A father and his 2-year-old were safe after the toddler was tossed to safety from a second-story window during an apartment fire in New Jersey on Monday, authorities said. The rescue, which was was captured on video from different angles, involved officials from the South Brunswick Township Police Department and Chief Chris Perez of the Monmouth Junction Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

Though the Alexandria Fire Department doesn’t have any female firefighters, the city’s Board of Works and Safety on Monday voted unanimously in favor of a contract that would double the number of weeks for paid maternity leave from four to eight. Capt. Adam Matson said the newly approved contract also provides three days of paternity leave.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Herald Bulletin

VIDEO: A firefighter drill in Georgia turned into a surprise marriage proposal. Two Savannah fire stations partnered for a training session Wednesday, but unbeknownst to one firefighter, that wasn't the real purpose of the day. In fact, there wasn't going to be a drill at all. Tyler Carlson was blindfolded and sent into a burn building to find a downed firefighter.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMUR-TV ABC 9 Manchester

In 2010, an East Tennessee firefighter by the name of Michael Robinson saw first-hand how hot a burning building can be when he almost watched his partner die from overheating. “We didn’t have anything to help us cool off. We had some lukewarm bottles of water, a cold towel around his neck and it could have turned out a lot different but we saved him,” said Robinson.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WVLT-TV CBS 8 Knoxville

Two years after COVID-19 first forced widespread closures in the U.S., Americans are more optimistic about the trajectory of the pandemic than they have been since last June before the delta and omicron variants of the virus swept through the country. As COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths continue to decline, Americans' concern about contracting the disease has dropped precipitously.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Gallup