VIDEO: Advanced technology played a key role in helping firefighters locate teens who were reported missing during the weekend. Firefighters say Saturday, a couple teenage boys, 17 and 15, got lost riding a side-by-side in a remote area off Gwinn Road in Glenwood near the Cabell-Mason County line, and high water flooded their-side-by-side. They were reported missing a little after 7:30 p.m.

Valley Fire & Rescue out of Apple Grove was among departments that responded. JT Tilton they got new, advanced drone technology last August through a grant. “It allows us to search wider and larger area much faster,” he said. Shortly after 10 p.m., a drone’s thermal imaging allowed Tilton to spot the teens by identifying their heat signature.

Tilton said they used GPS coordinates to guide ground crews from the Milton Volunteer Fire Department to the teens. Valley also provided live drone video feeds to Milton crews. Tilton said the search would’ve been incredibly more difficult without the drones. “In this case, the drones were an invaluable resource,” he said.

WSAZ-TV NBC 3 Huntington

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VIDEO: As firefighters across Oklahoma battle intense wildfires this week, the Elgin Fire Department received a major boost courtesy of an unexpected benefactor: Major League Baseball player Walker Buehler. The Buehler Family Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting first responders, donated pallets of bottled water and Gatorade to the fire department, providing crucial supplies to sustain crews throughout the wildfire season.

“He reached out in a big way and provided enough fluids to get them through fire season for sure,” said Ward 3 City Councilmember Phil Britcher, who initially posted a community request for assistance. The donation came about through a chance connection. Elgin resident Joe Kepler texted Buehler, a pitcher who has championed first responder causes through his foundation, asking if he could help local fire departments.

“He immediately responded and said absolutely just tell me where I need to get the stuff to and we’ll work it out,” Kepler said. The generosity reflects a broader community commitment to supporting the fire department, according to Britcher, who has watched residents and local organizations rally behind first responders for years.

KSWO-TV ABC 7 Lawton

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PHOTOS: Three people were displaced from their Vancouver home by a fire on Sunday afternoon, according to firefighters. Just after 4 p.m., crews with the Vancouver Fire Department were sent to a house near Northeast Work Avenue and Northeast 45th Street after a fire was reported. Firefighters found a single-story house with fire and smoke rising from the back. According to VPD, all three people who live at the house were able to get out safely, along with their pet. The fire marshal is investigating how the fire started.

KPTV FOX 12 Portland

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A vehicle crashing into a South Seattle townhouse early Sunday morning sparked a fire, according to authorities. Seattle police said officers responded around 5:45 a.m. to a reported hit-and-run in the 1700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. They said a southbound driver failed to turn right onto South Massachusetts Street, drove through a front yard and struck the corner of the home. The people inside the vehicle left the scene in another car.

No one inside the residence was hurt. While officers waited for a tow truck to remove the crashed vehicle, a fire broke out in the home’s laundry room, but everyone escaped safely. The Seattle Fire Department shut off the natural gas and extinguished the flames, later determining the crash damaged a gas line inside an exterior wall.

KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

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A collision that resulted in a vehicle fire has blocked the intersection of West 36th Avenue and South Ely Street, according to the Kennewick Police Department (KPD). Officials reported that first responders will continue working on the scene, causing intermittent closures of the northbound and southbound lanes of South Ely Street as the Kennewick Fire Department changes fire hydrants.

KNDO-TV NBC 23 Yakima

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