The Kenai Elks Lodge celebrated the Kenai Fire Department with an appreciation dinner and awarded two members certificates of service and medals of valor on Friday. After the dinner, which was attended by department staff and their families, Kenai Elks Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett and other members of the lodge read messages thanking the Kenai Fire Department for their efforts and dedication to safety. Receiving medals were Captain Pete Coots and Fire Marshal Jeremy Hamilton. Coots, Burkett said, has been at Kenai Fire Department for 17 years, first as a firefighter and then as captain. He was recognized not just for his work at the department, but also as a certified instructor for American Red Cross basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as with the Boy Scouts of America and "his local church."  

A gas balloon involved in an international race burst into flames Monday evening after crashing into a power line structure in Kaufman County. Kaufman County officials said the balloon came down off U.S. Highway 175, near Crandall, just after 7:15 p.m. It first crashed into high-powered transmission lines and then distribution lines before catching fire, said Kaufman County emergency manager Steve Howie. Two people were on board during the crash and were taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where they are both expected to recover. They have since been identified as pilots Pjotr Halas and Krzystotf Zapart, from Swidnica, Poland. The two were racing as part of the 66th annual Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett gas balloon race.  

VIDEO: A South Carolina fire department wants to get your attention during National Fire Prevention Week with a funny video that carries a serious message. The Greenville Fire Department posted a music video to their social media accounts called "Stand By Your Pan." Members of the city's Station 1 lent their satirical acting, singing and musical skills to the Tammy Wynette song with the same tune that made her a country legend. Pots, pans and kitchen utensils serve as instruments played by firefighters, two sitting on a fire truck, while Firefighter Specialist II Jake Mantooth croons in front of a studio microphone. "Stand by your pan," Mantooth belts, "Don't leave it unattended, binging new Netflix episodes while your kitchen explodes." Firefighter Specialist III Daniel Moss and Lt. Micah Reins are also featured in the fun-but-important video.  

VIDEO: The Summer of 1871 was unusually dry, creating a heightened fire risk around the Great Lakes. While the Great Chicago Fire is the most well known in history, towns across the Midwest were impacted on the same day in separate fires including many in Michigan. Among them Manistee, Alpena, Port Huron and Holland. "They claimed the Midwest was one big powder keg just waiting to happen that season," said Deb Wake, education coordinator at the Holland Museum. And on October 8th, 1871, that powder keg exploded. In Holland, it's unclear what exactly started the flames, but they really took off when they reached Cappon and Bertsch Leather Company. "It all ignited," said Wake. "And then these winds, which were hurricane force winds, blew that right down Eighth Street and took out all the businesses."  

PHOTOS: Adults often don't know of the impact they have on a child's life. But once in a while, that payoff comes full circle — and with photographic proof. About 15 years ago, Cameron Lierly was a young boy enjoying a Fourth of July parade in the Candlestick Beach community west of town when his mother, Bridget Lierly, took a snapshot of her son sitting in the cab of a Sand Springs fire truck. Standing next to the truck was firefighter Chad Lytle, his back turned mostly to the camera, neither his face nor name badge visible. That fact made it a little more difficult when Cameron Lierly, now a Sand Springs firefighter himself, became aware of the photo and wanted to know who was with him in the picture. Turns out, he knows him well: He and Lytle are both firefighters on the C shift. "To be honest, I didn't even realize the photo existed," Lierly said.