The Homer Volunteer Fire Department is recruiting new volunteers for the 2021 Firefighter I Class, which begins Oct. 18. No prior experience or certifications are required to sign up for the class. According to the City of Homer website, volunteers make up 75% of the fire department. Recruits will attend classes every Monday and Wednesday from 6-10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Feb. 5, 2022, with breaks for Christmas and Thanksgiving. The course will be taught by fire professionals and will include lectures, hands-on training, as well as a live burn day at a training trailer. The class is a joint operation with neighboring departments Kachemak Emergency Services and Western Emergency Services.  

VIDEO: The city of Boston celebrated the opening of its first new firehouse in more than three decades on Thursday. The new $23.5 million, state-of-the-art facility is the Engine 42, Rescue 2, District 9 Firehouse in Roxbury. "It's so important that we make sure that our first responders, our frontline workers, have the support and the tools necessary to do their jobs and to do it with honor and integrity," said Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey at Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was designed from start to finish with firefighters in mind. It is complete with in-house training opportunities around every corner and at every height. It also has a sparkling new kitchen, a gym, and sleeping quarters. "I can see the smiles in all the firefighters faces. It's just an awesome feeling for us to take this over," said Robert Dowling, Chief of District 9.  

New Orleans Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS) will be the first ground ambulances in the region to carry blood for emergency transfusions for patients with traumatic injuries. "We did the numbers over a year. There were about 80 to 90 patients that we envisioned that blood could have been given and an opportunity for a difference to be made, so this is a really huge opportunity that we're excited to tackle," said Dr. Emily Nichols, medical director for NOEMS. Uncontrolled bleeding is the leading cause of preventable death. Early transfusions have been shown to improve outcomes for patients with major traumatic bleeding. "When you lose a trauma patient that you think gosh another couple of minutes would have made a difference, it's really hard. It's hard to have that conversation with the family. It's hard for even a seasoned team to see that over and over again," said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director for the New Orleans Health Department.  

Aviation accidents are so rare that they naturally make front-page news. Some plane crashes, however, have left lasting imprints due to their unique circumstances or indelible images. Although not the deadliest in American history, these seven plane crashes are among the most unforgettable. Thick fog enveloped a B-25 Mitchell bomber as it approached Manhattan on a routine flight from Massachusetts to New Jersey on the Saturday morning of July 28, 1945. Flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet in heavy fog, the 10-ton aircraft suddenly slammed into the north side of the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors. Wreckage littered the streets below. One engine tore completely through the structure, the world's tallest at the time, and started a fire that destroyed a penthouse art studio across the street.  

VIDEO: Overdose-related calls more than quadrupled in September on Kauai, which has first responders concerned. "We've seen a dramatic increase of these opiate overdoses," said Cody Bonilla, county supervisor for the Kauai Emergency Medical Services, "We're seeing the cases being linked to fentanyl." Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic drug, extremely addicting and growing in use. It's being mixed into counterfeit prescription pills and street drugs. In September, Kauai Emergency Medical Services responded to 18 overdose calls. Of those, five patients died. That's a huge jump from August, when EMS responded to just four overdose calls, with no fatalities. And in July, it was even lower, Narcan was used only twice by EMS, again without fatalities. "Absolutely concerned," said KPD Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce.  

In tears Tuesday, just one day after a plane crash fire in Santee destroyed their first home, newlyweds Cody and Courtney Campbell held out hope they would find Cody's wedding ring in the rubble. He had been wearing a black rubber ring and kept his other ring in their home. "To get it back would be amazing, but in the end, this is all that matters," Courtney Campbell said. Then the next day at their home of only five months, the couple sifted through ashes and debris until they finally found it, Cody's wedding ring. It was charred black but all in one piece. Courtney wrote on Instagram: "We are speechless. Also intact, soaking wet, and now perfectly imperfect, the letter Cody wrote to me on our wedding day and gave to me with our photo."