After some record-breaking winter snowfall, Alaska is now approaching the start of summer wildfire season. Much of the state still has 2 to 5 feet of snow blanketing the ground, but experts say that won't necessarily deliver a calm fire season. Alison York, coordinator for the Alaska Fire Science Consortium, said while a heavy snowpack may push back the start to the season, it doesn't have any impact on how intense fires will be. "None whatsoever," she said. "There is absolutely zero relationship between snowpack, certainly at the statewide level, and subsequent fire season severity." York said that's because the key fuel that burns in Alaska wildfires is plant debris called "duff." And duff doesn't retain moisture from snow. "The debris that falls from the forest and also the moss and lichen and the little surface plants … when they die they don't decompose very readily because the soils are so cold," York said. "That stuff burns. And it can dry really, really quickly."  

PHOTOS: Firefighters were called to fight a fire at an abandoned tavern in North Portland on Wednesday night. The call came in at about 7:30 p.m. The fire was at The Barn Tavern at 7421 North Denver Ave. According to Portland firefighters, the building was on their "unsafe building list" and there have been eight fires at the location in the last 12 months. "Even though we have a history with it, we know it is a very dangerous building, and it presented unsafe conditions for first responders, " said Rick Graves, spokesperson with Portland Fire & Rescue. Flames engulfed the building and because of the unsafe conditions, firefighters took up a defensive stance on the fire, pouring water onto the building from above. It was not immediately known whether anyone was inside at the time of the fire, but people have lived there in the past, Graves said.  

An Atlanta city council member is fighting to protect first responders who get hurt while choosing to respond to emergencies while off-duty. Earlier this month, Atlanta News First highlighted how long-time Atlanta firefighter and paramedic, Lieutenant Mark Quick, witnessed a car crash in January while off duty and stopped to help, but he was hit by a car in the process. Quick said the next thing he remembered was waking up in ICU at Grady Memorial Hospital with severe injuries all over his body. But Quick is not getting any workers' compensation or extended pay leave and it's all because he was not on duty at the time of the incident. After working with the Atlanta Firefighters Association and seeing our report, District 10 Council member Andrea L. Boone on Monday introduced legislation aimed at protecting first responders who are hurt while choosing to respond to an emergency while off-duty.  

VIDEO: The City of Bryan says they have no problem keeping up with emergency calls with the help of a new program. Community paramedics are emerging across the country. It's something that caught the eye of Chris Lamb with the Bryan Fire Department. "Every year the call volume increases more and more and more. In the past, it was always trying to throw ambulances at the problem, you know, and we really had to sit down and come up with innovative ideas and ways to handle certain situations," Lamb said. Lamb worked to identify frequent callers, people using the emergency number for non-emergencies or issues that could be treated from home.  

VIDEO: The Appleton Fire Department hosted a bell dedication ceremony on Wednesday morning to celebrate Station #1 receiving a new firefighter's bell. Officials say that throughout history, the life of a firefighter has been closely associated with the ringing of the bell. As firefighters began their tour of duty, it was the bell that signaled the start of a shift. Throughout the day and night, each alarm was sounded by a bell that summoned the firefighters to duty. When the call had ended, and the alarm was complete, it was the bell that signaled to all the completion of the distress call. In addition, when a firefighter died in the line of duty, officials say it was the mournful toll of the bell that solemnly announced a firefighter's passing.