The Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team working the Grizzly Creek Fire are picking up where the Great Basin Incident Management Team left off, having taken command since Tuesday. Made up of about 80 personnel, the Alaska Team includes experts in operations, plans, logistics, finance, aviation, safety and communications. In total, over 700 personnel are working on containing the fire. "The Great Basin Team was here before us," Alaska Team Incident Commander Tom Kurth said during Thursday's community meeting on Facebook. "They did a lot of heavy lifting on this whole fire. They're the ones that were first in as a Type 1 team and had the most complicated problems. They did certainly an outstanding job. We're coming in to relieve them and we'll pick up and take over where they left off." On Thursday, Alaska Team Operations Chief Jon Glover said the fire is at about 32,302 acres with about 61% containment.  

VIDEOS: A fire has broken out in the Westlake, Louisiana, area, causing gases and smoke to plume over I-10. The Louisiana State Police Emergency Services Unit confirmed the fire involved a chlorine leak at the BioLab plant in Westlake. They are coordinating with plant managers to contain the leak, officials said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, LSP Col. Keven Reeves said. LSP said I-10 closed overnight due to Hurricane Laura and traffic is being diverted away from the incident location. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said residents are advised to shelter in place until further notice. "If you are in the Westlake/Moss Bluff/Sulphur area, shelter in place, close your windows and doors and turn off your air conditioning units. There is a chemical fire. Stay inside and wait for additional direction from local officials," Edwards tweeted Thursday.  

In a video made by Murrieta Fire & Rescue Chief David Lantzer told citizens there's a significant urge to wear masks and follow guidelines, after one of his family members died of COVID-19 recently. "The individual I was talking about in the video was my brother-in-law," Lantzer said. "He got COVID-19." Lantzer said he was not sure where his brother-in-law picked up the disease, although he knew a few stories about possible interactions with others. "He was down in El Centro Hospital, and they transferred him actually up here to Rancho Springs for further treatment," Lantzer said. Due to current health orders, they weren't able to visit, and instead the family made daily phone calls asking how he was doing. "He had been intubated, and they had actually extubated him; they took him off the ventilator," Lantzer said. "They soon had to put him back on the ventilator, and then it was the next day or so, he passed away."  

Styx have released a very special conceptual lyric video for their track "These Are The Times" to celebrate first responders and the digital release of their "Cyclorama" album. The band's 14th album was originally released in 2003 and has not been available digitally until now. The new lyric video pays tribute to the men and woman on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. James "JY" Young, who sings lead on the track, had this to say, "It's amazing how a song that was created in a certain timeframe, can fit into another timeframe 17 years later and that is the case with 'These Are The Times'. "It's even more amazing how this song encompasses the current world situation, and that it can fit into a song so beautifully. It's a fascinating thing. The video was created by my best friend Steve Jones, who is so incredibly talented and I'm blown away with what he came up with. "Styx fans and the world at large, take a breath, this too shall pass, and it's the music that will carry us through. AMEN!"  

Not long ago, this writer read a commentary by an unknown author who posed the question, "Who changes the course of history...presidents, kings, generals?" And, the answer, of course, was yes. But, the author went on to point out that more often than not, it's men and women with little social standing who most significantly reshape our communities and eventually the world. This statement holds a lot of truth as evidenced by the history which chronicles the organization and growth of the Barnwell Fire Department. Prior to the establishment of a true and officially structured department, stories passed down through time from some of the "ole timers" indicate that firefighting was performed in a fashion similar to a fire brigade using buckets which were filled from large barrels of water located strategically throughout the town upon the sounding of an alarm of fire.  

A 64-year-old Belleview woman is accused of hitting a firefighter with a sock filled with two cans of soup because he "brushed her off" when she tried to talk to him during a fire investigation. Claudia Jean Cyr, of 11745 S. U.S. Hwy. 301 #3, was charged with battery on a firefighter after the incident, which happened around 6 p.m. Monday. The victim told a Marion County sheriff's deputy that he and other firefighters were conducting a fire investigation when Cyr approached them and said she wanted to speak with them because she had information about the fire. The victim told Cyr to clear the area until they could speak to her, according to the sheriff's office report. The victim said Cyr came back to the scene claiming she didn't see anything and started calling him vulgar names. He said he told her he was done speaking to her and to leave the scene. The victim said Cyr went into her house and came out with a sock that contained two soup cans and struck him with it twice in the shoulder area of his right arm, the report said.