A Shishmaref man intentionally set fire to his girlfriend's home after beating her and her brother this week, according to a charging document filed in the case. Just after midnight Sunday, 35-year-old Ward Kakoona was drinking at a friend's house with his girlfriend and became angry, according to a sworn affidavit signed by Alaska State Trooper Kristen Benge. His girlfriend brought him to her home "in hopes he would go to sleep," the affidavit said. Kakoona instead became more agitated and eventually beat and choked her, according to the affidavit. When she broke free, the woman went to a neighbor's home and called troopers for help, Benge wrote. She went back to the home with her brother, but Kakoona then attacked the brother by punching, biting and choking him, according to the charging document filed Monday. Kakoona fled the home and escaped through the back window after he heard the village public safety officer and village police officer at the door, the affidavit said. The woman and her brother were taken to the Shishmaref Clinic, and while they were being treated, a fire was reported at the house around 2:30 a.m., troopers wrote in an online report. No one was believed to be inside the home when the fire began, troopers said.  

VIDEO: Dozens of people have been displaced by a massive fire at a condo building in Boxboro. As firefighters poured water on the smoldering brick shell on Swanson Road, one longtime resident stood nearby in shock. "I've lived there for 45 years, so there's a lot of memories there," one woman said. It was just after five o'clock when firefighters responding to a call for smoke in the attic were greeted by an inferno. It would soon go to four alarms, drawing troops from several surrounding towns. But Boxboro does not have a municipal water system, meaning no hydrants, forcing them to pull water from nearby ponds when their tanker trucks run dry. The chief said they had bigger problems. "Actually the challenging part was evacuating people, before we even got water, was getting people out of the building," said Boxboro Fire Chief Paul Fillebrown. "Because people didn't want to leave."  

The Cedar Rapids firefighters who were seriously injured over the weekend when a hose line ruptured have been released from the hospital while fire officials investigate what happened. Both firefighters were treated for fractures and were released from the hospital Sunday, Cedar Rapids public safety spokesperson Greg Buelow told The Gazette on Wednesday. They will remain off-duty while they recuperate, Buelow said. The firefighters were injured when called to a kitchen fire at Westdale Court Apartments, 3919 20th Ave. SW, at 1:19 a.m. Sunday, where a 1-and-3/4-inch hose ruptured, causing the hose to strike the firefighters, Buelow said. One firefighter was struck in the head and face and knocked unconscious, and another was struck in the chest and knocked down, according to a news release from the city. Both were outside the apartment building when injured.  

VIDEO: Lauderhill Fire Rescue crews used a drone equipped with infrared technology to help them fight a house fire Wednesday afternoon. "We were able to find the source of the fire in the drone. It was in the attic. It had not penetrated the roof yet," said Captain Jerry Gonzalez. Gonzalez said it was the first time the department used the technology to locate what he called a "hidden fire." The blaze broke out Wednesday around 5 p.m. at 7300 Northwest 44th Court. A worker reportedly noticed the smoke and alerted the homeowners, who were sleeping inside. Everyone got out safely and no injuries were reported. The house in uninhabitable for now, Gonzalez said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The drone technology might have saved the structure from further damage. "That is amazing right now. Just a few years ago it wouldn't have existed, and who knows what other type of damage would have been done to the house just trying to find the source of this fire," Gonzalez said.  

Michigan's Lewis Cass building made headlines last summer when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer renamed it the Elliott-Larsen building. But this week 70 years ago, Michigan's oldest standing state office building was in the news for something else entirely: a massive fire lit by a state employee who hoped it would help him avoid the Korean War. It was lunchtime on Feb. 8, 1951 when firefighters from five different cities began pumping an eventual five million gallons of water through 19,100 feet of hose to try and quell the roaring blaze, which was set in the "M" (presumably for mezzanine) and seventh floors of the building. At that time, the new(ish) building housed many state departments as well as the Library of Michigan. Valuable papers, blueprints and reports were stored there by nearly every department with offices in the state office building.  

The state of Indiana is dedicating tens of thousands of federal dollars to making naloxone, the opioid-involved overdose reversal medication, publicly available every day and around the clock. On February 5, Governor Eric Holcomb announced that the state will be partnering with the harm reduction nonprofit Overdose Lifeline to bring NaloxBoxes—hard acrylic boxes that can be mounted to an exterior wall—to all 92 Indiana counties. Every NaloxBox will contain between six and eight naloxone doses and treatment referrals, and volunteers will monitor the need for refills. Overdose Lifeline will be purchasing 215 units and shipping from the manufacturer for $58,000 through funds from the federally-administered State Opioid Response grant. For Justin Phillips, Overdose Lifeline's executive director, the expansion could be a game-changer. "We know individuals who are actively using will not always feel comfortable reaching out to an organization and if they are comfortable not all safe places are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.