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CNN —A fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey has grown to nearly 4,000 acres less than 24 hours after it started. It was just 500 acres at 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. About 170 structures in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been allowed to return home, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said during a news conference Wednesday. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection/APThe fire was primarily burning on federal, state and private property in Manchester Township, but it had jumped to the nearby borough of Lakehurst. The cause of the fire is under investigation, New Jersey Forest Fire Service Warden Trevor Raynor said.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - America's cybersecurity watchdog has no confidence that the cellular network used by American first responders and the military is secure against digital intrusions, U.S. The letter from the Oregon Democrat, a member of the intelligence committee, was addressed to the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). It concerns FirstNet, a dedicated mobile network for public safety officials such as emergency workers, firefighters and law enforcement. "These security flaws are also a national security issue, particularly if foreign governments can exploit these flaws to target U.S. government personnel," his letter said. Wyden called on FirstNet to share any security audits with the NSA and CISA or - alternatively - for the government to commission audits of its own.

☆ Florida's fight over Safe Haven 'baby boxes' are part of a larger culture war over abortion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Safe Haven Baby Boxes let distressed moms safely and anonymously surrender unwanted newborns instead of dumping them in trash cans or worse. About 145 Safe Haven baby boxes were installed throughout nine states since 2016, and similar bills were recently approved or signed in four other states. About 145 boxes have been installed since the first in 2016, with 25 newborns surrendered through one, Safe Haven Baby Boxes says. Safe Haven Baby Boxes says the average response time is two minutes. A Safe Haven trains fire departments and hospitals on how to implement the current law.

☆ South Korea city wildfire fanned by strong winds, evacuations begin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) - More than 150 people evacuated from their homes in South Korea's eastern coastal city of Gangneung as strong winds and dry weather fanned a wildfire on Tuesday, officials said. Firefighters were struggling to control the blaze that started at around 8:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) on Monday in Gangneung, officials said. The flames had prompted the evacuation of 152 residents in the city of more than 200,000 people as of noon local time, a Gangneung city official told Reuters. Photos and footage circulating on social media showed large plumes of smoke and fires razing forests and fields. Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Building collapses in Marseille, at least six injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Smoke envelopes the area as police officers work at the scene of a fire following a gas explosion in Marseille, France, April 9, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Naima Haoulia/via REUTERSPARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - French rescue services were searching for victims and trying to put out a fire after an explosion caused a residential building to collapse in the centre of Marseille in the early hours of Sunday, with six injured identified so far. "I would like us to prepare for a difficult situation - we could have victims today," Payan said, adding that five of the six injured are in hospital in a "relatively urgent" situation. Firefighters were continuing to tackle the blaze and 80 people have been evacuated, according to the rescue services. "The fire makes it harder to find the victims," Commander Laurent of the rescue services in Marseille told BFMTV.

☆ Ron DeSantis and the Florida GOP want to make it harder for public-sector unions to collect dues — with exceptions for police and firemen
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Florida senate passed a bill that would make it harder for public sector unions to collect dues and recertify. While it will impact Democratic-leaning teachers' unions, along with most other public-sector unions, Republican-supporting police and firefighters' unions will be exempt. By making it harder for public employees to pay their union dues, the law makes it harder for teachers' unions to reach the new 60% threshold and recertify. "The governor's staff apparently called around to see the membership of public unions, specifically teachers," Spar said. Of the 100 local teachers unions Spar represents, 70-75 of those locals would need to hold an election to recertify, he said.

☆ Israel reinforces troops after violence along Lebanon, Gaza borders
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM/GAZA, April 7 (Reuters) - Israel reinforced troops near its borders with Lebanon and Gaza on Friday following a flare-up in violence that threatened to spiral out of control after police raids this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. [1/4] Smoke and flames rise during Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, April 7, 2023. Before noon on Friday, however, Israel's military said residents near the Gaza frontier no longer needed to keep close to bomb shelters. "Who wants war? No one, but also we can’t stand these brutal assaults on worshippers in Al-Aqsa," he said.

