The Clear Fire continues to threaten homes near Anderson, even as firefighting crews cleared brush and maintained fire breaks between the fire and existing structures. Late Wednesday evening, the Division of Forestry updated the evacuation status of residents living near the Clear Fire. The Bureau of Land Management's Alaska fire service urged anyone with an evacuation status of "go" to leave their homes immediately. Late last week, fire officials dealing with the Clear Fire said 155 people are living in 140 structures in the area that is considered threatened. They said at the time that 130 people are sheltering in place. The fire now has torched 52,987 acres, according to an incident report filed by fire officials, and is still only 8% contained. "There is significant fire activity on the west side of the Kobe Ag Subdivision," the fire service wrote.  

More than 1,000 firefighters are working in Alaska as the state continues to experience an intense fire season, with more than 225 active fires. There were 4,500 lightning strikes in Alaska Tuesday — the latest in a run of days with thousands of ground strikes. There were also another 13 new, primarily lightning sparked wildfires in the state Tuesday, mostly in the Interior. National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Brader said the situation is the product of high pressure over Northwestern Canada and low pressure in the Bering Sea. "We've seen a series of upper level low pressure troughs that have moved from Southeast to the Northwest across the state over the last four or five days and each of those has caused thunderstorms," he said.  

A fireworks explosion in front of a suburban home during the July Fourth holiday that caused young children and adults to flee was caught on security video. The blast occurred during a celebration as they were attempting to light fireworks on a front lawn. As the fireworks light up, a blast is seen going in all directions, prompting adults to grab the children and move for cover. One shell appears to cause a fire in the driveway near a parked vehicle. That, in turn, lights up a box of fireworks nearby, causing an explosion. Multiple explosions are then seen and smoke fills the air. The family is seen running away from the scene, leaving chairs and other belongings in their path. On Wednesday, SimpliSafe, the home security system that captured the incident, tweeted about the incident to dispel rumors that it was planned.  

PHOTOS: Just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dan Naughton stood atop a 6,000-pound truck holding a bucket of water. Moments earlier, it had been filled by firefighters from the hose of a smaller truck. Naughton faced the crowd beneath him, and slowly emptied the bucket into the truck's 500-gallon tank. As the last droplet trickled out, onlookers cheered, and Naughton – a Palm Beach County Fire Rescue driver – smiled back. He climbed down from Truck 29, the newest and largest unit in the county's fleet, and rejoined the crowd to celebrate the vehicle officially entering the service. "The transfer of water shows the continuation of pride, service, knowledge and tradition," Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Captain Tom Reyes said. "(We're) making sure that our original mission continues, and the lessons learned while serving on past apparatus remain with us through the future."  

VIDEO: A Chicago woman is expressing her gratitude to members of the Cambridge Fire Department Dive Team and Marine Unit after they helped find her diamond ring that fell into the Charles River in Massachusetts. Cambridge Fire Lt. Stephen Capuccio said those Dive Team and Marine Unit members were working a detail on the Charles River on Sunday when they were alerted about a lost ring at the Charlesgate Yacht Club. Lynn Andrews said her diamond ring went overboard into the Charles a while after asking her husband, Ninos, to hold onto it. "I decided that I'm going to put some sunscreen on and I ask my husband to hold my rings, and I just put them in the pocket of his shirt," Andrews said. "We're going about our day and it was awfully hot out there, and he decides to take his shirt off to go for a swim. And as he took his shirt off, the rings went flying out of his pocket."  

Goshen Township Administrator Steve Pegram held a press conference Thursday after a tornado touched down Wednesday, damaging multiple buildings and knocking down trees. On Wednesday, Pegram declared a state of emergency for Goshen Township. A preliminary National Weather Service survey Thursday declared the tornado was an EF2 tornado. EF0 is the mildest ruling and EF5 is the most severe. EF2 tornadoes contain 111 to 135 mph winds. An EF2 tornado was on the ground around 2:30 p.m., according to Doppler radar. Two people were injured as a result of the storm, though Pegram said there are no serious injuries. "At this time, only two confirmed injuries — that's a blessing," Pegram said. "One was a firefighter injured by a chainsaw, transported to a hospital likely for stitches. One was a citizen, injured by falling debris — conscious, alert."  

Members of the Perham Fire Department take their commitment to life-saving quite seriously — so much so that they began a fitness initiative in early 2022 to improve their overall health. As a part of this initiative, five firefighters will be competing in the Firefighter Challenge in Bismarck, N.D. on July 15 and 16. "They call (the Firefighter Challenge) the toughest two minutes in sports," said Dan Kenyon, member of the Perham Fire Department and competitor. "It literally taxes your body in pretty much every way possible." Kenyon will be competing alongside his fellow Perham Fire Department members: Clayton Troutman, Jake Huebsch, Cody Arth, and Ted Tulibaski. On Friday, July 15, they'll compete individually, and on Saturday, July 16, they'll compete in tandems and teams. The challenge consists of competitors donning their "full bunker gear" and the Air-Pak breathing apparatus, which is what they'd wear when fighting a real fire.