A man is dead after his helicopter crashed while assisting in firefighting efforts on the Clear Fire, according to Alaska State Troopers. According to an online dispatch, troopers received a report of the crash near mile marker 280 of the Parks Highway around 7:42 p.m. Sunday evening. According to troopers, the pilot and sole occupant was identified as 56-year-old Douglas Ritchie of Wasilla. Troopers say Ritchie was operating a Northern Pioneer Helicopters 1960 Bell 204B "Huey" when it crashed while landing at the Anderson Airport's helipad. No foul play is suspected. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. The fire itself, which is burning about 80 miles southwest of Fairbanks, has grown to more than 9,500 acres and is prompting evacuations.  

At the end of the work shift Sunday night, a fire was reported to be a total of six acres and yet to be contained. Smokejumpers were to remain at the fire Sunday night and continue suppression efforts on Monday. The fire is considered a high priority due to the proximity of cabins in the area. The fire is believed to have been caused by lightening. A wildland fire has been reported between Healy Lake and Moose Lake across the Tanana River from Cummings Road. A forestry helicopter confirmed the fire size and location of the fire at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday. Initial size up was the fire is approximately one-quarter acre in size and located in black spruce and tundra with light wind. The perimeter of the fire was 70 percent active. Water scoopers and smoke jumpers have been ordered and are en route to the fire.  

The recent bout of warm weather and fires in the State of Alaska has prompted the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center to activate the Wildlife Fire Joint Information Center. The Joint Information Center (JIC) is used when fire officials determine the number and complexity of wildland fires burning across the state warrants an additional public information presence. The JIC is located in the Bureau of Land Management Alaska Fire Services Building on Fort Wainwright. It will be staffed seven days a week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Staffing hours are subject to change based on fire activity.  

UAS – Unmanned Aerial Systems or drones – are a relatively new tool for wildland firefighters, providing fire managers and ground crews with real-time photos, videos, mapping capabilities and infrared imaging to detect heat signatures and spot fires. Drones are also capable of igniting and dropping glycol-filled capsules resembling ping-pong balls, lighting ground fuels during burning operations, without the inherent risks of helicopter operations flying "low and slow" to accomplish the same tasks. But unauthorized drones operated by private citizens pose extreme hazards around wildfires – to pilots, aircraft and firefighters alike. Even when a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is not in place over a wildfire, it is a federal crime to interfere with wildfire operations, with civil penalties up to $20,000.  

Fire destroyed several homes that were under construction and threatened at least one that was occupied in a McKinney neighborhood Saturday evening. Firefighters are still putting out hot spots in the Wilmeth Ridge development on Marigold Drive, northwest of Lake Forest Drive and Highway 380. Video shared with FOX 4 showed thick black smoke rising from the seven homes that were under construction. Witnesses said the flames spread quickly from one house to another and all were badly damaged or destroyed. The fire did start to spread to a nearby occupied house. Flames reached the attic, but firefighters were able to quickly put them out to spare the home. The fire also damaged the fences of some neighbors. Mary House was set to move into one of the homes that was destroyed within the next month or so. She got a call from a friend to rush to the site.  

VIDEO: Dayton Firefighters held an open house to unveil a mural celebrating the history of the fire department Sunday afternoon. Those in attendance enjoyed the food and were able to check out vintage and modern firefighter equipment. The star of the show was the mural commissioned by the firefighters union, Local 136. The mural was created by artist Tiffany Clark and shows the history of the fire department which was formed in 1863. "The mural represents a very small part... of the history of Dayton Fire Department ... being able to showcase the history of the Dayton Fire Department is important. It's really a history of the city of Dayton as well," Retired Fire Captain Larry Ables said. Dayton City Commissioner Matt Joseph shared the importance of the mural to the city. "First we have to say that our firefighters are out there every day risking their lives to help save our citizens and this is I think a really fitting tribute to their work," Joseph said.  

PHOTOS: The largest class ever of Boston firefighters, including one woman, graduated on Friday at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The class of 90 recruits come from neighborhoods throughout Boston, and they will be stationed at firehouses around the city. "You can always count on the Boston Fire Department to show up, no matter what the circumstances are — a fire, a medical (call) or just a public service call," said Marc Sanders, a Boston Fire Department spokesman. "If you need help, we will always be there, and they have been training and are ready to answer the call to serve the residents of the city of Boston." The class included recruits who speak a variety of languages in addition to English: four who speak Spanish, three who speak Cantonese, three who speak Haitian Creole, one who speaks Cape Verdean and one who speaks Vietnamese, Sanders said.  

For 25 years, students who have gone through Polk State College's Paramedic Program have received a certification offered by no other paramedic program in the state. Leading this training for its entirety has been Rick Stilp, who was recently honored for his quarter-century of instruction at the College. Stilp started the Hazmat Medic Program in 1984 when he became a charter member of the Orlando Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Team. Tasked with developing the program and training fellow Orlando paramedics, Stilp's Hazmat Medic Program was born. He's been teaching the three-day course across the state for nearly four decades, but for those going through paramedic programs, it is only offered at Polk State. "Right here at Polk State is the only paramedic program in the entire state that has a toxicology portion and for 25 years, it's been the only one," Stilp said.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: It's always been a labor of love for longtime Chatham resident Jeff Davis when it came to restoring age-worn pieces of his Chatham childhood and adult life. However, the 72-year-old Davis went above and beyond the call of duty this time to restore/fabricate an iconic Chatham Fourth of July tradition that began in 1953 and was carried on by the late George "Skip" Conlan until his passing in 2019. The Chatham Borough Fire Department Association's 68th Fourth of July Parade will include its closing comedy act, the Independent Hose Company, thanks to more than 1,000 hours of work by Davis to put the 1917 Model T Cabriolet back into action. Davis has been working since November 2021 to rebuild the Independent Hose Company truck in time for this year's parade. The original 1917 Ford Model T Cabriolet was on its last legs and Davis took it apart and put it back together on a 1930 Model A chassis brought in from Delaware.