Chuck Russell, who has served in the National Park Service's (NPS) Alaska Region Fire Management Office since 2018, has been selected as the NPS Wildland fire operations program lead. Chuck began his career with the State of South Dakota wildland fire program in 1991. He started a 23-year career with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1995 with the Idaho Falls District. After four years, he moved to Las Vegas with his wife Kami and their oldest daughter Saydria. In 2000, he accepted a fire operations specialist position with the North Zone BLM in Wyoming. He then moved to the Wind River/Bighorn Basin District fire management officer position in 2003. During that time, he learned the value of partnerships and how off-season relationship development created in season success.  

PHOTOS: More than 60 firefighters responded to a 3-alarm fire at a vacant church in downtown Louisville. The Louisville Fire Department said the fire was in the 200 block of East Pin Alley. That's off East Broadway, not far from South Hancock Street. Capt. Donovan Sims said reports came in around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday night of a "vacant structure with possible people hanging out of the window with smoke on the roof." Sims said crews were on scene within two minutes to find heavy fire in the rear of the vacant St. Paul's German Evangelical Church on East Broadway, near South Brook Street. Within three to four minutes, the fire was updated to 2-alarm. Sims confirmed to WDRB just after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday that the fire had been updated to a 3-alarm fire.  

The Seattle Fire Department (SFD) is expanding its Buprenorphine Pilot Program and Seattle will be the first city in the nation with a program for firefighters/emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to administer the medicine in the field. SFD paramedics began administering the drug earlier this year, and now an initial group of firefighter/EMTs will be trained as well. This will expand the City's capacity to provide this potentially life-saving medicine to patients who are actively experiencing severe opioid withdrawal. "Providing treatment for people suffering from substance use disorder and addiction is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. People treated with this highly effective and evidence-backed medication are likelier to agree to follow-up care and conversations, an essential step to breaking the cycle and getting them the help they need," said Mayor Bruce Harrell.  

VIDEO: Firefighters want to emphasize fire safety at a young age. The Independence Fire Department is introducing a new fire prevention video designed to inform the youngest students about safety in the home. The animated product is brand new, and will be shared with area schools soon. Firefighters in Independence have seen a challenging year, battling four deadly fires this year. Two of those fires happened on one weekend. Two of the incidents involved the death of children. The animated video is aimed at audiences as young as preschoolers. It's designed to teach the basics of fire prevention, including escape plans to avoid smoke and fire and the importance of working smoke detectors. "This knowledge will empower a child to not be afraid if a smoke detector goes off in the house that's full of smoke. They will have seen this video, hopefully, and instead of trying to hide from it, they will try to escape from it," Independence Battalion Chief Eric Michel said.  

After making landfall Wednesday night near Siesta Key, Hurricane Milton has moved off the east coast of Florida. Even before Milton made landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm, outer bands from the system washed over the state Wednesday morning, sparking up tornadoes and giving residents an idea of the wrath Milton packed. Milton lashed west Florida and surrounding areas Wednesday night, bringing torrential downpours and winds of 120 mph — strong enough to rip the roof off Tropicana Field, a stadium in St. Petersburg home to the Tampa Bay Rays. At 2 p.m., the NHC said Milton's winds were holding at 75 mph and the storm is now considered a post-tropical cyclone as it continues moving into the Atlantic.