Northwest Alaska residents can upgrade smoke alarms in their homes this summer. Northwest Arctic Borough will distribute and install lithium-powered 10-year sealed smoke alarms in every village starting in May, said Chris Hatch, borough director of public safety. The borough will also educate residents on how alarms work, how to test them and how to have a home fire escape plan. Their first visit will be to Noorvik on May 9. "Smoke Alarms are the most effective early warning device there is during a fire incident and essential to saving lives," borough officials said in a Facebook post. "Our goal is to make sure residents have the protection of a smoke alarm." Regional battalion fire chiefs identified the need for installing smoke alarms in villages after six people were killed in the fire in Noorvik in January, Hatch said.  

PHOTOS: Fire crews battled a fierce building blaze at Ramona Roller Rink on Tuesday evening. Firefighters from several local departments were called to the rink just after 6 p.m. on reports of a working commercial fire to the nearly 100-year-old building. It will not only be remembered for today's fire that led to the loss of this entire building, but also it was known as the place to be in the community. "It means a lot; it's a very big staple in the community, as you can see by how many people came out," said Jenn Schaus, daughter of the owner. "And just in my own family, generations we've been here, all my aunts and uncles skated. Brothers and sisters, my parents met." The community was hurting and surrounded the street, checking to make sure they could get one last look at their childhood.  

They have come from as far as Fiji and Croatia and as close as D.C. and Fairfax County, Virginia. Firefighters packed a conference room at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown D.C. on Tuesday for the inaugural World Fire Congress to collaborate and share information to better keep citizens across the world safe. U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell said 55 countries were represented at the conference. Participants talked about "challenges that we are all facing from a global perspective so that we can see if we can bring together solutions, best practices and find some areas for collaboration going forward," she said. The summit will focus on four distinct challenges that the firefighting community is seeing across the world: large structure fires, climate change's effects on the job, personnel health and fires stemming from emerging technologies like lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles.  

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday overwhelmingly passed the Special District Grant Accessibility Act (H.R. 7525) – legislation that would codify a first-ever definition of "special district" in federal law and ensure districts are eligible for all appropriate forms of federal financial assistance. The bipartisan bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Pat Fallon (R) who represents Rockwall County as part of the 4th Congressional District of Texas, along with Brittany Pettersen (D-Colorado). The legislation cleared the House with an overwhelming 352-27 vote and was cosponsored by a number of members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. "The consequence of current law is some communities served by special districts cannot access certain federal funding opportunities, which has a huge impact on the ability of special districts to provide vital services and meet community needs," Fallon said in a statement released by his office on Tuesday.