The two water-dropping airplanes worked the southwestern edge of the fire Saturday while the Alaska Division of Forestry White Mountain Type 2 Initial Attack Crew arrived in Venetie to begin work on the Marten Creek Fire (#386). The crew plans a more direct approach to secure a section on the southwest edge to limit the spread toward historical cabins four to six miles to the south and Venetie 10 miles to the southwest. The airplanes are prepositioned at Fort Yukon today in case they're needed to cool the edge in front of the crew. Cooler and damper weather had moderated fire behavior on it and the Discovery Creek Fire (#388) as well as fires throughout Alaska in the past few days. The Yukon Flats continues to be the last hold out on Alaska's fire season as temperatures in the 60s and mostly sunny skies were present over both fires Saturday after a morning full of rain.  

On Saturday night, the 1/5-mile of Macon Speedway welcomed race fans to the popular bullring oval. Local racers raced for big prizes in the 3rd annual Diane Bennett Memorial. Watch the Macon Speedway fire video below. In the Pro Modified feature, a scary fire broke out. Billy Justice Jr and Chris Erwin tangled in turn three. They rolled down the banking. The No. 37 car driven by Billy Justice Jr, sparked. Flames soon followed and the entire car became engulfed in flames. The driver was still int he car. Within seconds, multiple safety workers approached the scene. With the fire raging out of control, one man who ran to the scene from the infield, caught fire. He immediately dropped to the ground and rolled across the race track. The man who was on fire, extinguished his own fire. Seconds later, he was already walking back to the car to help out the scene.  

When he went to his physical exam in October, Lt. Greg Galehouse felt like he was in pretty good health. The Akron firefighter had an active lifestyle and no sign that anything was wrong. After blood work, an EKG and a physical stress test, everything seemed OK. After they took ultrasounds of his organs, Galehouse thought, he'd get his paperwork and be on his way. Instead, a medical professional showed him what looked like a giant blood clot. In reality, it was a tumor the size of a golf ball sitting in his heart. "I would have never known I had it until something happened, like death," Galehouse, 62, said. "The doctor said that multiple times. Usually, you find them after you're dead." Galehouse is one of about 180 Akron firefighters who've gone through one of these comprehensive exams over the last two years, and one of a handful that found potentially life-ending problems early enough to treat them.  

Pointing to long-running structural and health concerns, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard announced on Friday that the Oak Street Firehouse will be temporarily relocated. The mayor said that operations at the Station 4 Firehouse will be moved until the city can make long overdue repairs. The firefighters and equipment will be immediately relocated to the Station 3 Firehouse until the city can establish a temporary Station 4 located near the Mount Vernon West MetroNorth train station. In the meantime, EMS crews will be staged at strategic locations to maintain rapid response times. "The structural integrity of this building has been well-documented and compromised since 2008," Mayor Patterson-Howard said. "Where temporary fixes were installed at all, no significant repairs have been performed in the past 13 years.  

On a recent afternoon, Antoine Mosley was panhandling on Cerrillos Road when the city's Alternative Response Unit arrived. The unit includes a caseworker, a paramedic and a police officer who respond to low-threat 911 calls usually related to behavioral health issues. The unit members are trained in de-escalation techniques and often connect people in crisis with mental health and housing services. Before the city created the unit earlier this year, first responders had three options: Take people to the emergency room, put them in jail or leave them. The ARU offers another option, and it seems to be working so far, city officials said. After the unit left, Mosley said he felt much better having the ARU respond than law enforcement. "When it's police, I think, ‘Oh god, what have I done here?' But with them, it's not as threatening," said Mosley, 52, who has been living on the streets of Santa Fe for over two years. "It's a lot better."  

PHOTO: The partnership between Oklahoma State University and the City of Stillwater has always been crucial to the success of each institution as a whole. Stillwater and OSU sprang up almost simultaneously over 125 years ago, and their connection remains strong to this day, with their latest partnership culminating in an OSU-branded ladder truck for the Stillwater Fire Department. Friday, dignitaries from Stillwater, OSU and Payne County united to unveil the new truck and host a wet-down ceremony to signalize the truck's activation for duty. A Pierce aerial fire truck, it is white with orange stripes and says "Go Pokes" on the side as well as a black ladder with Pistol Pete. Kyle Wray, interim senior vice president for executive affairs at OSU, said the truck is a symbol of the importance between the school and the city.