Three hikers were rescued from a popular trail on the north side of Ketchikan on Tuesday. Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad Incident Commander Jerry Kiffer says it happened on a trail above Settlers Cove State Recreation Site. He says state troopers got a call about three overdue hikers around 11 p.m. The caller said the 35-year-old man was new to the area and had gone for a hike with his two small children, ages 4 and 6. "This would be his first hike out with the kids, and they were fairly lightly dressed — not really prepared for a day hike, no real supplies, no lights other than what's on their cell phone," Kiffer said by phone Tuesday afternoon. He says a Rescue Squad team found the man and his kids about two miles up the Lunch Creek Trail just after midnight. He says they were cold and wet but otherwise OK. Rescuers carried the children back to the trailhead, arriving before sunrise Tuesday.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: The site of an unusual and dangerous discovery in West Philadelphia has been decimated by fire less than 12 hours after the initial investigation began. More than 150 jugs of gasoline were found in the vacant home on the 100 block of 59th Street near Arch Street around 8 p.m. Monday. At 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, the home was on fire. Chopper 6 over the scene showed smoke coming from the home. Several firefighters could be seen battling the fire on the roof.Photos taken earlier from the scene showed flames shooting from the front of the house. The fire was placed under control just after 10:30 a.m. Officials said no one was inside at the time and there was no word on the cause of the fire. Neighbor Malachi Allen lives two doors down from the home.  

VIDEO: Last week's Kentucky flood disaster was America's deadliest non-tropical flash flood in 45 years. At least 37 were killed in eastern Kentucky after 6 to 9 inches of rain fell in just 12 hours last Thursday, triggering record flooding on the North Fork Kentucky River in Jackson and Whitesburg, and damaging flooding in several other towns. Some homes were swept away by the raging floodwaters, and many more in valleys were flooded. In the five days that followed, over 1,300 people were rescued, but crews were still pushing to reach those still cut off by mudslides and washed-out roads or bridges, according to the Associated Press. By a flash flood, we're referring to a flood that happens quickly on the order of minutes or hours, with rapid rises in streams, creeks, rivers or urban areas due to torrential rain over a smaller area.  

Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue (TMFR) announced Tuesday that one of their fire stations will be temporarily closed due to a bat infestation. Fire Station 30 located at 3905 Old Highway 395 will shut down for an undetermined amount of time. Bats have been found in the living quarters and apparatus bay of the fire station, causing a health and safety risk to fire crews. The District is working with experts to determine what preventative and remediation work is needed to eliminate the bat colonies and associated hazards. Fire personnel and firefighters including paramedics will be relocated to Station 32 and Washoe Valley Station. In addition to rabies, bats can transmit viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections to humans. The Fire District tried to alleviate the infestation problem in 2015, only to have the bats return.  

With degrees in chemical engineering, and graduate study at Princeton University's Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Maximillian Nguyen thought that becoming a volunteer firefighter was out of his "normal wheelhouse." But he considers himself "a resident of the town of Princeton and not just a University student," so he decided to give back to the community in appreciation for enjoying what Princeton has to offer. Nguyen is one of four Princeton University graduate students who recently became members of the Princeton Fire Department, and who continue a longstanding cooperative effort that has helped the municipal department supplement its ranks through the University's staff and students' desire to serve the community. The four are the largest group of graduate students to join at one time, according to Princeton University.  

Canton firefighter Maureen Stoecklein has switched gear from public safety to professional sports as the Detroit Tigers nutrition coordinator. She was invited to become a crucial member of the professional baseball team's support network in late 2021 and officially retired from firefighting duties this summer to focus on the Tigers' fuel from food. Baseball followers will tell you the Tigers could be playing better on the field. Off the field, Stoecklein is working with a team of chefs and dieticians to make sure they're eating and enjoying the right combination of foods throughout the day. "First of all, I am honored to be working for the hometown team. That is like the coolest thing, because I grew up watching the Tigers (and) going to Tiger Stadium for games," she told Hometown Life in June, during one of her last shifts as a Canton Township firefighter.