VIDEO: Twelve firefighters were injured in a fire and explosion in the Toy District of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday evening. As of Sunday afternoon, three have been discharged and eight remain hospitalized. The incident began with a fire that was first reported around 6:26 p.m. on Saturday. As firefighters were responding to the blaze inside the building at 327 East Boyd Street, the site of a butane honey oil supplier called Smoke Tokes, there was a “significant explosion,” said LAFD Captain Erik Scott.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCAL-TV CBS 9 Los Angeles

Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s major crimes division were working with the city Fire Department’s arson investigators to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the building Saturday night and scorched a fire truck across the street, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTLA-TV 5 CW Los Angeles

Sunday is the beginning of National EMS Week when the U.S. recognizes those who serve in emergency medical services. According to the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), National EMS Week was started in 1974 by then-President Gerald Ford. This year in particular, the week is a good opportunity to honor the service that EMTs and paramedics provide to society in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, "one of the most daunting and demanding challenges our country has ever faced," a proclamation signed by President Trump on Friday said.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fox Business

A Virginia 911 center is combining remote solutions with FirstNet connectivity as part of a multi-pronged strategy to ensure operational continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic today and to evaluate new technological options for the center in the future. Doug Campbell, deputy director of the Department of Emergency & Customer Communications (DECC) for the city of Alexandria, Va.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IWCE’s Urgent Communications

Early in the novel coronavirus pandemic, Nick Fugate figured he would probably get infected sooner or later. As a paramedic with King County Medic One, he and his colleagues were transporting gravely ill patients every day, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and urgency. Even now that hospitalizations have declined, Fugate puts his odds at 50-50.
- PUB DATE: 5/18/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Seattle Times