For the second time in two years, the Alaska Legislature passed a bill requiring a phase-out of firefighting foams with contaminants called "forever chemicals." The chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are commonly known as PFAS, have become notorious for their persistence and widespread presence in the environment. Known for their resistance to flames and degradation, PFAS chemicals — which number in the thousands —have been used since the 1950s in a wide variety of products, from consumer goods like clothing and cookware to industrial materials like paints, sealants and drilling fluids. The chemicals have spread over time into soils, waterways, drinking water supplies and people's bodies.  

Fire crews spent hours Thursday night fighting massive flames at a business in Pottsville. It started at a commercial building near the 600 block of East Market Street around 7 p.m. As fire crews were tackling this fire the Wire Tele-View corporation building collapsed, just missing the firefighters below. Wire Tele-View is a cable and internet provider. This building is just across the street from Lehigh Valley Hospital Schuylkill Campus on East Norwegian Street. A spokesperson from the health network tells Newswatch 16 that hospital operations have not been impacted by the fire. At least two nearby homes were damaged, and 10 people were displaced. There is no word on injuries or the cause of the fire.  

VIDEO: Firefighters shifts range but they often go into the night, some can be as long as 48 hours in a row. According to Deputy Fire Chief Chris Mortensen, sleep studies have helped fire departments adjust the way firefighters sleep to make the night shift more bearable. "It used to be the alarms would blare and you were waking up and lights were flashing everywhere and we found out that was really bad for your system," said Mortensen. He said researchers found lack of sleep and even just the way firefighters wake up has a big impact on health. "We tried to work with scientific agencies and educational institutions across the country and figure out how we can best modify that or reduce the risk to firefighters," he said.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: If you spot a rattlesnake in your yard what would you do? In this Zevely Zone story, 'The Snake Wranglers' offer a training session to firefighters and me. The best way to save a snake is to learn how to handle the real thing. "I truly feel they are the underdog in nature," said Bruce Ireland. For years, Bruce has been on a one-man crusade saving snakes. "You don't have to kill them. You may not know that much about snakes because you may not understand them and yes some of them are dangerous, but that doesn't mean we should go out and indiscriminately kill them," said Bruce. Shedding that outdated belief led Bruce to create The Snake Wranglers. "To get to the point where we are finally, actually training firefighters, I can't even sleep at night building up to this if I'm being really honest with you," said Bruce.  

Drowning deaths in the U.S. were on the decline for decades, but a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that fatalities have been increasing since 2020. While it's not exactly clear what's causing the spike, public health experts believe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could be at least in part to blame. Adam Katchmarchi, CEO of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA), said there were signs recently that fatal drownings were increasing, but the national figures were stark. "Shocking, to say the least, that we have seen these dramatic increases," Katchmarchi said. According to the CDC report, there were around 4,000 accidental drowning deaths in the U.S. in 2019. That jumped to more than 4,500 fatalities annually in 2020, 2021 and 2022 — roughly a 10% increase.