Eleven years ago this month, a fire ripped through a part of Universal Studios Hollywood. At the time, the company said that the blaze had destroyed the theme park’s “King Kong” attraction and a video vault that contained only copies of old works. But, according to an article published on Tuesday by The New York Times Magazine, the fire also tore through an archive housing treasured audio recordings, amounting to what the piece described as “the biggest disaster in the history of the music business.
- PUB DATE: 6/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The New York Times - Metered Site

First responders never know what they’ll encounter when the call comes in – and so they practice. They participate in training drills on a regular basis. Firefighters, paramedics, troopers and police officers are all a big family– one that has each other’s backs in the face of any emergency. Ralph Munroe works on Ladder 3 out of the Stevens Avenue station – and the notion of family hits pretty close to home for him.
- PUB DATE: 6/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCSH-TV NBC 44 Portland

Two people are in the hospital after a massive fire destroyed a $2 million mansion in The Woodlands on Palmer Woods. About 15 units from the Woodlands Fire Department were on scene trying to get the flames under control. The conditions were bad upon arrival so the firefighters went into defensive mode, but officials say it will be a total loss.
- PUB DATE: 6/14/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTRK-TV ABC 13 Houston

Houston City Council on Wednesday formally reversed the 220 firefighter layoffs and hundreds of demotions it approved earlier this year, making official Mayor Sylvester Turner’s pledge not to lay off or demote any firefighters in the aftermath of a judge’s ruling that Proposition B is unconstitutional.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

The police chief of Alaska’s largest city hurried out of the department’s glass building after the ground began to shake. Phone lines jammed and even police radios were spotty after a major earthquake, but his cellphone was recently equipped with a national wireless network dedicated to first responders.
- PUB DATE: 6/13/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AP News