Firefighters are making progress on two wildfires burning in rural Southwest Alaska. The Pilot Point Fire began on Monday this week, in the small village on the Alaska Peninsula. According to Division of Forestry Public Information Officer Tim Mowry, it was 85% contained on Friday morning. The division expected it would be fully contained by the end of the day. This fire in Pilot Point reportedly began in the local dump and escaped out into the grass. Last estimated to be about 600 acres, the fire was more accurately identified as being about 3,750 acres, Mowry said. This wasn't due to significant fire growth, but better mapping. He explained that when the division makes early acreage estimates, it's usually relying on visuals from the air, which aren't as accurate as firefighters walking the fire perimeter and gathering GPS coordinates.  

VIDEO: Firefighters put out a massive blaze at a warehouse in Huntington Park on Monday night, officials said. The fire was reported around 8:29 p.m. at a shoe factory located at Salt Lake Avenue and E. Gage Avenue, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. Aerial video from Sky5 showed heavy fire and smoke could be seen emanating from the commercial structure. The roof also appeared to have collapsed. Five engines responded to the fire and were seen fighting the blaze from the ground and from a neighboring roof. The fire was put out just after 11 p.m. One firefighter suffered minor injuries in the blaze and was taken to a local hospital, officials said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.  

VIDEO: Eight years ago on Monday, the Houston Fire Department endured its darkest day in history. The Southwest Inn fire and building collapse eventually claimed the lives of five firefighters, and it was the single deadliest day for the Houston Fire Department. Their fellow firefighters gather at the site each year to make sure the fallen lost that day in 2013 aren't forgotten. The anniversary this year happened to fall on Memorial Day. Four firefighters died on the scene; Robert Bebee, Robert Garner, Mathew Renaud, and Anne Sullivan. In March 2017, Captain Bill Dowling, who lost both of his legs in the fire, died of complications from the injuries sustained in the line of duty. "Three more firefighters lost their ability to work, so (we) actually lost eight firefighters that day, in a manner of speaking," former district chief Curtis Seamans said.  

VIDEO: Greensboro firefighters are taking a significant step toward restoring a tradition that honors colleagues who have died. The inspiration centers around the Firemen's monument in Green Hill Cemetery. "We've got so much that we take for granted just like this statue here. A lot of the firemen were not even familiar with it or really knew what the history of it was," Retired Battalion Chief Carl Eller said. Archived newspaper articles documented a tradition that faded over time. "Back in the early 1800s, one of the traditions of the Greensboro firefighters, which they called them firemen then, was to recognize the firefighters that passed away the year before, so a group of people in town decided to erect a statue or monument to remember our fallen brothers and sisters," Retired Battalion Chief Larry Cockman said. Recent research revealed much of the monument's connection to the fire department's history.  

Newark firefighters will be dispatched to all life-threatening calls beginning this weekend, officials announced Friday — a change that prompted the city's fire and police unions to raise concerns about training, equipment and compensation. University Hospital will continue to provide ambulance services to the city, but firefighters will also be dispatched in life-threatening situations. "We're adding that on to the police officers and the EMS workers that already respond because we know that time is of the essence in those types of emergencies," said Newark Public Safety Director Brian O'Hara. "We just want to be certain we're using every resource available so we can save as many lives as possible." University Hospital's EMS respond to more than 100,000 calls per year and has a staff of 250 EMTs, paramedics and dispatchers, according to the agency.  

PHOTO: A large mural honoring a firefighter and other Detroit public employees who died from COVID-19 has been unveiled next to a fire station. Capt. Franklin Williams of the fire department dominates the painting. But there are images of a bus driver who made an emotional plea for protection from COVID-19 before he caught the virus, and 5-year-old girl Skylar Herbert, who was the daughter of a firefighter and police officer. "This mural represents community heroes representing those institutions who also fought for our country by putting on a uniform and fighting an unknown enemy: COVID-19," said Odie Fakhouri, chief operating officer of the Arab American and Chaldean Council, which owns the building on Seven Mile Road. Williams, 57, was eligible to retire from the fire department but wanted to work until age 60. He died last summer.