VIDEO: Burning North of Healy, the first staffed wildland fire of the 2024 season has almost doubled in acreage since Sunday, but crews are remaining optimistic about containment progress. Coined the Popovich Creek Coal Seam Fire, the blaze had been clocked at about 2,000 acres earlier this week. By Wednesday, estimates nearly breached 4,000 acres. Officials say the fire has hit 50% containment, and crews are vying to reach full containment by Friday. "It's going to depend on how the weather treats them and how work goes. It's a speculation. It's an estimate, but that is a date that we do have," Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection (AKDOF) Information Office Sam Harrel said Wednesday. Agencies are in part counting on Chinook winds to subside and matching their predictions according to forecasts of damper weather heading into the weekend, he said.  

Firefighters returned to a Pawtucket neighborhood Wednesday evening to knock down a fire that reignited inside an apartment building. Pawtucket Fire Chief John Trenteseaux told 12 News that firefighters were first called to the East Avenue home several hours prior for reports of smoke and flames coming from the second and third floors. Trenteseaux said five firefighters were brought to the hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion while knocking down the initial fire. "It was just hot and [the building was] full of smoke. It was beating everyone up," Trenteseaux explained. "It was not a good day to have a fire." "One of the firefighters on the third floor had run out of air and he had trouble getting out," he continued. "We had to take him out through the window." 12 News was there as the flames reignited on the third floor and shot through the roof.  

Drug abuse has been an issue in the US for decades, yet despite efforts to curb it, substance use is still prevalent nationwide. According to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, approximately 40 million persons aged 12 years and older had a substance use disorder in the past year. Also, there were nearly 104,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in December 2023, according to the CDC. To determine where drug abuse is most pronounced in the US, a new report from WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 20 key metrics, including arrest and overdose rates and opioid prescription use. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the biggest drug issue.  

Multiple lithium-ion batteries charging on a shelf at the Stacyville Fire Department caught fire Tuesday night, leading to damage and an injured firefighter. It happened shortly before 9 p.m. at the fire station located at 370 Station Rd., the state fire marshal's office said in a release Wednesday. Fire departments from Sherman, Patten, Mt. Chase, Island Falls, Oakfield, and East Millinocket responded to assist Stacyville firefighters. They were able to quickly knock down the fire, but the building and several pieces of apparatus were damaged. The state fire marshal's office determined that the fire originated on a shelf inside the station where multiple lithium-ion batteries were charging. Officials said it's considered accidental. A firefighter was taken to a hospital, treated, and released for a non-fire-related leg injury, the release stated.  

VIDEO: A Denver museum has been fighting for the last 14 years to bring a piece of the city's history back home after a 140-year-old bell, which was presumed missing, turned up at a church in Pueblo. "The bell itself is a 1,600-pound bell, which is quite large and it's got a tone that even the bell company said is kind of a special tone," Dan Farley said. Farley is the executive director of the Denver Firefighters Museum, which highlights the history of the fire service since its beginnings in Denver. Part of the museum's exhibit features two photographs of Denver's Fire Station 1, located at Broadway and Colfax Avenue. Fire Station 1 was torn down in 1909. The bell was housed in a belfry atop the building. "Everybody was volunteer back then, so you ring the bell to bring it to the public's attention (that) something is going on (and) we need help," retired Denver firefighter Danny Perez said.