VIDEO: The men and women battling Alaska's wildfires will be getting paid a little more. The pay increase, approved by Governor Mike Dunleavy, is part of an effort to help retain and recruit firefighters here in the Last Frontier. In addition, wildland firefighters will be eligible for extra compensation if they work under particularly dangerous conditions. "This incentive pay really helps us maintain that workforce, retain those employees that we invest a lot of training into and making sure they're available for that Alaskan mission," said Norm McDonald with the Alaska Division of Forestry. Last year, Alaska's Division of Forestry had a serious shortage of firefighters during wildfire season and needed to call in help from the Lower 48.  

PHOTOS: This is a report on fires occurring in Division of Alaska Forestry & Fire Protection northern and coastal areas. These include the DOF protection areas of Kenai/Kodiak, Southwest, Mat-Su, Valdez/Copper River, Fairbanks, Delta, and Tok. There were no new fires reported in DOF's protection areas Monday. One fire remains staffed by DOF firefighters. Gold King Creek Fire (#276) – located 46 miles south of Fairbanks in a limited response area and is estimated to be 6,324 acres. 11 personnel are assigned. The DOF Fairbanks 1 Squad has broken down structure protection equipment for all cabins in the Gold King community except for the two cabins closest to the most recent active portions of the fire. Firefighters will continue to clear brush around those cabins and improve an indirect fireline constructed to protect them.  

PHOTOS: A fire destroyed an East Brainerd home that was under construction and caused extensive damage to another newly built house next door that was for sale. Six other structures also sustained exposure damage from the heat. Firefighters were dispatched to the home that was fully engulfed in flames in the 1800 block of Oakvale Drive at 6:08 on Tuesday, July 16. The fire was already spreading quickly to the house next door, officials report. Within 20 minutes, crews had the fire under control, and there were no injuries reported, CFD says. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

VIDEO: The Blue Collar Brawler has struck again – but this time inside a Florida fire station. Video sent to FOX 35 from the gator trapper whose name is Mike Dragich, shows him barefoot inside a Jacksonville fire station. Firefighters called the trapper to the station because a gator wandered inside. According to Dargich, the gator was inside a pond next to the fire station before making its way inside. The gator had been causing some trouble recently, like coming out of the water when the power company came by to check on a nearby water meter. The footage shows the Blue Collar Brawler grabbing the gator by its tail and eventually sitting on top of its body as a firefighter wrapped the gator's mouth shut with tape.  

VIDEO: The West Virginia Department of Health has released new protocols for emergency medical services to empower first responders and provide them with faster decision-making capabilities. The new protocols, developed by EMS leaders across the state, took effect on July 1st. According to officials, the protocols address many of the modern-day challenges faced by first responders in the state. This includes the elimination of the "red tape" and communication barriers emergency responders have to navigate while on the job. The protocols build upon Governor Jim Justice's Answer the Call initiative, which officials said has expanded EMS training and workforce capability by 75%. Starting May 1st, the introduction of "treat-in-place" protocols allows eligible patients to receive care at home, reducing emergency room congestion and ensuring ambulance availability for critical cases.  

The U.S. has contended with unrelenting temperatures this summer, and a map from NASA paints a dire picture of the scale of those persistent heat waves. The map, which consists of a snapshot of temperatures nationwide for July 10, used satellite images — along with a complex mathematical model known as the Goddard Earth Observing System — to create a kind of color code, with dark red showing areas that reached highs of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the NASA Earth Observatory, a program that examines the impact of climate change. The results are stark, indicating potentially dangerous temperatures across nearly the entire continental U.S. The Southwest sustained the brunt of the heat, according to the map, with almost the entire region experiencing triple-digit highs.