During the pandemic, it seems like the flu was put on the back burner as COVID-19 took center stage. However, the flu was still circulating. Alaska Immunization Program Manager Matthew Bobo said last year's flu season in Alaska saw less cases than normal. "Each flu season is different and it's hard to predict even one flu season," Bobo said. He said the decrease in flu cases could have been for many reasons. He said a contributing factor could be the pandemic precautions people were taking. "As people were staying inside more and not going out-and-about, there was less influenza circling," Bobo said. According to Bobo, it is important to prevent getting sick since influenza can lead to hospitalization. He said the flu season starts in late August and goes through March or April, but Alaska sees the flu all year long, adding that it is mainly because of tourists visiting in the summer.  

VIDEO: One person is in critical condition after a possible honey oil lab explosion in Merced Monday morning. Merced Fire Department Fire Chief Derek Parker said the person was airlifted to a local hospital. "The garage door was in the middle of the street,' Parker told ABC10. The explosion was reported just after 8 a.m. near Colma Avenue and Wildcat Drive in Merced. Fire officials say the two-story home was fully engulfed by the time crews arrived. Five other homes experienced damage as a result of the explosion, according to Parker. In total, six homes were impacted. The fire did not spread beyond the original home. Parker did say firefighters found "a lot of marijuana" inside the home, as well as large cylinders of butane. Though what actually sparked the fire is under investigation he emphasized.  

Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. submitted to the City Council on Monday a 248-page report that examined every aspect of the Worcester Fire Department, including how it can better prevent line-of-duty deaths. Since 1999, the city has suffered the loss of nine firefighters who all died while battling blazes. The department also suffered another line of duty death in July 2019 when Lt. John Kennedy died after fighting a fire. Kennedy's death however, was not mentioned in the ESCI report. The consulting company, which began its research in August of 2020, provided the city with 10 recommendations to improve the department that range from a complete overhaul of leadership to improved support service staffing. "We have an extremely talented group of individuals that want to do a great job," Deputy Fire Chief Martin Dyer said in an interview.  

Ryan O'Connor has spent more than a decade handling thousands of calls while working as a volunteer emergency medical technician with the Snyder Fire Department. Most came evenings and overnights because O'Connor works full-time in the banking field. The way he sees it, that service didn't matter much to the state Bureau of Emergency Medical Services last spring, in the midst of a pandemic, after a miscommunication within the all-volunteer department caused O'Connor's EMT recertification paperwork to be sent six days after his certification expired. A bureau official barred him from handling emergency medical calls until he repeated a beginner-style refresher course at his department's expense. "All the missed time from family and sleepless nights responding to EMS calls apparently means nothing to the New York State Department of Health," O'Connor told The Buffalo News.  

It's been two years since WCCO first reported on the dangerous needle littering problem in parts of south Minneapolis. At that time, Minneapolis firefighters planned to pick up the needles until the city found a better solution. But despite their efforts, the problem is arguably worse, says Assistant Minneapolis Fire Chief Melanie Rucker. "This year it seems like it's almost double, you know, the amount of needles that we're picking up, and there has been an uptick in some of the overdoses and drug-related responses that we go to," Rucker said. Minneapolis Fire Stations 5 and 7 on Bloomington and Franklin avenues are the busiest, with firefighters picking up hundreds of needles last month alone. WCCO revisited an alley near 25th and Bloomington avenues, where syringes with needles still attached are everywhere.  

A fire in an attic may not be the way most people start their day, but for rookie Tampa firefighter Lauren Glanton, it seems to come naturally. "That was my alarm clock," she said. "It was fire time, time to rock and roll!" Answering the call runs in the family. "Broken legs, gunshot wounds, overdoses and everything else," said Lauren's dad, Larry, a Tampa Fire Rescue paramedic who has seen it all during his 24 years with the department. But now, Lauren has become the first daughter to follow in her father's footsteps in the department's more than 100-year history. There have been dozens of sons who have followed their fathers, but none like Lauren. "I am the first," she laughed. But it didn't come without concern. "I told her that you're going to see the worst of the worst," said Larry.