Firefighters

Five firefighters were hospitalized Saturday morning after noticing an unusual burning sensation on their faces while responding to a blaze at an unpermitted cannabis operation in downtown L.A.Brian Humphrey, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson, said there was concern that the sensation may have resulted from burning chemicals inside the two-story, brick building south of the Arts District.“These were seasoned firefighters,” he said, “who felt something out of the ordinary.”None of the five cited other…

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren't just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month.And February, as well the previous two…

Nine Los Angeles firefighters were injured, two critically, in an explosion early Thursday in Wilmington as they tried to extinguish a fire on a semi-truck with pressurized natural gas tanks, authorities said.Ten firefighters responded to a vehicle fire shortly before 7 a.m. at 1120 N. Alameda St. in Wilmington, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The truck, which did not have a trailer used to transport cargo, was fueled by compressed natural gas. It had two 100 gallon tanks mounted on either side of the…

A strong overnight earthquake rattled a mountainous region of northwestern China, authorities said Tuesday, destroying homes, leaving residents out in a below-freezing winter night and killing 127 people in the nation's deadliest quake in nine years.The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, injuring more than 700 people, damaging roads and knocking out power and communication lines in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, officials and Chinese media reports said.WATCH | Aftermath of the earthquake: See…

Every year, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) ranks the top 10 Canadian weather stories. Senior climatologist David Phillips compiles the list and this year, there was no doubt about what would take the number one position: the record-setting wildfires."There's no drum roll here," Phillips said. "The fires dominated everything.... In 28 years of putting together , it's never been a more obvious number one."Wildfire season got an early start due, in part, to the persistent drought conditions across B.C. and in…

EAGLE, Ida. —  The recent mayoral election in this sleepy, conservative town nestled in the foothills outside Boise didn’t hinge on which Republican candidate was a fiercer supporter of former President Trump, or who was a stronger opponent of abortion. The key issue? Who was the least Californian.Both staunchly conservative candidates were refugees from the Golden State. The incumbent had arrived in 2003 from Orange County with little more than the shirt on his back. His challenger, a retired Santa Clara County fire…

Researchers in New Brunswick are developing a new approach to tackling Canada's growing threat of wildfires: teaching artificial intelligence to find them faster.A team of engineers at the Université de Moncton is fine-tuning an algorithm that works with satellite and drone images to detect fires more accurately than humans. The technology also predicts where a blaze will spread, helping firefighters know where to send resources.Moulay Akhloufi, a computer science professor and head of the Perception, Robotics and…

Over 400 wildfires are raging across Canada this week and firefighting teams have been overwhelmed by the flames. Canadian officials have asked for foreign support, and several countries have offered to send supplies and people, including the United States. As of yesterday, the U.S. has deployed more than 600 firefighters and support personnel to help on the ground emergency response teams, according to the White House.Biggest Forest Fire in New Mexico HistoryOther countries have sent emergency response teams to Canada…

On Jan. 19, 2022, a man applied to be a volunteer firefighter in Crested Butte. On his application, he provided character references but wrote “n/a” under employment and “n/a” again when asked about his first responder experience. Crucially, he checked the “yes” box beside the question, “May we check your criminal history report?” “We do our due diligence to make sure that we catch this before we invite folks into the fire district,” said Veronica Jarolimek, volunteer coordinator at the Crested Butte Fire Protection…

One firefighter made off with a Los Angeles Fire Department cellphone last year and used it to solicit a prostitute while on duty. He then abandoned his dispatch post at the department’s downtown communications center, which handles 911 calls, drove to a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport and had sex with her before returning to work.A second city of L.A. firefighter drove with a blood-alcohol level nearly 2½ times the legal limit, resisted arrest and committed a battery on a law enforcement officer,…