The Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, is a group of trained volunteers that can help in emergency situations, like the McKinley fire that hit the Upper Valley in 2019. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, oversees the program. Nearly 20 newly-trained CERT members will be working with teams in the Mat-Su. It's unknown how many will join the Talkeetna and Trapper Creek teams. The training was held at the Upper Susitna Senior Center in November. Bill Was, Talkeetna CERT Team Lead, says that members regularly train beyond their initial training to stay proficient in providing basic medical assistance and emergency response. Was says CERT goes by the motto neighbors helping neighbors.  

Arson investigators are looking into the cause of a massive fire that tore through a home in Point Loma early Tuesday, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Deputy Chief Brian Raines. Both San Diego Fire and San Diego Police were alerted to the fire at about 5:30 a.m. by a call reporting a burglary and a fire at the home on Liggett Drive just north of Point Loma Park. When crews arrived, the home was already overtaken by flames, Raines said. Firefighters immediately began tackling the blaze, which had started spreading to a large pine tree in front of the home. SDFD crews were able to keep the fire at bay, preventing it from spreading to other properties. The home, though, was likely destroyed, Raines said. The estimated cost of damage was still being determined.  

VIDEO: An FDNY firefighter who spent over a year recovering from injuries he suffered fighting a house fire returned to work Monday. Robert Velazquez was greeted as he walked back into Engine 257, Ladder 170 in Canarsie, Brooklyn. In a Facebook post, the FDNY said in part, "With the support of his family, friends, and his FDNY family, and through sheer determination and grit, Firefighter Velazquez is back at his second home, his firehouse. We are glad to have him back and the City thanks him for his continued service." Fellow firefighter Timothy Klein died in the April 2022 blaze when part of the home collapsed. A 21-year-old resident was also killed. A total of eight firefighters were hurt battling the fire.  

The D.C. Council unanimously passed emergency legislation Tuesday that could help solve an ongoing staffing shortage at the 911 call center. The bill, which had nine cosponsors, allows retired firefighters and police officers to work as call takers and dispatchers without losing any pay from their pensions. As recently as October, just less than half of all of the shifts were fully staffed, according to data published by the D.C. Office of Unified Communications. At-large Councilmember Christina Henderson believes the problem could be solved with this legislation. "I think by having retired firefighters and police officers who've been out on the field, they can assess a situation from a phone call and better help to get speedy responses and effective responses," she said.  

PHOTOS: A century-old fire engine once in the service of Las Cruces firefighters completed a long journey this week from a salvage yard, to a local home, all the way to Oregon and back again. It was briefly parked, looking shiny and new, in front of Las Cruces City Hall Monday, as LCFD Chief Jason Smith celebrated its donation back to the city at the regular city council meeting. Smith told the council it was the city's earliest known motorized fire engine – the seventh unit of its type manufactured in 1915, and one of just two still in existence from that model year. The engine had two 25-gallon tanks of water and used a soda-acid chemical system, which pressurized water through a chemical reaction in which acid was introduced into soda water to release carbon dioxide and force the water from the tanks.  

VIDEO: A critical piece of Southern California's effort to fight fire has been quietly making a name for itself for the last five years. The Quick Reaction Force (QRF) is a cross-agency partnership that has been available during peak fire seasons, but now thanks to $35 million from Southern California Edison, this first of its kind public-private partnership is available year round. "Nobody has ever really had the ability to bring those types of resources, large resources together to attack a fire that is going to escape initial attack or extended attack," explained Chief Brian Fennessy of the Orange County Fire Authority. The QRF is a 24-hours a day fire suppression helitanker fleet across three counties. L.A., Orange and Ventura counties each contract a CH-47 Chinook helitanker through Coulson Aviation to aid existing resources.