In mid- to late October, the Bureau of Land Management's Fairbanks District and Alaska Fire Service personnel will burn woody debris piles near the Dalton Highway at Mileposts 62 and 180 to reduce the risk of wildfire to communities and facilities, and to provide a safe space for firefighters to suppress fires in the future. "Burning these piles this fall is an important part of ongoing work to dispose of brush cleared during maintenance of public and administrative facilities to provide for public and BLM staff safety," said Geoff Beyersdorf, Fairbanks district manager. "We appreciate your patience with smoke that may come from the project." These prescribed fire burns help to dispose of woody debris from campgrounds and BLM administrative sites along the highway. The burns are planned to begin as early as October 17 but could occur anytime until the end of the month.  

A monstrous fire devoured a factory in Queens' Long Island City early Tuesday, spewing thick black smoke into the air as bright orange flames leaped into the pitch-black sky overnight. The blaze erupted at a commercial laundromat on 30th Street, near Hunters Point Avenue, around 2:30 a.m. and quickly escalated, triggering a fourth alarm -- which means more fire companies are called in -- a few hours later. The laundromat is part of a larger industrial complex, and other businesses appeared to be heavily damaged as well. Roughly 170 firefighters and EMS members responded, officials said. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries but were expected to be OK. The scene was considered a hazmat operation because of chemicals and propane associated with the laundromat, and officials were monitoring the air to ensure there were no related concerns.  

Tracy Williams got started in the fire service at a young age. "They asked me if I wanted to be a part of the junior program. Well, I said yeah just something new, getting ready to get out of high school I'll just try it. From that day on, I've been hooked," he explained. That was nearly 40 years ago for the current Assistant Fire Chief and Fire Marshal at the Westview-Fairforest Fire Department in Spartanburg County. "People need help and we're there to help," he said. In 2009, Williams became the one who needed help after he was diagnosed with cancer. "Determined that I had Melanoma stage 3A, which meant it was in a lymph node," Williams explained. Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found firefighters are at a greater risk for certain types of cancers.  

VIDEO/PHOTO: A lack of oxygen can reduce even the most furious flame to smoldering ash. But when fresh air rushes in, say after a firefighter opens a window or door to a room, the blaze may be suddenly and violently resurrected. This explosive phenomenon, called backdraft, can be lethal and has been challenging for firefighters to anticipate. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have hatched a plan for informing firefighters of what dangers lie behind closed doors. The team obtained data from hundreds of backdrafts in the lab to use as a basis for a model that can predict backdrafts. The results of a new study, described at the 2022 Suppression, Detection and Signaling Research and Applications Conference, suggest that the model offers a viable solution to make predictions based on particular measurements.  

33 years ago the Bay Area was rocked by the Loma Prieta earthquake. Experts warn it's not a matter of if a major quake will strike again, it's a matter of when. First responders have an important message. Emergency responders are urging all of us to take this time to reflect on the past, and prepare for the future. October 17th, 1989 the A's and Giants were preparing to face off in the Battle of the Bay, when a magnitude 6.9 quake shook the Bay Area, killing 63 people, injuring thousands more, and leaving a mark on the Bay Area and the city of San Francisco. Firefighters say they used the quake as an opportunity to learn; to prepare for the next quake. In videos of the time, you can see civilians stepping in to help firefighters battle fires throughout the Marina District. Those volunteers now trained and the relationship formalized as neighborhood emergency response teams.