Petersburg's Volunteer Fire Department responded to a sauna fire on the morning of January 11th, about nine miles south of town, inside Service Area 1. The department left town at around 2:40 a.m., and contained the blaze in about 30 minutes. Dave Berg is a spokesperson for the volunteer fire department. He says that when firefighters arrived on the scene, the approximately 15-by-20 foot outbuilding was completely enveloped in flames. We deployed one hose to mop up what was left of the building," said Berg. "Essentially, just putting out some spot fires and walking around the building and making sure everything was extinguished." It was a total loss, but other buildings on the property weren't damaged.  

VIDEO/PHOTO: Electric vehicles (EV) can be a major risk if they catch on fire. Retired Everett Fire Captain Gerry O'Hearn has a new invention to fight those fires. He calls it the Gerry Pipe. "We got to cool down the battery underneath," O'Hearn told WBZ-TV. "The key is no one gets hurt." The trouble with EV fires is their lithium batteries can burn for as long as 24 hours. The battery is typically located on the bottom of the car and can span the length of the vehicle. Since EV cars tend to be extra low to the ground, the batteries can be hard to reach. O'Hearn said sometimes firefighters try to tip the car on its side with their hands. "In the future, they're hoping to have some type of extinguisher-suppressant on it right, which they can have built right into these automobiles," he said.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: The Los Angeles Fire Department will mark the 30th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake Wednesday by urging residents to prepare for future temblors and other natural disasters, reminding them of the devastation that resulted from the historic shaker. The magnitude-6.7 Northridge Earthquake struck in the early morning hours of Jan. 17, 1994. After the dust settled, at least 57 people were dead -- some put the death toll at 61 -- and 11,846 people in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties were treated at hospitals. Property losses were pegged at $40 billion. It was the costliest disaster in U.S. history. Insured losses were estimated at $12.5 billion. Aid from the federal government was estimated at $13 billion. In Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, a total of 114,039 residential and commercial structures were damaged.  

VIDEO: A new, all-terrain vehicle could help save countless lives during ice and water rescues in our area. The Boom Bay Volunteer Fire Department gave our Action 2 News team a first look. The vehicle is called a ‘Sherp,' and it can travel through almost anything to rescue people. Boom Bay Fire Chief Dave Platta said it can tackle nearly everything from lakes to ice to swampy marshes. "It can go over obstacles 3 ½, 4 feet tall. It can go over cars. It can drive almost anywhere without getting stuck," Platta said. The Sherp easily knocked down cattails during our ride-along and that is nothing compared to other obstacles like rocks and fallen trees it can tackle. According to the fire chief, the ATV is a gift from a friend of the fire department who says if it saves one life it's beneficial to the fleet. The Sherp is entirely funded through donations and fundraising.  

Last year, a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) showed that the textiles used in protective clothing worn by firefighters often contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a class of chemicals that has been linked to an increased risk of cancer and other health effects. Now, a follow-up study from NIST shows that the textiles used in that protective clothing, called turnout gear, tend to release more PFAS when they are subject to wear and tear. Taken together, the two studies identified the PFAS compounds present in selected turnout gear textiles, how much of each was present, and whether simulated wear and tear increased the amount of PFAS that the textiles released.