VIDEO: A firefighter, accustomed to saving lives, found himself in need of rescue when he collapsed and nearly died last October. George Ma'Ayteh was in the process of looking at furniture at a Northwest Side apartment to be purchased via Facebook Marketplace when he suddenly fell over. His boss, Paula Anast, was with him and got on the phone with Fire Communications Operator Amanda Garr, who, remaining composed and focused, guided Anast through the steps of CPR over the phone, effectively coaching her in the lifesaving procedure. Recalling the harrowing incident, Anast described Ma'Ayteh as appearing "dead." Garr's expertise proved invaluable as she skillfully directed Anast in administering chest compressions until paramedics arrived.  

HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital leaders and colleagues, Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, city officials, retired firefighters and community members joined together on April 14 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the St. Anthony Hospital fire with a special event. The ceremony included the unveiling of a statue of a nurse holding a baby commissioned by the Effingham Retired Volunteer Firefighters Association (ERVFA) to memorialize the victims of the fire, and honor those who bravely fought the fire as well as those who helped raise funds to rebuild the hospital afterwards. The statue's home is near the hospital's healing garden by the Prairie Heart Institute entrance on Maple Street. Following the unveiling ceremony, the statue was blessed by Father Adam Prichard, Hospital Chaplain.  

VIDEO: Three firefighters with the Charlotte Fire Department have been hospitalized following a two-alarm house fire that was intentionally set Thursday morning in north Charlotte. The department responded to a structure fire around 2:45 a.m. on Grimes Street and had to call for more support due to the size of the fire. Firefighters said it took 60 minutes to get the fire under control. A mayday was also transmitted before one firefighter had to be rescued from the home. Three family members and a dog were also able to escape due to working smoke alarms. Overall, three firefighters were ultimately transported to an area hospital due to injuries sustained while battling the fire. Thursday afternoon, the Charlotte Fire Department said investigators "determined the fire was intentionally set."  

New proposed legislation would make it easier to demolish or remediate dangerous vacant buildings in the City of Seattle. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the legislation Thursday morning which he developed in partnership with councilmembers Tammy Morales and Bob Kettle, which would give the Seattle Fire Department the power to order complete demolition or remediation of unsafe vacant buildings. Vacant building fires within the city of Seattle have been on the rise over the last few years. There were 77 vacant building fires in 2021, 91 in 2022, and 130 in 2023, and there have been 30 so far in 2024, according to city data. Vacant building fires require a large number of resources from the Seattle Fire Department and put firefighters' lives at risk, according to Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. Three people died in vacant building fires in 2023.  

VIDEO: April 16 is a day still remembered in Texas City – the day of an unimaginable disaster. It happened during prosperous times for the growing oil, shipping and chemical industry in Galveston County in 1947. Texas City was a growing town of 16,000 where many of the residents worked at chemical and petroleum plants that had sprouted up along the ship channel during World War II. In mid-April 1947, a French freighter, the Grand Camp, docked at Texas City to take on a heavy load of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. But as longshoremen loaded the ship on April 16, the smell of smoke filled the air. A small fire had broken out deep inside the Grand Camp. The captain ordered that steam be used to smother the fire, which created a brightly colored smoke that drew people to the dock to watch. Then the unimaginable happened: an explosion so powerful that it was heard 210 miles away in Louisiana.  

Whether or not Auburn's singing firefighter has a hit to rise up the charts one day, look up in the sky. You might see him soaring another way. "I like to have realistic goals for myself, and one of those is to become a pilot," said Ducote Talmage, who until recently was a contestant on NBC's singing competition "The Voice." The 20-year-old country and Southern rock singer is attending community college in Opelika and plans to attend Auburn University. Between fire training and a journey to Los Angeles for the show, Talmage admits that he's somewhat behind but plans to study aviation management — the business side of aviation. "I'm actually planning on attending flight school in Montgomery in the next couple of months," Talmage said. Most people coming off of a music competition show like this would be looking to release a new project or start their own tour, while the fame fire is still hot. That's not necessarily true for Talmage. In fact, he's not sure he truly considers himself a singer.