Three Alaska Division of Forestry managed Type 2 Emergency Firefighting (EFF) crews from rural Alaska mobilized to Colorado today, Aug. 28 to help with the busy fire season. These crews are mostly made up with firefighters from remote communities in Southwest and Eastern Interior Alaska. The three crews are: Chevak Crew with firefighters from Chevak and Kalskag; Hooper Bay Crew with firefighters from Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay; Upper Tanana #2 Crew with firefighters from Tok, Tancross, Tetlin, Mentasta Lake and Northway. The Hooper Bay Crew is slated to join the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team (AIIMT) on the Grizzly Creek Fire while the other two crews are going to the Cameron Peak Fire west of Fort Collins. The crews were flown or bussed into Anchorage on Thursday. For the Chevak and Hooper Bay crews, the journey included flying more than 500 miles to Anchorage.  

The state on Monday reported 39 new cases of COVID-19, most of them in Anchorage residents. Separately, the Arctic Slope Native Association also reported five new cases on the North Slope, four of them residents and one traveler. Three of the new cases are Utqiagvik residents, one is a resident of a smaller North Slope community, and one is a nonresident traveler who is remaining in Utqiagvik until cleared to return to their home off the Slope. The North Slope Borough has confirmed 40 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in March. As of Monday, 37 people around the state were hospitalized with COVID-19 while two hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to the state's coronavirus data dashboard. Of Alaska's 153 intensive unit beds, used for the sickest patients, 85 were available on Monday.  

VIDEO: The FDNY put a rarely used maneuver into action to save a woman who was hanging from a 16th-floor window during a high-rise fire in Manhattan. The fire was reported Tuesday near Lenox Avenue and West 135th Street just before 1:30 p.m. Firefighters found a woman panicking at a window on the 16th floor of the Lenox Terrace Apartments and decided to do something they rarely do -- a roof rope rescue from the 17th floor. Firefighter Brian Quinn said he stayed at the window and tried to calm her down and told her not to jump and the FDNY would come and rescue her. "This was really a heroic rescue and shows the talent and bravery of the members of the FDNY, something that is rarely done," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "They used their skills quickly, assessed the situation quickly, did what had to be done, bravely. Thanks to their bravery, effort and ingenuity, we have someone who was saved here on Lenox Avenue. It's a happy day for her and a happy day for all of us."  

Several firefighters battled a fire at a wrecking yard in Kent Tuesday morning. The fire was reported around 4 a.m. in the 26100 block of 78th Avenue South, according to officials with Puget Sound Fire. Firefighters arrived to find about 30-40 junked cars on fire. "(It was a) deep-seeded fire in a stack of cars," said Capt. Joe Root with Puget Sound Fire. "The cars were stacked multiple cars on top of each other and multiple rows wide." No structures were burning, so firefighters just worked to keep the fire from spreading, officials said. Firefighters used about 12,000 gallons to douse the flames and a HazMat team was called in to monitor the runoff as it mixed with leftover fluids in the vehicles, but Root said the yard already had retention ponds to collect runoff and no contamination was expected. There is no word yet what started the fire.  

Three months after one of the biggest ship fires in decades in Jacksonville, 10 firefighters injured in a related blast are suing for their injuries. The law firm Pajcic & Pajcic filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10 Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department employees on Tuesday, 90 days after an explosion that severely injured some of them. Some had to be treated at the burn unit in Gainesville, and three first responders remain off the job due to their injuries. A 15-floor cargo ship caught fire on June 4 in the St. Johns River while at Blount Island. The cause is still under investigation, but the plaintiffs' attorney, Curry Pajcic, said the ship had just been loaded with 2,400 junked cars that were to be transported to western Africa. At 6:45 p.m. June 4, while fighting the fire from the inside, at least 10 firefighters were in the stairwell when there was an explosion on the eighth deck.  

Members of the Harmonville Fire Company are excited to announce the kickoff of their campaign to recruit volunteers featuring a new website JoinHarmonvilleFire.org that highlights the company's strengths and vision and will receive queries from potential volunteers. With the key values of honor, family and community, Harmonville Fire Company hopes to find like-minded people to volunteer in various roles at the historic company, which began in 1924. The busy fire company offers opportunities to fight fires in a variety of structures from homes to businesses to the Plymouth Meeting Mall. With its proximity to I-476 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Harmonville first responders are also called to save lives along the highways. The ideas for the new campaign, including the slogan "Honor. Family. Community," were developed through a visioning session with members of the Harmonville Fire Company. All felt strongly that these principles distinguished the volunteer experience with their station.  

More deaths associated with Hurricane Laura were caused by the improper use of portable generators than the storm itself. And officials warn that the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning persists, as thousands of households in Louisiana remain without power. Eight of the 15 hurricane-related deaths confirmed by the Louisiana Department of Health are attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators, which can provide life-saving power in emergency situations but also pose a deadly threat if used incorrectly. The unidentified victims of carbon monoxide poisoning range in age from 24 to 84 years old, and outnumber the deaths caused by drowning, fallen trees and storm cleanup. Officials in Lake Charles said at a press briefing on Friday that five people in one house succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning after fumes from their generator — which was running in an attached garage — entered through a door that was either partially or fully open.