A barking dog alerted a family to a fire in their home on Monday morning. South County Fire (SCF) says they responded to the fire just after 4:45 am Monday near Esperance Park in Edmonds. When firefighters arrived, they found a fire in the front garage area of the house. They say three adults and three dogs safely escaped by the time firefighters arrived.

SCF says they put the fire out in about 10 minutes, and it was contained to one section of the home. However, smoke damage affected the whole home. The family is being helped by the American Red Cross Northwest Region. The cause of the fire is under investigation

KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

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PHOTO: A large explosion after a reported gas leak leveled a Dallas apartment building and prompted a massive response from Dallas Fire-Rescue on Thursday afternoon.

At least three people were killed and at least five people were injured, officials confirmed.

The address, 409 E 9th St., corresponds to the El Ricardo apartment building. It is located just east of the Bishop Arts neighborhood, north of the Dallas Zoo and south of downtown.

Aerial images showed a severely damaged building with flames and thick black smoke pouring from the wreckage.

Fire crews had contained the flames by 4 p.m., DFR said, except hot spot flare-ups occurring as fire personnel continued combing through debris from the collapsed two-story structure.

During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Dallas Fire-Rescue Assistant Fire Chief James Russ confirmed that at about 12:47 p.m., crews responded to a gas leak call at the apartment complex. And shortly after, the explosion happened.

By 2:30 p.m., 71 units were on scene for the 5-alarm incident. There were 120 firefighters who responded to the scene.

CBS Texas

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Okanogan County Emergency Management issued a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation for the area near Paradice Hill Road, Upper Ridge Road and Riverview Heights Road in Brewster. Okanogan County Emergency Management said that a fast-moving fire was heading northeast and told people in that area to leave right away and move away from the fire.

A Level 1 advisory also remained in place for the Brewster area because officials said that several fires were burning there. They also told people to stay aware of conditions and act immediately if needed. Emergency crews also asked people to watch for responding vehicles in the area. Level 3 means go. Leave now. You are in immediate danger. Even if you don’t see the danger, follow your plans and leave. Delay could cost lives. If you stay, you may not be rescued.

KNDO-TV NBC 23 Yakima

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Firefighters helped two young boys out of a steep ravine near Seattle’s Carkeek Park last week, according to the Seattle Fire Department. SFD’s Fire Alarm Center received the call at around 7:20 p.m. on Monday, May 18. SFD reports that the two boys, who are approximately 10 years old, climbed down into a ravine along NW 120th Street. They then got stuck and couldn’t climb back out because of the steep terrain.

Firefighters made their way down the ravine and confirmed that the boys weren’t injured, but that a rope rescue was needed to safely pull them out. After creating a “low-angle rope system” and securing each boy with a harness, the boys walked up and out of the ravine on a rope belay.

The boys were checked out by medics and then released to their parents. Three Seattle police officers had also gone down the ravine to help the boys before firefighters arrived, and they also used the rope system to climb out on their own, SFD says

KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

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VIDEOS/PHOTOS: With peak wildfire season approaching, scientists with NASA’s FireSense project have created low-cost thermal sensors to install on fire bulldozers that will alert firefighters when heat from a nearby fire reaches a dangerous level.

The sensors also provide researchers with important data on what happens beneath the canopy during a fire.

In April, researchers and firefighters gathered in southern Alabama to discuss challenges and advances in firefighting, and to demonstrate the new technology.

The event was part of a collaboration between NASA and the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC). The goal: to make firefighting safer and gather critical data on fire behavior.

“As we try to develop technologies that allow us to understand and respond to wildfires with our partners, ground observations are vital to provide context for what we are seeing from space,” said Ian Brosnan, program manager for wildland fires at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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