Longer Alaskan days mean summer and the wildland fire season are just around the corner. March and April are busy months with outreach programs all across the state. Each spring, the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection is busy hosting trainings for new and returning firefighters and helping to distribute burn permits to communities (required annually from April 1 – August 31). This past weekend there were numerous outreach and education events. With a giant Smokey Bear reminding everyone to prevent human caused wildfires, Mat-Su Area Prevention Officers met with hundreds of people at the Mat-Su Outdoorsman Show at the Menard Center. In Fairbanks, DOF staff shared information at the Carlson Center as a part of the Interior Alaska Building Association's Home Show. And at Glennallen's Copper River Native Association Job Fair, DOF firefighters and outreach specialists met with students, prospective new firefighters and members of the local area.  

Fire crews battled a blaze at an apartment building early Thursday morning on Detroit's west side. A large, vacant apartment building caught fire in a residential neighborhood in the area of I-94 and Livernois on March 30. The entire building, which is multiple stories high, was fully engulfed in flames as crews worked to extinguish it. Billowing smoke could be seen in the nearby area. You can see footage from the scene in the video up above. Authorities shared few details about the blaze early Thursday morning. It is unknown what caused the fire, or if there were any injures.  

History was made in Connecticut Wednesday as state leaders and neighbors gathered in Hartford to celebrate Shelly Carter, the first Black female fire chief to serve any fire department in all of New England. "The goal is not about me. We celebrate me, but this is for every female out there, every female on the line who's working today," said Carter, who was sworn in as the Southbury Training School Fire Department Fire Chief under the state's Department of Developmental Services. "The role is to protect and serve those individuals that have disabilities on that campus and we are also moving statewide," said Carter. Carter's major achievement drew several rounds of cheers and applause at the ceremony. "Chief Carter, it's got a ring to it," said Gov. Ned Lamont.  

VIDEOS: An early morning train derailment has caused residents of a small town in Kandiyohi County to evacuate on Thursday. In a statement, BNSF Railway said approximately 22 cars derailed around 1 a.m. Some of the derailed cars were carrying ethanol and corn syrup and started on fire, the sheriff's office said. Part of the town near the crash site was evacuated to a school in nearby Prinsburg. The sheriff's office said travel is not advised in Raymond. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Highway 23 is closed from Kandiyohi County Road 1 to Chippewa County Road 1 because of the derailment and fire. Raymond's assistant fire chief said crews are now letting the ethanol burn out after spraying thousands of gallons of water on the cars.  

VIDEO: One retired fire crew that has turned into collectors has been looking to tap into the little kid energy that often follows a field trip to a local firehouse. "My family had no problem buying for me at Christmas," said Bob Franklin, retired Little Rock captain. "It was always fire trucks." He has used that story to explain what drove him to more than 50 years in the fire service. Franklin shared that shopping for him these days is still just as easy— just tell him you're cleaning out a fire station anywhere in Arkansas. "We started having fire departments calling us and saying 'hey, we have this old stuff, you want it?' And so it just kind of going from word of mouth," he said. Those calls started coming in once word got out that Franklin and his retired buddies wanted to put together a museum that would build on the Historic Firehouse Museum and Hostel in Little Rock's MacArthur Park and go bigger.  

The IAFC is now accepting nominations for the IAFC Ben Franklin Award for Valor. Since 1970, the IAFC's most prestigious award has recognized the spirit of service, courage and heroism that is a proud tradition among the world's fire and emergency service. The program is named for one of the first fire chiefs in the United States, Benjamin Franklin. An inventor, statesman and humanitarian, Mr. Franklin was a prime contributor to the wealth of tradition that symbolizes the fire and emergency service worldwide. Presented annually at Fire-Rescue International (FRI) by the IAFC and Motorola Solutions, the award honors a firefighter(s) for their expert training, professional service and dedication to duty displayed in saving human life. More than that, the program helps raise public awareness and support for the fire and emergency service.