PHOTOS: At least three households have been displaced following a Saturday afternoon structure fire that badly damaged a downtown Ketchikan apartment building. Officials said they believed the building's residents had escaped the blaze next to Ketchikan's courthouse. Ketchikan Fire Marshal Gretchen O'Sullivan says the call came in shortly after 3:30 p.m. She says the fire department dispatched engines and an ambulance. "When they came on scene, they reported a fully involved structure fire. When I got here, fire was burning out the top floor," she said shortly before 5 p.m. "Everybody has been reportedly out of the building."  

A five story building under construction went up in flames and collapsed in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn Monday morning. The building on Gates Avenue erupted in flames just after 5:50 a.m. Monday and quickly collapsed like a pancake, fire officials said. One firefighter sustained a minor injury. No other injuries were reported as firefighters checked the stability of adjacent structures, including a storefront church next door. And there were no reports of anyone missing, but searches have been delayed due to the danger in the collapse zone One woman confirmed for Eyewitness News what many neighbors suspected. "Somebody tried to set a fire yesterday in the building, like 10:00?" she said. "That's on fire right now...because I was in the building!"  

It's been reported that many famous Americans served as volunteer firemen, some of whom were Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. After a large fire in Philadelphia, Ben Franklin formed the Union Fire Co. Buildings that his company insured were identified by a steel fire mark showing the outline of a wooden fire hydrant. George Washington, a volunteer fireman in Virginia, bought the first fire engine for Alexandria in 1774. These "engines" were wooden hand pumpers. We've come a long way, but it hasn't been easy. Locally, the fire of 1884, for many years called the "Big Fire," burned every building in the blocks northeast of Main Street and Broadway, sparing only the Odd Fellows Hall. With no fire equipment, except for a bucket brigade, and no organized firemen, it wasn't unusual for buildings to be burned to the ground. The bucket brigade consisted of a line of citizens passing buckets of water to each other, from a local source of water, to throw on the fire.  

As we celebrate Black History Month, this is the story of a little boy living in poverty who had a dream to become a Chicago firefighter. As CBS 2's Jim Williams reported Thursday, that dream came true, thanks his hard work and the extraordinary kindness of men and women, Black and white, at one firehouse on the West Side. Even 40 years later, the memories are still fresh and overwhelming. "This place saved my life," said Antwan Dobson. He spoke at the firehouse on California Avenue at Fillmore Street, Engine 107. As a child, he found a second home there. "Jim, when I tell you they were there, they were really there – way beyond the scope of service that's expected of them," Dobson told CBS 2's Williams. Today, he is Fire Lt. Antwan Dobson, himself an 17-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department. It is his life's work. "Better than winning the lottery – and I mean that literally," Dobson said. "I'm actually living a childhood dream."  

A firefighter's job is never easy. It can be difficult, dangerous and heartbreaking. It can also be amazing, hopeful and wonderful when at the end of a call everyone is safe and healthy. However, for the firefighters the risks from the job, whether it is a physical ailment or mental scars, carry on far past the last blaze. "There is a moral imperative to firefighting. People expect us to put ourselves in harm's way, to do what we do. That is part of the job," said Wayne Kewitsch, executive director of the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative. "That doesn't mean we can't try and mitigate and minimize the hazards we are exposed to, so we can live long and healthy lives." Last summer, the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative, commonly called MnFIRE, was successful in getting the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program passed by the state Legislature.  

There's a push to register more organ donors in St. Lucie County. The St. Lucie County Fire District, along with the Tax Collector's Office and Legacy Donors, are launching a campaign with special decals that will be placed on fire rescue trucks. The decals will be placed on the back of the trucks at Fire Station 3 by past donors' families on Monday and will eventually be placed on all trucks across the county. Currently, only about 50% of residents registering to get their license are choosing to become organ donors, according to Tax Collector Chris Craft. However, Craft said just because organs are donated does not mean they can be used. Sometimes organs are deemed useless because of the condition they are in when someone dies. He says there is a great need for donations.