The city of Nenana, around 50 miles south of Fairbanks, just got two of the newest ambulances in the state. The Nenana Volunteer Fire/EMS Department was able to purchase the vehicles with a State and Federal grant funded by COVID-19 aid money. Joe Forness is the Chief at the Nenana Volunteer fire and EMS department, and said they were in desperate need of new ambulances. "Before we had our new ambulances, our first-out ambulance was a 2002 and it was well past its serviceability life." He said they questioned if the old ambulance was going to run, adding that now they don't need to worry. "Having these two new ambulances, it's amazing! It's an amazing stress relief knowing that I have two functional units that can roll out and not have to worry about mechanical issues."  

As of Tuesday morning no structures have been lost at the Chena Hot Springs Resort or along Chena Hot Springs Road. The Munson Creek Fire is moving at a slow and manageable speed, approximately 100 yards from structures on resort property. Fire personnel are also on hand to defend structures if the fire continues to move towards resort boundaries. A level 3 "Go" evacuation order, issued by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Department of Emergency Operations, remains in place from Mile 48 to the end of the road at Chena Hot Springs Resort. But fire personnel are crediting light rain showers overnight with raising the humidity and slowing the spread of the fire, after growing to over 27,000 acres on Monday. Firefighters, including Munson Creek Fire Information Officer Sam Harrel, are concentrating on structure protection at the resort Tuesday.  

VIDEO: A firefighter approaching a blaze in the garage of a West Michigan home was sent running in the opposite direction after a propane tank ignited. The ensuing blast was caught on camera, showing the emergency responder staggering backward and a massive explosion from the home. The footage, released by the Plainfield Township Fire Department district chief on Monday, showed the flames traveling from the garage to the rest of the home after firefighters arrived. The house fire occurred in a neighborhood just north of Grand Rapids in Kent County. First reported by WOOD TV, the family that lived at the residence had evacuated the home before the explosion. The homeowner credited a passing newspaper delivery man with alerting the family to the fire, allowing them to escape before the fire spread.  

Most of us can't afford homes with fire-extinguishing sprinklers built into the ceiling … and that's where FACE is designed to come in. It's a self-contained, heat-activated fire suppression device that's mounted in the user's home, wherever it's most likely to be needed. Its name an acronym for Fire Activated Canister Extinguisher, FACE was invented by San Francisco high school student Arul Mathur. He tells us that he was inspired to create it after moving from New Jersey to California, where he discovered firsthand just how much of a threat fires pose to people's dwellings. "I heard about the hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated their homes every year to flee from wildfires, but I never thought that I could be one of those people," he says. "Finally, in the summer of 2019, a wildfire threatened to force my family to evacuate our home. At that moment, it became personal. I knew that I needed to do something about it."  

VIDEO: Fire chiefs across the region are calling for the end of a law that allows people in Pennsylvania to set off commercial-grade fireworks after a number of incidents across the state that led to complaints and fatal incidents. In West York, a child died after the improper disposal of fireworks. In Lebanon, fireworks are being investigated as officials work to uncover what caused an explosion that destroyed a recycling plant. Fire officials said investigators are also looking into if fireworks caused a house fire Sunday in Montgomery County that killed a volunteer firefighter. In York City, Fire Chief William Sleeger Jr said "the police department has fielded you know, numerous calls. I want to say numerous, but it's probably in the hundreds."  

VIDEO: One Central Texas family has turned its tragedy into an opportunity for young adults pursuing their dreams of becoming firefighters. Maria Negrete has photos of her son, Jose Negrete throughout her home. A military child, Jose Negrete first moved to the city of Copperas Cove when he was just three years old. "He was very caring, compassionate," Maria said. "Jose wanted to be a firefighter. That was his dream since I can recall. It takes pride to look at these pictures. That's all I have left." The family worked hard to make his dream come true. One of its biggest hurdles was paying for the fire academy. "Now it roughly is about $4,000 to $5,000 to get you through school," Maria explained. "That meant that, hey, we had to take loans out. We had to put it in credit cards or he (Jose) also had to do (a) part-time job." Following a battle with cancer, Jose Negrete passed away last year.  

PHOTO: The first firefighting apparatus of the Plummer Hook & Ladder Company—an 1890s horse- or mule-drawn wooden wagon that carried equipment including buckets used to haul water to fires—returned home last week nearly 20 years after a promise was made to establish a museum to honor the legacy of the department's founding members and the volunteers who followed. "It's a fulfillment of a dream to finally get it back to Warrenton," said Walter Gardner, the town's mayor. "We have worked a long time to make all the arrangements since 2004 to make (this) a possibility." Established in 1868, the Plummer Hook & Ladder Company was Warren County's first fire department and is recognized by North Carolina as the state's longest continuously serving African-American volunteer fire department. It was later known as the Warrenton Volunteer Fire Department and merged with Warrenton Rural VFD in 2004.