VIDEO: The high-pitch whine of chainsaws pierced the silence in the tiny remote village of Alatna for a couple of weeks in the fall of 2022. Typically, the only sounds that break the stillness are an occasional dog barking, a raven cawing or a motorboat on the nearby Koyukuk River. Instead, the crisp fall air was filled with noises made by firefighters busy cutting a swath of trees and shrubs through the woods that surround Alatna. This is one of several projects underway to help make rural communities more resilient to wildfires and gives fire managers a strategic operational advantage when a wildfire threatens the village. Because the crew was mostly made up of Indigenous individuals from nearby rural villages in Interior Alaska, the work also provided employment opportunities in underserved communities. Alatna, and its neighboring village of Allakaket, were identified by BLM Alaska Fire Service (BLM AFS) as communities of concern due to the threat of a catastrophic wildfire.  

The Tri-State Tollway was mired in a traffic nightmare during the evening rush Tuesday, after a semi-trailer truck hauling cars sparked a huge fire on the Tri-State Tollway in southwest suburban Willow Springs. As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, traffic was very slow through the night along northbound I-294 near the scene. Illinois State Police said by 8:30 p.m., all lanes on I-294 had reopened following hours of cleanup. But late in the afternoon, the fiery crash caused some intense moments for those involved – and for drivers caught in the middle. Fortunately, nobody was injured. The thick black smoke from the wreck was visible from miles away. As she got closer, Jessica Selim said she felt the heat of the intense flames. "You hear the car physically shaking, and it's hot," Selim said. "We heard the booms. We heard the explosions."  

VIDEO: Fayetteville Tech Community College opened a state-of-the-art swift water rescue training facility. Officials said the facility will help expand job opportunities in the area. The new facility on Tom Starling Road is the only swift water rescue training facility on the East Coast. It will help teach countless trainees how to save lives. "It really sets Cumberland County and Fayetteville Tech up as a premier trainer in the public service space--not only in our state, but also all across the United States," said FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells. At the facility, first responders will train to rescue people in extreme weather events like hurricanes, major flooding or large bodies of water. It sits on a plot of about 30 acres of land that Cumberland County donated to Fayetteville Tech to build its entire fire and rescue complex.  

VIDEO: On Nov. 11, firefighters in Benton County discovered a Dodge brush fire truck from inside the firehouse on E. Highway 94 in Monte Ne had been stolen. Later that morning, the Benton County Sheriff's Office found the truck in Springdale outside the home of the man who allegedly stole it and drove home the night before. According to the arrest affidavit, the man made a stop to fill up at a gas station in Rogers on his way, where he "accidentally turned on the emergency lights." Detectives said the Dodge truck was parked inside the fire department in Monte Ne overnight on Nov. 10. Since the fire department doesn't have full-time staff who stay and sleep at the firehouse, no one was there when the truck was stolen. The firehouse did, however, have video surveillance of the theft, officials said.  

VIDEO: The City of Coronado is testing out a new emergency alert system. Coronado already has sirens positioned around the island, but the technology on the sirens is old. They're unable to broadcast messages to go along with the siren. On Tuesday, the Coronado Fire Department tested out a new system, which has the capability of doing both. "Sirens are sirens and when you activate one, you don't know why the siren is being activated. So, with this technology the nice thing about it is we can pre-record a message into the system and we can actually broadcast that message across the community," said Coronado Fire Chief Jayson Summers. Summers told CBS 8 the department is trying to find new ways to better communicate with the community and keep people safe. Messages on a new system can range from information about an event to evacuation orders.