After a record-slow start, the Alaska wildfire season tally as of Wednesday stood at 343 fires covering 297,747 acres, according to state wildfire managers. That is well below the recent years' median of about 1 million acres but within the usual range of the past two decades. Almost all of Alaska's wildfires came extremely late. Less than 3,000 acres had burned in Alaska through late July, said Beth Ipsen, a public information officer with the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska Fire Service. That situation was transformed when a wave of lightning strikes hit. In a single day with more than 16,300 strikes — July 24 – about 30 new fires were ignited, according to the Alaska Fire Service. More days of heavy lightning and new wildfires followed.  

A Utah family is grateful to be alive after their houseboat caught fire at Lake Powell. Maddy Tolman said her family was on board for only about 45 minutes when they heard a loud boom. "We heard a big boom! Not knowing what it was, we went to investigate. We found the motor on the houseboat had exploded, and caught on fire," Tolman said. "It was about five-to-10 minutes between the explosion and when the boat was engulfed in flames." Tolman said all 25 family members, including a mother and her 2-month-old baby, jumped in the water to safety. Some were able to grab lifejackets, others were not so lucky. "We had about 25 people on board, including a 2-month-old, two toddlers, an 8-year-old diabetic, and three more elementary-aged kids on board."  

Thousands of people are en route to Colorado Springs for this weekend's annual Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial ceremony. "It's the largest year we've ever had," said Colorado Springs Firefighters Local 5 President, Curt Crumb. This year 572 names will be added to the walls of the memorial. Due to COVID-caused cancellations from previous years, names this year are a combination of 2021 and 2022. 3,800 family members have registered to attend. 2,500 International Association of Fire Fighters members are on their way to be part of the honor guard. "Our goal is to make everybody feel special when they come here. This is obviously a solemn event for them. So it's an event that we cherish, and we honor, but it is a solemn moment and it means somebody lost their life in the line of duty which we never want to see," said Crumb.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A suspect stole a Portland Fire & Rescue boat and commandeered it down the Columbia River early Thursday morning, says the agency. PF&R stated that Rescue Boat 21 was taken from the boathouse by an unauthorized user. Local law enforcement and the Coast Guard pursued it. PF&R said the boat traveled downstream. By 7:20 a.m. it was reported that the suspect had abandoned the boat in Kalama, Washington and fled on foot. The suspect left the boat drifting on the water. The distance between Portland and Kalama would make this a 40-mile-long piracy attempt. A KATU photojournalist on the scene in Kalama captured a law enforcement vessel towing the abandoned PF&R boat back to land.  

Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren may stand 7-foot-1 and tower over even some NBA players, but he still isn't tall enough to reach a second-story window on his own. It's a strange way to look at his height, but maybe not so much when you consider what he and some of the other Thunder players spent their Wednesday afternoon doing in the city. In a surprise visit, players from Oklahoma City's roster took some time to visit OKC's Fire Station 14. Present at the event included Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Kenrich Williams, Olivier Sarr and Keyontae Johnson — all of which, minus Johnson, are still within the first few years of their NBA careers.  

VIDEO: Boston firefighter Daniel Ranahan had heard about colleagues getting cancer but he was stunned when doctors discovered a tumor in his chest. He was only 30 and had been in the Boston Fire Department for less than a decade. But as he investigated his diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma in October 2020 and sought successful treatment, he learned he and others wore gear that contained the toxic industrial compound PFAS. "You always hear about the dangers. You just never think it's going be you," said Ranahan, who stopped working due to the cancer and is among thousands of firefighters nationwide who sued PFAS manufacturers and companies that make firefighting gear and foam, seeking damages for their exposure. "These guys put this on day in and day out to protect neighborhoods and wherever they are working," he said.