VIDEO: The San Bernardino County Fire Department tested new technology on Monday designed to help suppress fires by using sound waves. The live demonstration, which was conducted with Sonic Fire Tech, showcased the cutting-edge system that was developed by former NASA acoustics engineers.

“This technology works without water or chemicals, creating a protective zone that can stop ignition in milliseconds while avoiding the collateral damage often seen with traditional suppression methods,” a news release from SBCoFD said. “From autonomous early detection to rapid suppression, tools like these have the potential to reduce fire damage before it starts, especially in wildfire-prone areas.”

Remington Hotchkis, the Chief Commercialization Officer for Sonic Fire Tech, said that all fires need oxygen to burn, and that their technology breaks it up instead of completely removing it, which could end up being dangerous.

“We vibrate the oxygen at a rate where fire can’t consume it, and it breaks the chemical reaction,” Hotchkis said. “We use infrasound, which are sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear.” Firefighters said that the technology can also be applied inside homes and businesses and could help stop fires like kitchen or appliance fires in their earliest stages.

CBS News Los Angeles

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PHOTOS: Five homes were destroyed, and multiple people were displaced after a massive fire broke out in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

Allegheny County dispatchers first confirmed to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that officials were on the scene within the 4500 block of Penn Avenue following reports of a fire just before 4 p.m. The fire appeared to have broken out inside a home near Children’s Hospital.

Photos and videos from the scene showed large amounts of smoke and heavy flames. The assistant fire chief on scene said the fire was a 3-alarm and damaged at least five row houses connected to one another. It appeared construction was being done on at least one of the homes.

“You’ll notice the primary fire building, and you’ll notice the other buildings directly adjacent,” Assistant Fire Chief for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, Brian Kokkila, said. “They’re touching, they’re physically touching. The wind and the rapid-fire development led to the expansion to five total buildings.”

WTAE-TV ABC 4 Pittsburgh

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VIDEO: With the fires in western Nebraska over the past few weeks, much attention has been placed on the role of firefighters — both paid and volunteer. But a bill to change how they obtain compensation for job-related cancers stalled in the state’s Unicameral on Monday.

“Those fires are a vivid, painful reminder of what we are actually talking about when we debate this legislation,” said Fremont Sen. Dave Wordekemper, who introduced the legislation. “The men and women who answer the call, no matter the scope of the emergency.”

Nebraska’s 49 state senators spent three hours Monday morning debating LB 400, which would have changed the burden of proof for workers’ compensation when a firefighter gets cancer — presuming any cancer they’re diagnosed with is work-related until proven otherwise.

It wouldn’t have changed any eligibility for those firefighters, but would have moved the burden of proof to the employer. “Right now, a firefighter notifies their employer that they have cancer and has to prove it on their own, while sick, while fighting for their life, that the cancer came from the job,” Wordekemper said. “Right now, the deck is stacked against them.”

KOLN-TV CBS 10/KGIN-TV CBS 11 Lincoln-Grand Island

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South Kitsap Fire and Rescue (SKFR) says one person died in a house fire in Port Orchard late Sunday night. Crews responded to the home off of Glenwood Road Southwest and found heavy fire and smoke coming out of every opening of the structure. They learned one person was unaccounted for as they arrived.

Firefighters went in to search the home but due to quickly spreading fire and deteriorating conditions, they were forced to leave, SKFR posted. Officials say there were no fire hydrants in the area and the fire took 90 minutes to extinguish with water tenders arriving at the scene. SKFR says one person died in the fire. The Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

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VIDEO/PHOTOS: The public was asked to avoid the area near Sullivan Road and 16th Avenue after a crash involving a school bus and a car on Monday morning at around 8:43 a.m. No major injuries were reported, according to the Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD). All passengers on the bus and in the car were examined by SVFD. The school bus was carrying students from Central Valley School District.

Washington State Patrol was at the scene and will be handling the incident, according to SVFD and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The driver of the bus was evaluated on scene and the driver of the other car was not hurt. The Spokane Valley Police Department gave an update on a crash involving a school bus Monday, saying no students were hurt in the crash.

KHQ-TV NBC 6 Spokane

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