this summer, including 20-year-old Matthew Titus, a rookie from Minto. The crew was made up of firefighters from Tanana, Minto, Nenana, Mountain Village, and Marshall. Titus said all six of his fellow crewmembers from Minto are related. These crews were so successful in 2020, the BLM AFS expanded the program to Western Alaska the following year. The addition of three contracts to crews in numerous Yukon River communities will allow for the quick response to fires throughout the BLM AFS protection area covering about 191.5 million acres in the northern half of the state – an area larger than the state of Texas.  

A large Christmas tree outside Fox's Midtown headquarters was set ablaze early Wednesday by an arsonist who was quickly taken into custody. The 50-foot tree on Sixth Avenue went up in flames just before 12:15 a.m., and heavy flames then spread to smaller decorated trees in the display. Police say the 49-year-old suspect climbed up "the metal superstructure" -- the tree is an artificial sculpture that is shaped to look like a tree -- lit papers he brought with him on fire, and shoved the papers into the tree structure. He then climbed down and watched from the street level as it burned, and he was spotted by building security who pointed the man out to police officers posted in nearby Rockefeller Center. The suspect is identified as 49-year-old Craig Tamanaha, who is homeless, with a last known address in Brooklyn.  

PHOTOS: The Savannah Fire Department displayed artwork created by students at Islands High School and their teacher on Tuesday. The five pieces of artwork were part of an ongoing project to honor the history of the Savannah Fire Department. The project required students to do archival research in order to uncover photographs to incorporate into the artwork. Students also worked as apprentices for their teacher, Daniel Bonnell, for a week at a time while helping to make the murals. "The heart of this project is to let my students learn to develop a spirit of thankfulness," Bonnell said. "Let them learn that the greatest lesson in life is not about ‘me', but it's about serving others." Bonnell said that he was thrilled to have had the opportunity to create the artwork which included the large murals as well as some smaller art pieces.  

Saturday, December 11th marks the 30th anniversary of the Page County Courthouse fire. In commemoration of that tragic and historic event, KMA News presents a special series of reports looking back at the fire, its aftermath, and the effort by Page County residents to save the venerable structure. In part one of "The Night the Courthouse Burned," local officials past and present recall the moment the unthinkable occurred. Standing majestically in Clarinda's square since the late 1880's, the Page County Courthouse has been an enduring symbol of county government. That's what made what transpired on a cold night in December, 1991 even more shocking. And, anyone living in Clarinda that fateful evening 30 years ago remembers where they were when a major disaster took place.  

VIDEO: On any given call, the likelihood first responders will find an electric vehicle on the streets of Phoenix is going up. "There are more and more of these electric vehicles on the road, so we have to be more cognizant if it's a hybrid if it's an electric vehicle, how we approach it," Capt. Evan Gammage with Phoenix Fire Department said. It was Monday night in Paradise Valley when the Department of Public Safety said a woman crashed into the other lanes of traffic near McDonald Drive and 47th Street. DPS said Nicole Baldovino was pronounced dead at the hospital. Another driver was injured, but officials said they had non-life-threatening injuries. Baldovino's Tesla caught fire after the crash. Gammage said Phoenix fire crews worked to put the fire out, but because of the nature of the electric vehicle, it takes specific tactics to fight. Including having crews test the water coming off the fire for hazardous materials to keep hazards from flowing into the water system.  

For the first time in two months, the United States is averaging more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, shortly after millions of Americans traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday. The seven-day moving average of new cases was 121,437 as of Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to this week, the U.S. last topped the 100,000-cases-a-day mark in early October. Also on the rise is the number of COVID-19 deaths, with a seven-day average of 1,651 people dying from the virus each day as of Saturday, the JHU data showed. Average daily deaths haven't been this high in more than a month. The vast majority of new cases in the U.S. continue to be from the delta variant, but US health officials have detected the new omicron coronavirus variant in at least 16 states as of Saturday.