Tasked with a vital role in their community, the Nenana Fire Department is asked to provide life saving services with little to no funding and outdated equipment. The building, a 1980's relic from Prudhoe Bay, has been repurposed from an old mechanical shop to the current fire station. On the outside of the station the paint has significant peeling, once you walk inside a single row of lights illuminates the equipment, the rest are plagued with electrical issues. The building also struggles to hold heat in the winter, risking their IV fluid. Fire Chief Joe Forness said they aren't neglecting the station, they just don't have the money to fix it. "We don't have the money, we don't have the funding to purchase new equipment, to get the equipment that we have tested and recertified, to purchase new PPE," said Forness. With no permanent staffing, 911 calls come in to a land-line phone at the station and then those calls get forwarded to personnel radios. These radios are carried by staff and answered at all hours when emergencies arise.  

The Atlantic City firefighters union, saying the city has shown "blatant disregard" for the health and safety of its members, has sued the city and state after six firefighters tested positive last week for the coronavirus, potentially exposing 65 firefighters to the pandemic. The union's complaint, filed Friday in Superior Court, alleges that the department's policy of directing firefighters to return to work after they were exposed to infected coworkers, but tested negative themselves for COVID-19, risks spreading the coronavirus among firefighters, their families and the public. It asked the department to require exposed firefighters to self-quarantine for 14 days on paid leave regardless of the outcome of tests. Fire Fighters Local 198 asked for an injunction to force the city to professionally disinfect each station between shifts, and to postpone the training of new hires scheduled for this week.  

Almost half the US is reporting increased numbers of new COVID-19 cases as health experts warn of a potential coronavirus surge in the fall and winter. As of Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases has increased by at least 10% or more compared to the week before in 21 states, most of them in the West, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. Cases are rising in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Eighteen states were holding steady. Only 11 -- Arizona, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire -- saw decreases of new cases of more than 10% compared to the week prior.  

PHOTO: Three China Grove firefighters were injured Friday morning after the firetruck they were riding in overturned while responding to an emergency call. The firefighters — George Stewart, Cameron Harwell and Adam Wingler — were all taken to the hospital with minor injuries, said Town Manager Ken Deal. He said at least one of the firefighters was taken to Atrium Health Cabarrus and another to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center. "We're very fortunate nobody was hurt worse," Deal said. The incident occurred shortly before 10:30 a.m. on N.C. 152 and Hope Lane at Interstate 85 and just a few yards from the roundabout at exit 68. It's not clear if the weather played a part in the crash. However, the rain led to other accidents in Rowan County around the same time. Firefighters were thought to be responding to one of those accidents when the fire engine crashed and overturned.  

VIDEO: A Naperville firefighter found a creative way to tell residents ‘Get Your Mask On'. You may have heard Florida Georgia Line's song 'Get Your Shine On', but one Naperville firefighter and paramedic has a different version. Billy Croft wrote 'Get Your Mask On' as a way to promote public safety and bring a little humor to life amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We all should be advocating for everybody's safety and that's why we're here, particularly to help the community that we serve and this is just part of it," he said. Croft, who moonlights as a country music singer, wrote lyrics including everything from going to the grocery store, "pray to God they have TP" to proper sanitizing techniques, "sanitizer smelling so strong, wash your hands to the bone." Croft hopes to bring awareness to coronavirus best practices with a touch of humor.  

Despite the cancelation of the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K run and walk due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some people still walked through Battery Tunnel on Sunday. Frank Siller, brother of fallen firefighter, Stephen Siller, showed up to honor the memory of those who died on September 11, 2001. "It's different this year, obviously, we should have 30,000 plus people running through the tunnel, coming out here, looking at all the banners and the pictures when you come out," said Siller at a press conference earlier today. "But it's still just as important. MTA and Port Authority personnel walked with the Siller family through the tunnel's catwalk, to do so. On the day of the Sept. 11 attacks, Stephen Siller was assigned to Brooklyn's Squad 1. Upon arrival at the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, it was closed due to security reasons. Siller put on his gear and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he ultimately died.