Anchorage firefighters responded to a brush fire in the area of Third Avenue and Ingra Street Tuesday evening. Anchorage Fire Department Chief Jodie Hettrick said the fire was reported around 8 p.m. "It was reported as a small fire near a homeless camp," she said. "When we got on scene, the fire was starting to spread away from the camp into the woods." Within 20 minutes, crews brought the fire under control. Hettrick said there were a couple reported injuries but none serious enough to require transport from the scene for treatment. On Monday, AFD responded to a different fire on 16th Avenue, between A and C Streets. "It was near a homeless camp," Hettrick said. "We don't know if there was any involvement."  

Right now, the families of first responders who die of the coronavirus must first prove that they were infected on the job before they can collect federal death benefits. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators say that's unfair, and they've introduced legislation to automatically declare that first responders who die of COVID-19 gave their lives in the line of duty. The measure was introduced Tuesday by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. "It's the least we can do for the people who put their lives on the line to protect us," Booker said on a conference call with U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. It guarantees federal benefits to families of first responders — police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians — who die due to the virus without first having to prove that the first responder was infected while on the job.  

Due to the highly infectious nature of the coronavirus, robots can provide contact-free alternatives. From decontaminating hospitals and public spaces to delivery services, robots are a game-changer in pandemics. A cylindrical robot rolls into a treatment room to allow health care workers to remotely take temperatures and measure blood pressure and oxygen saturation from patients hooked up to a ventilator. Another robot that looks like a pair of large fluorescent lights rotated vertically travels throughout a hospital disinfecting with ultraviolet light. Meanwhile a cart-like robot brings food to people quarantined in a 16-story hotel. Outside, quadcopter drones ferry test samples to laboratories and watch for violations of stay-at-home restrictions. These are just a few of the two dozen ways robots have been used during the COVID-19 pandemic, from health care in and out of hospitals, automation of testing, supporting public safety and public works, to continuing daily work and life.  

VIDEO: The Boston Pops is summoning the heroes to honor health care workers and first responders for how they've responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Conductor Keith Lockhart and nearly 80 members of the Pops performed John Williams' "Summon the Heroes" from their homes. Williams wrote the song for the 1996 Olympics, and it premiered at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. "It was meant to celebrate our great athletes, our heroes and heroines and their athletics who devote themselves every day to their work and become ambassadors of good will the world over. Today we have a different set of circumstances, a different set of heroes and heroines who sacrifice every day and bring their commitment and dedication to their work," Williams said. Lockhart said we are living in an extraordinary time -- the likes of which none of us have ever seen -- a global health crisis of truly staggering proportions.  

The M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing at Villanova University has launched the national COVID-19 Caring About Health for All Study (CHAMPS) of health care, first responder and service workers for the health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Managing the health care needs of COVID-19 patients has had a tremendous impact not only on the lives of those delivering health care directly but on those who support that effort, from ambulance drivers to maintenance and housekeeping staff whose service has been essential to maintain the health care enterprise. All of them have one thing in common: they are at increased risk of exposure to the virus as well as disruption of their personal and social lives. The COVID-19 CHAMPS Study is designed to understand the immediate effects, as well as the long-term effects on their health, lives and careers.