Two major residential fires happened in Anchorage over New Year's weekend, and while the Anchorage Fire Department says that while these fires were not started by fireworks, they are stark reminders of the importance of fire safety precautions. Assistant Chief Alex Boyd says AFD responded to a fire on New Year's Eve at a house near the intersection of West 100th Avenue and Olympic Drive in Anchorage's Bayshore-Klatt neighborhood in which one person died. "Crews arrived on location and found the home to be halfway involved in fire, to where fire had control of half of the building" Boyd said. Initial reports said someone inside the home was unaccounted for. Boyd says firefighters went into the structure as far as they could — to the point where their gear no longer protected them — but were unable to locate anyone.  

A driver crashed into a fire truck on Interstate 91 south in Windsor Locks on Wednesday morning. Public safety dispatchers confirmed to Channel 3 that a Windsor Locks Fire Department vehicle was involved in the collision just before 4 a.m. State police said the fire truck had been parked in the right and right center lanes right before exit 38. Its crew was there for a prior crash. Troopers said 58-year-old Gloria Keefe of Suffield was driving in the right center lane and struck the truck. Keefe needed to be transported to St. Francis Hospital for minor injuries. The fire truck was unoccupied at the time of the collision, so no firefighters were hurt. Keefe was found to be at fault, according to state police. She was issued an infraction for traveling too fast for conditions and failure to move over or slow down for an emergency vehicle.  

VIDEO: After losing his leg while responding to an accident on I-45, Centerville volunteer firefighter Colton Adams has checked off yet another box on his road to recovery and normalcy. Adams and his fellow firefighter Clint Franklin were struck and injured by a vehicle nearly seven months ago. Adams was taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Temple where he was later released and still continues rehabilitation to this day. Franklin was also taken to the hospital by air ambulance but was later treated and released the same day of the incident. Determined not to let anything deter him from doing what he loves, Adams suited up, oxygen tank and all for the first time since his accident. In a video shared by the Centerville Volunteer Fire Department Adams is seen walking and training outside the fire station as his colleagues support him from a distance.  

VIDEO: One year after New York City's deadliest fire in decades, the firefighters who responded to the Twin Parks North West apartment complex on Jan. 9, 2022 are sharing their stories. "It was a fire that you probably respond to once in a career," said Jeffrey Facinelli, a battalion chief at the FDNY's 18th Battalion. "We were dealing with so many worst case scenarios," said FDNY Capt. John Hunt. "It looked like a battlefield." Hunt was among the first to arrive at the Bronx building, alongside the crews of Engine 48 and Ladder 56. They encountered smoke spilling out of windows, before heading inside to fight the fire. "It's almost like a tornado that you're going into," said Hunt. "Very acrid, thick smoke that's stuck right to your face inside, right to the thermal imaging camera to the point where I couldn't see."  

VIDEO: A Delaware County teenager is hoping to change the way first responders interact with people with disabilities by providing them with a new tool. Jessica Smith, 19, has spent the last few years designing police communication boards, which are laminated pieces of paper to help an officer and a person who may not understand them to get on the same page. "They aren't trained well enough to deal with people with disabilities and I wanted to make these boards to start a change," said Jessica, who makes the boards with pictures and easy phrases like 'when is your birthday' or 'scared.' It's based on a board-making program the teen has used her entire life. "I care because I personally have autism and I've had some instances with the police, none of them were too bad," said Jesscia. Still, she thought the interactions could have gone better.  

VIDEO: Having a defibrillator on hand probably isn't the first thing many of us are thinking about when planning get-togethers. But a program from the Nevada Fire Department is letting anyone have access to a valuable tool for preparing themselves for emergencies. "We've used the AED at youth football, or we've also seen AEDs go out of state to South Dakota to a Boy Scout camping trip. So we're really excited about the public taking advantage of it," said Ray Reynolds, Director of Fire & Emergency Medical Services for the city. In order to check out the AED, all a person has to do is go through CPR training with one of Nevada's EMS personnel. That training is also meant to help mentally prepare a person for a speedy reaction in a crisis.