A two-story home was lost Saturday in a destructive house fire in Ketchikan's Forest Park neighborhood that also claimed the life of a house cat. The three people and the family dog escaped unharmed after a smoke detector alerted them to the fire. The cat, however, did not survive. Crews from all three Ketchikan area fire departments responded to 114 Mountain Ash Heights to find a fully-involved fire in the basement and heavy smoke on the upper floor. South Tongass Fire Chief Steve Rydeen was among the first to arrive on scene at about 12:10 p.m. He says because there are no fire hydrants in the area, water was brought in by four tanker trucks. "We deployed an inch and three-quarter hose line through the front door and did an aggressive attack on the fire and basically that did the job and the rest of it was mop up. We did have to cut a hole in the roof for ventilation and extraction of smoke and heated gases."  

An FDNY firefighter was knocked unconscious when an air conditioner fell from a window and struck him in the head while he was battling a Brooklyn blaze on Monday morning, sources said. The shocking incident took place outside a home in Bensonhurst and sent the smoke eater from Ladder 172 to the hospital where he was in serious condition, according to FDNY sources. The firefighter was among 106 members of the FDNY who fought the two-alarm blaze that broke out just before 9 a.m. at a house on 85th Street near 20th Avenue, authorities and sources said. Video obtained by The Post shows the moment the firefighter was pummeled by the window AC as he walked down the driveway of the two-story home. A loud crash can be heard in the video, before the AC unit strikes the firefighter, knocking him to the ground. Fellow bravest could be seen rushing to the man's aid, with one screaming, "medic!," according to the footage.  

After 36 years of service, a new Maritime Emergency Response Vessel is in the works with the help of a $750,000 allocation from Washington state. Last week, South King Fire and Rescue announced the department received the final contract appropriating $750,000 from the 2020 Washington state operating budget to pay for a major portion of the new fire rescue boat. In the past, the department has applied for two federal funding grants in hopes of replacing the vessel, but was denied each time. The new boat is a "night and day difference" from the current vessel, and includes updated satellite navigation equipment among other technological advancements, according to Assistant Chief of Special Operations Dave Mataftin, who said the boat is essentially "a floating fire engine." The grant, along with designated funds from the department's 2021 budget, will be used to replace Marine 367 for a cost of nearly $1.3 million.  

VIDEO: Four firefighters were injured including one with second-degree burns as crews Monday battled a fire at a commercial building in Chula Vista. Four workers also were inside the Action Footwear retail store in the 600 block of H Street, though all made it out safely on their own, according to the Chula Vista Fire Department. Crews responded to the scene just before 5:45 p.m., working against rain, blistering winds and lower temperatures as the evening progressed to get the fire under control. Three of the injured firefighters were transported to the UC San Diego Medical Center, Chula Vista Fire Department spokeswoman Capt. Linda D'Orsi said, adding that the status of the two of them was "mild." A fourth firefighter was hospitalized with an ankle injury. No other injuries have been reported. Gusts of wind, which crews say whipped up the flames, carried plumes of smoke high into the air, lowering visibility in the area along with the evening's rain conditions.  

Minutes — and even seconds — can make a difference in a medical emergency. But the global pandemic has first aid services across the globe trying to figure out how to balance disinfecting for COVID-19 and quickly returning ambulances back to service. Neptune thinks it solved the problem after they became the first town in the country to equip its fleet with a system that drastically cuts down the time it takes to sanitize ambulances after calls for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. MEDS, short for Modular Electrostatic Disinfectant System, is a spraying system that mounts inside an ambulance, allowing the crew to disinfect the rear of the ambulance — where patients lie as rescue workers care for them as they go the hospital — with the turn of a key and the flip of a switch from the cab. Electrostatic systems charge the ions in the cleaning solution, which results in the droplets repelling each other and wrapping around surfaces being disinfected.  

Delaware is hitting pause on giving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to thousands of first responders in the state. The move affects an estimated 3,000 to 3,500 people, according to Delaware's Fire Prevention Commission. The men and women on the front lines are seeing high COVID-19 call volume and are concerned about when they'll be fully protected from the virus. "To be told a few days before you're supposed to get your second dose, it's a little disconcerting," says Robert Pappa, a Talleyville firefighter. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, Pappa, says his second dose vaccine appointment has been canceled. Thousands of other first responders in Delaware got the same alert. "A lot of us are experiencing a lot of burnout because of everything going on, so we saw this vaccine as kind of a relief from that," says Pappa. Notice of the change went out to firehouses throughout Delaware on Friday, which affects about 50 to 55 people in the Christiana Fire Department.