A wildfire burning in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge near Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula is now estimated to be 75 acres in size, after the Alaska Division of Forestry was able to perform more accurate mapping. Originally reported on Saturday night, the Loon Lake fire was initially estimated to have grown from 6 acres to 150 by Sunday. In a Monday release, the division wrote that better mapping revealed the fire's true size to be about 75 acres. "A lot of times, those initial acreage estimates are a little wonky, and they get adjusted once you get better mapping and you get more eyes in the sky and some eyes on the ground," said Tim Mowry, a public information office with the Division of Forestry. Ignited by lightning, the fire is burning in a remote area of the refuge more than 10 miles from Sterling, and the division has said the community is not in danger.  

VIDEO: Multiple people were hurt after a fuel tanker caught fire and exploded on Sunday near Crowell, Texas. Crowell is about 80 miles west of Wichita Falls. Foard County Sheriff Mike Brown told WFAA that the truck driver and a couple of volunteer firefighters were injured in the incident, but their injuries were minor. A bystander captured on video the dramatic moment the tanker exploded, which the Crowell Volunteer Fire Department posted to its Facebook page. The video, which lasts about 10 seconds, starts after the tanker has already caught fire. About three or four seconds in, an object can be seen flying to the left, almost like a rocket, as the fire turns into an explosion. That was the fuel tank, Brown said. After it flies out of the frame, the flames and smoke billow into a mushroom cloud-like formation before the video ends.  

They may not be the first, but the 10 women who make up Clearwater Fire and Rescue's team are certainly blazing the trail. The fire department recently highlighted their 10 female fire personnel – or "firemedics," as they call themselves. "I love working with people, I love being that person people call," said Nina Borders, who has been with the department for four years. According to WomeninFire's website, some 11,000 women in the U.S. work as career firefighters and officers. But women only make up less than five percent of the fire service in America – a startling statistic, but one that Stephanie Nuszkowski doesn't think about. "I don't think every girl can do this job. I also don't think every guy can do this job," she offered. "I just think it's person to person and you're either cut out for it or you're not."  

PHOTOS: After somehow getting all the way to Alaska, a piece of Morris Plains Fire Department gear is finally home. Some older items recently returned to the department, including a helmet found at a transportation museum in Anchorage. The Morris Plains Fire Department isn't sure how it ended up in Alaska, but now it's back. They also received a Morris Plains Fire Association letter dated July 8, 1921. It was found on the front lawn of a Reading, Pennsylvania, home. The letter will turn 100 next month.  

As a fire continues to burn at a chemical plant in suburban Rockton, Kirk Wilson, chief of the Rockton Fire Protection District, says that firefighters stopped putting water on the fire, fearing that water run-off could carry chemicals into the nearby Rock River. "We stopped some of the water suppression and some of the fire suppression, and we went ahead and let the product burn off due to the fact that the Rock River sits just west of Chemtool, (approximately) 500 yards away," he said. "We were extremely concerned that would turn into an environmental challenge later on down the road. "Officials say that the fire could potentially burn for several days due to the chemicals inside the plant, but that the blaze is contained to one part of the facility at this time, minimizing the risk of it spreading.  

The Delaware General Assembly is aiming to help with what volunteer fire departments say is a struggle to get new members. A task force has come up with ten new recommendations and new programs to attract and retain more volunteer firefighters. Among those recommendations, develop a recruitment and retention training class at the Delaware State Fire School, and establish an program that would assign full-time members to companies in all three counties. The task force also recommended adding a training administrator to the Delaware State Fire School to manage that program, and expanding the Sussex County Operation GEM cadet firefighter program for children ages 10-15 to all school districts. The task force also recommended launching a volunteer firefighter recruitment website and marketing program.