The number of volunteer firefighters in Alaska has nearly halved since 2014, according to State Fire Marshal data. And it could be putting communities at risk. You can find the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department about a mile out of town. Aaron Hankins is the Director of Fire, EMS, and Search and Rescue. He is one of just three employees at the station. The rest are all volunteers. Hankins was doing a routine vehicle inspection after a fire which engulfed Petersburg's Catholic Church earlier this month. When there aren't enough volunteers available, that can hold back the rest from doing their jobs. "We shift from an offensive, go in, fight fire where it's at, to a more defensive posture," said Hankins. "We call it surround-and-drown, and [we're] trying to fight the fire that may be burning inside from the outside of the building."  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Phoenix Fire investigators are looking into a fire involving exploding propane tanks during the afternoon hours of July 20. The fire happened near 40th Street and Van Buren. According to Phoenix Fire officials, crews were called to the scene at around 5:00 p.m., and when they arrived at the scene, they found a large propane yard with five gallon propane tanks exploding over 500 yards in all directions. Fire officials said that flames were shooting out of the business, and the tanks were like missiles flying in the air. First responders warned people to stay out of the area due to the hundreds of tanks and flying shrapnel. "Firefighters isolated the hazard area, evacuated multiple homes and businesses and attacked the flames with elevated master streams. The fire was then surrounded and the bursting tanks cooled stopping the explosions," read a portion of a statement released by fire officials.  

VIDEO: There is new attention to the dangers of fires aboard ships after two Newark firefighters died at Port Newark. News 12 New Jersey was given an exclusive look at the United States Coast Guard training center in Cape May, where recruits are taught how to fight shipboard fires as part of boot camp. "Firefighting can be extremely dangerous," says Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Stevenson. "It's hot in there. It's going to be even hotter because that heat doesn't have anywhere to go." Stevenson says that if a fire is not contained properly, it can take down a ship. He says that fighting a fire inside a ship is a uniquely challenging and dangerous situation. "When a fire starts growing and becomes fully developed, it will travel either out to the sides or typically up," Stevenson says.  

VIDEO: Emond Johnson, who was charged with starting a fire that killed San Antonio firefighter Scott Deem in 2017, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison on two charges. Johnson pleaded no contest in the 186th District Court to charges of murder and arson. The sentences will run concurrently and he will be credited for six years of time served in the Bexar County Jail. Johnson will be eligible for parole after he serves half his sentence. The courtroom was packed for the hearing with fellow firefighters and family members, including some who faced Johnson and told him how Deem's death affected them. "I was thinking he was going to come home that morning with a big smile on his face like he normally did. But he didn't because of you," Deem's daughter said during her victim impact statement.  

VIDEO: As firefighters in Weymouth, Massachusetts, rushed to a house fire on School Street earlier this month, they were already ahead of the game by the time they got there. "Gaining awareness is the number one thing that is occurring in the first initial minutes of a fire response," said Weymouth Fire Lt. John Lombardo. "We do our best to rapidly gain information and gain an understanding of what is going on." For firefighters, information is crucial in those first few minutes as they respond to a fire -- How many people are inside? Are there any pets? What about hazards firefighters should know about? For decades, those firefighters had incomplete information at best. "The hazards that we find inside structures, again, is always changing, and it is always becoming incrementally more dangerous," said Lombardo.