PHOTO: A fire destroyed Tuluksak's only source of clean, running water on Saturday and an emergency delivery of freshwater is delayed because of weather conditions. Donated bottled water is ready to be shipped out on the next plane from Bethel, but Tuluksak's runway has been unusable because of snow. The man who usually plows it is in Anchorage being treated for COVID-19. Tribal Council Secretary Kristy Napoka lives right next door to her job at the water plant in Tuluksak, which is how she knew it was on fire. "The smoke was starting to get in through the windows and through the vents," she said. She watched as her husband went to put out the fire. "When I looked out the window, my husband and a few other men were trying to get into the water plant and washeteria. They had to break the door, but they were a little too late.  

Cy-Fair firefighters rescued two people from a house fire overnight after a father was desperately trying to save his family, and the entire rescue was caught on helmet camera video. Northwest Harris County neighbors noticed a garage fire at a home in the 21500 block of Wellsford Glen Dr. before 11 p.m. Wednesday and called 911. Firefighters say three adults live in the home, a husband, wife and their adult daughter. Before firefighters arrived, officials say the husband helped escort his wife, who uses a wheelchair, out of the home. He then went back into the burning house to try and get his daughter. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they went inside to rescue the husband and daughter. Officials say by the time they pulled them out of the fire, neither adult had a pulse and they both suffered from smoke inhalation.  

Oakland, Calif., will begin deactivating some of its fire engines and shuttering stations temporarily on Thursday in a budget-cutting move that drew criticism from firefighters and neighboring communities that contract with the city for fire protection. The fire department will deactivate three engines for six days at a time over the next five months, effectively closing three of the city's 25 stations, each of which operate with one engine. The only station not affected is at Oakland International Airport. The move is expected to save $5 million. Local officials and firefighters criticized the move and threatened to take legal action to prevent the closures. Some firefighters say their work now is more crucial than ever as they are often the first responders during the COVID pandemic. "You have the domino effect that ends up emptying the city of fire engines because they're all covering for each other's calls," said Zac Unger, president of Oakland Firefighters Local 55.  

VIDEO: Bonita Springs Fire Control & Rescue District confirmed Wednesday one of its fire engines flipped over on the way to a kitchen fire. According to the fire district, firefighters were heading to the scene of a kitchen fire at a home in the city when the truck they were in rolled over on Snell Lane. The fire engine took a sharp turn and rolled over into a wooded area along the roadway. Luckily, there were no reported injuries to anyone in the fire truck. Firefighters still made it to the scene and were able to quickly put out the kitchen fire down the street from the crash.  

VIDEO: One final push officially opened the city's newest fire station Wednesday morning. As part of a tradition, Columbus Division of Fire firefighters and paramedics pushed a fire engine inside the garage bay doors of the new Station 16, located at 1465 Oakland Park Dr., which will provide service to North Linden and the surrounding area. City Council approved $9.4 million in July 2019 for construction of the station, which replaces the old station on Weber Road that was built in the 1950s. Battalion Chief Steve Martin said the Weber Road station had been built at a time when Weber Road was on the far north side of Columbus and the city as a whole saw the number of runs that Station 16 now handles by itself. The new station is equipped to house up to 15 people at a time in single-person dormitory rooms, Martin said. Most shifts have about nine people who would be sleeping at the station, but the station allows for growth or students riding along with fire crews to be housed comfortably.  

A lawmaker's proposal to make Utah the first state to train emergency medical technicians specifically for responding to mental health emergencies received early support in a state Senate committee Wednesday. SB53 would allow EMTs and firefighters to be trained to respond to mental health calls. Then, agencies throughout the state could form teams made up of those trained EMTs, who would be dedicated specifically to mental health emergencies. Bill sponsor Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, said he believes Utah will be the first state to implement such a program. "I believe that this will absolutely change the way that we provide service to those experiencing substance use or mental health issues," Thatcher told members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday. Mental health EMT teams would not take on the role of therapists. Instead, they would triage people and help them find the resources they need, Thatcher said.