The combination of effort on the ground and from the air was successful in catching several northwestern fires before they could impact nearby Native allotments or structures. This, coupled isolated thunderstorms that accompanied the lightning that is to blame for the new ignitions, helped extinguish some of the around two dozen fires that started late Tuesday night. Due to the high number of new starts, fire managers prioritized response to wildfires that were immediately threatening structures and allotments. Some of the fires were burning in a limited management option area that, as long as they weren't threatening any sites of value, were placed in monitor status. Others, such as fires near the mouth of the Noatak River, were burning close to Native allotments and cabins, triggering a response from smokejumpers and water-dropping aircraft.  

PHOTOS: It was quite a sight to see the Fireboat John D. McKean arrive at Pier 25. On one of the most beautiful days of the year, there were bagpipers from the FDNY to welcome it on the pier, and its (her?) cousin, the John J. Harvey, which is docked in Hudson River Park at Pier 66 Maritime, gave a water display as a welcome. The scene resembled some sort of fireboat mating ritual (which is weird now that I already said they were cousins): the Harvey fired up all its water cannons as it sailed down the middle of the river. The McKean then chugged over towards it and did a 180 in front of the boat — and at one point, was perfectly lined up in its shadow with the spray as a backdrop. Then the McKean launched its own water cannons — and at one point snuck over so close to Pier 26 that they doused the folks on the end of the pier, much to the pleasure of the rest of us watching from 25.  

The abrupt, deadly collapse of part of the Champlain Towers South apartment building in Surfside, Fla., is prompting new calls for enhanced oceanfront construction safety protocols and inspections. "Buildings like this do not fall in America," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told Fox News' Tucker Carlson Thursday night. "This is a third-world phenomenon, and it's shocking." He said the "disturbing" collapse was reminiscent of the fall of the Twin Towers in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, as far as the way the structure crumbled in moments. Video shows two wings of the 12-story high rise tumbling out of the sky without warning around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. It's not immediately clear what caused the collapse, and Miami-Dade officials said they did not expect to have answers any time soon.  

AT&T and the FirstNet Authority announced the addition of 19 deployable assets to the dedicated FirstNet fleet of mobile LTE vehicles, with Communications Vehicles and Micro SatCOLTs providing different operational features and flexibility than was available previously. Fred Scalera, AT&T's associate director for FirstNet, said he believes the new deployables will help AT&T—the nationwide contractor building the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN)—deliver "next-level" communications support to public safety during emergency-response efforts. This announcement is just the latest step in the evolution of the FirstNet deployable offering, he said. "We're working on new technologies into the next year already," Scalera said during an interview with IWCE's Urgent Communications.  

Doctors at UPMC are trying to raise awareness about the benefits of napping for first responders. KDKA's Meghan Schiller found out this new napping study applies to everyone looking to make informed decisions about rest but especially applies to first responders, police officers, firefighters, pilots, train operators and other high-risk jobs. Research shows their ability to stay awake and make decisions with a clear mind directly impacts people's safety. "We call it a safety nap. When they can get a safety nap in, it's a really good idea to do that. Any deposits into the sleep bank is important for these guys because they might be up for the entire night," said Greg Porter, assistant director of the Ross/West View EMS. When lives are on the line, Porter expects his paramedics to feel rested.  

President Joe Biden may have already conceded that the U.S. will fall short of reaching his July 4 goal to have vaccinated at least 70% of the adult population against COVID, but the stakes for advancing the nation's vaccine drive remain high as the Delta variant—the highly transmissible and concerning strain of the virus that first emerged in India—swiftly makes inroads across the country. In an analysis of genomic surveillance data released by the Centers for Disease Control last night, the Delta variant now accounts for 20.6% of America's COVID cases, up from 9.5% in the previous two week period. The "variant of concern," as the CDC declared it last week, is the cause of nearly half the new COVID cases in the Midwest and Upper Plains regions, according to CDC data.