The Anchorage Fire Department is currently holding an academy that expects to graduate 21 people in May. According to Assistant Fire Chief Alex Boyd, 18 of the positions are new — and fully funded by a $9 million federal grant designed to help departments beef up their staffing levels. "That 18 allows us to put six additional firefighters per shift to staff our truck companies, rescue and squad units, and bring those up to a four-person minimum staffing level," Boyd said. The current academy will leave the department fully staffed — but not for long. Boyd said a large number of retirees are expected to bring numbers down before the end of the year. "We do have attrition of about 15 to 18 people every year, and already this year we are aware of as many as 13 going out the door."  

A natural gas leak closed part of Lake Otis Parkway Thursday morning and forced the evacuation of several businesses in the Abbott Loop neighborhood. A public information officer with the Anchorage Fire Department told Alaska's News Source that Enstar Natural Gas crews were on scene assisting fire officials near the corner of Lake Otis and East 68th Avenue. The leak was narrowed to a strip mall that has a sports injury clinic, beauty salon and a laundromat. The department said southbound lanes of Lake Otis were closed and could be expected to stay closed until further notice. Businesses in the immediate vicinity were evacuated, according to the department, and homeowners near the area were alerted, but not evacuated, of the situation.  

A massive fire destroyed a barn in far west suburban Sugar Grove Thursday. Firefighters from Elburn and Countryside assisted in containing the fire in the barn at 3-S-598 Bliss Rd. The fire was in a rural area with no fire hydrants, requiring tanks of water to be shuttled in. The barn was destroyed in the fire. The blaze spread to another structure that sustained minimal damage. Officials say the cause was outside burning on a red flag warning day - which means a combination of warm temperatures and winds caused the rapid spread of the fire. No one was hurt.  

VIDEO: The Anchorage Middletown Fire & EMS team has a new way of treating patients dealing with pain, that's also addressing the state's opioid epidemic. It's called the Nitronox and it's inside every AMFEMS ambulance. It's a portable machine that uses a mix of oxygen and nitrous oxide to treat patients for pain while they're on a scene or in the back of an ambulance headed toward the hospital. While it's small enough to fit in a lunch box, it's powerful enough to be a game changer. "I definitely think this is the future," said Capt. Alex Russell, AMFEMS. "If we have a patient who is in pain, and we need a quick relief, we can set this up within a minute. We had a patient that had fallen down on the ground, with a possible leg fracture. She wasn't able to move, and we were able to immediately grab this, and start administering nitrous. She had immediate relief."  

VIDEO: A team effort was underway in Escondido to rescue one of their trucks from an "active sinkhole" that formed beneath the truck Thursday evening. Escondido police said they heard the radio call for assistance around 4:40 p.m. from a firefighter who said their engine had partially succumbed to a sinkhole in a church parking lot in the 1000 block of West Country Club Lane. Video from Chopper 8 showed the front driver's side tires sank about halfway into the asphalt. Escondido Fire Department said that personnel aboard the fire engine were previously responding to a medical call in the area when the fire truck became stuck. By 5:30 p.m., a tow truck had arrived on the scene to assist in pulling the heavy engine from the rubble of the asphalt. No injuries were reported.  

VIDEO: Like many kids, current Middlebury senior Emily Jones was fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records as a child. "I thought it was cool and wanted to have a record," said Jones. While sifting through an extensive list of records months ago, Jones found a section of categories all having something to do with firefighting. As a volunteer firefighter at the Middlebury fire department, Jones felt she found the record she could tackle. "People thought I was crazy," said Jones. "Myself included." On Saturday, Jones crushed the Guinness world record for the fastest mile time by a woman in full firefighting gear by over two and a half minutes. The previous record of 11 minutes is no more, after Jones' 8 minutes and 25 seconds time.  

VIDEO: Firefighters and high schoolers from around the state gathered Wednesday at the Missouri Capitol for Firefighters Day. This annual event honors both current and past firefighters while encouraging the future to fight on. Hundreds of firefighters filled the Capitol rotunda with joy. Even though the majority of the room was filled with official firefighters, the real stars were the students admiring their work. Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe kicked off the event with a speech recognizing the high school students in Missouri Career and Technology Centers already training to become first responders. Missouri State Fire Marshal Tim Bean has relentlessly pushed to promote high school first responder programs due to the decrease of employees in emergency services.