VIDEO: One year after a deadly landslide and devastating winter storms hit Haines, dozens of residents gathered on a bluebird day to pause and reflect. Two people died from the landslide that still cuts an enormous scar across Beach Road. Neither of their bodies have been recovered. At the Haines Harbor, kindergarten teacher Jenae Larson was remembered with songs and prayer. Her family is raising funds to build a new playground at the school and rename it in her honor. David Simmons, who worked for a local economic development organization, was also remembered. Bespoke benches are being built by school students to honor both of them. They'll be installed at Picture Point. "To soak in our surroundings and give thanks that we live in such a beautiful place, surrounded by so many caring people," said Haines Mayor Douglas Olerud on Saturday.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A three-alarm fire raged early Monday (Dec. 6) at the Cypress Run Apartments complex in Algiers. Occupants smelled smoke around 4:40 a.m. and began evacuating the first involved three-story building before New Orleans Fire Department crews arrived on scene, resident Kiesha Williams told WVUE-Fox 8. Firefighters arrived and began calling for reinforcements quickly to contain the blaze, sounding a second alarm at approximately 5:03 a.m. and a third alarm at 5:33 a.m. The Cypress Run Apartments are located at 6101 Tullis Dr. "These buildings are very old," said Williams, who has rented at the complex for about two years. "Things seem to always catch on fire here, because everything is messed up and old."  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A Hubert Volunteer Firefighter received treatment at Vidant Medical center after an accident involving their fire engine Saturday. Deputy Chief of the Hubert Volunteer Fire Department, Hernan Melendez, said the accident happened when his team was returning from the annual Maysville Christmas Parade. Six of the fire crew members, including the Fire Chief, were traveling along Stella Road in Onslow County when the tire on the engine blew out, which caused the truck to crash into a ditch. A social media post reads: "one of our tires exploded causing the truck to become uncontrollable." Authorities said the fire chief fought to keep the truck upright as it hit a driveway pipe before coming to a stop.  

There's a reason that the death toll of the Winecoff hotel fire in 1946 has never been surpassed. Immediately after the disaster that killed 119 people, cities across the country began to re-examine their fire codes. In their definitive 1993 book, "The Winecoff Fire," co-authors Sam Heys and Allen Goodwin point out that the blaze prompted new laws requiring sprinkler systems, fire escapes and fire doors. "Within six months of the fire there was a national convention in Washington, D.C., on fire safety," said Heys, a former writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, now retired from the Southern Company. Though advertised as "fireproof," the Winecoff had neither sprinkler systems, fire escapes nor fire doors. Fire departments had ladders that could only reach to the seventh floor.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: What if you could control the force of gravity to avoid injury? A couple of Cincinnati inventors have a device that allows people and objects to descend slowly and carefully. Bailout Systems is the brainchild of retired Navy diver Michael Ragsdale, who along with mechanical engineer Ben Krupp, have come up with something the size of a hockey puck. When used with a rope, it allows people and objects to descend in a controlled manner. Ragsdale has a friend on the Covington Fire Department who encouraged him to develop it for firefighters. His friend thought it possibly could have prevented Black Sunday in which members of the New York City Fire Department had to jump out a window after becoming trapped in two separate fires. Three died and four were seriously injured.  

Talk to many firefighters and they'll explain that "suck it up and get on the truck" mentality. "Coming from a law enforcement family, to talk about feelings and emotions is a challenge at times," admitted firefighter Dustin Hawkins. "After my father, being 30 years in law enforcement, I just now coaxed him into the ‘snuggle with the struggle.' I have to tackle the man to hug the man." But as of today, mental health assistance is on the fast track to Florida first responders, to the tune of $12 million. "We need to have resources as people have challenges involving mental health resiliency," said Governor Ron DeSantis. At a roundtable Friday afternoon, Florida's first lady Casey DeSantis announced $12 million in funding to expand peer-to-peer mental health services available for first responders through the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to bolster existing prevention and intervention services for first responders and their families.