☆ In South Africa, Insurers Fix Potholes, Sponsor Fire Brigades and Direct Traffic
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Alexandra Wexler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Firefighters in Johannesburg extinguish a fire. The city has a shortage of operational fire engines. JOHANNESBURG—Insurance companies in South Africa are fixing potholes, sponsoring fire brigades and directing traffic in an attempt to lower payouts and lure new clients as the country’s government increasingly struggles to provide vital public services. Corruption, mismanagement and the deepest recession on record amid the coronavirus pandemic have eroded the finances of South Africa’s municipalities and state-owned companies that are responsible for repairing infrastructure and providing essential services. With their unusual activities, South African insurers are joining other private companies in taking over public services, such as security, healthcare, education and mail delivery, in a country that the World Bank ranks as the most unequal on earth.

☆ Firefighters, army work to douse massive fire in Bangladesh market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Ruma Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Firefighters try to douse a fire that broke out in a clothing market in Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainDHAKA, April 4 (Reuters) - Firefighters and army personnel were working on Tuesday to douse a massive fire that raged through a shopping complex with 3,000 shops in Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, fire officials said. Fire service official Rashid Bin Khalid told Reuters 50 fire units were working to douse the fire, the cause of which was not known immediately. Smoke engulfed the area and flames were seen rising from the complex, hampering rescue efforts, a fire official said. Reporting by Ruma Paul; Writing by by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Krishna N. Das and Lincoln Feast.

☆ Forest fire in central Seoul forces evacuation of 120 homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, April 2 (Reuters) - A forest fire raged in central Seoul on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of at least 120 homes in the densely populated capital, authorities said. The fire, which started on a mountain in the middle of Seoul at around 11:53 a.m. (0253 GMT), razed forests the size of some 30 soccer fields before it was nearly extinguished as of 5 p.m. (0800 GMT), according to officials. Smoke billowing from forests was seen across the city as firefighters battled to put out the fire with water-bombing aircraft. Multiple helicopters were seen flying over the Han River in an apparent effort to supply water to extinguish the fire, a Reuters witness said. Reporting by Hyun Young Yi and Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain's Asturias ravaged by fires as authorities blame 'terrorist' arsonists
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Vincent West | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dozens of fires have already been put off by emergency services in Asturias and the neighboring region of Cantabria over the past two days. [1/6] Firefighters use a controlled burn to tackle a wildfire in Setienes, Asturias, Spain, March 31, 2023. In the past, intentional fires have often been linked to pastoralists seeking to gain more grazing land for their cattle. The densely-forested mountainous region is one of Spain's rainiest areas, though fires are common in March, according to the regional government. A combination of scarce rainfall, high temperatures and winds has placed most of northern Spain at a high wildfire risk.

☆ Fact Check-Video of French police clashing with firefighters is from 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Footage of a face-off between French police and firefighters during a protest in 2020 has been falsely linked online to demonstrations in 2023 against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age. “An astonishing video of French firefighters taking on police in Paris four days ago,” wrote one user sharing the video on Facebook on March 28 (here). But the video was originally shared by French news agency Hors-Zone Press in January 2020 (here). According to a Reuters report, the 2020 clash broke out while French firefighters were demonstrating over their working conditions and demanding more pay (here). The video shows a clash between French police and firefighters during a demonstration in 2020.

☆ Wildfires ravage Spain's Asturias as temperatures hit record highs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, March 30 (Reuters) - More than 100 wildfires broke out in Spain's northern Asturias region on Thursday, most of them started on purpose by arsonists and others, authorities said, as temperatures soared to record highs. Flames raged near a road as cars drove by in Asturias, a lush region with rainy oceanic climate, local TV footage showed. Spain registered its hottest March 29 on record on Wednesday, with temperatures exceeding normal levels by seven to 14 Celsius (44.6-57.2 Fahrenheit), the meteorological agency AEMET said. The Canary Islands registered temperatures more common for the summer, with 37.8C in Tasarte, Gran Canaria. Other regions in the Basque Country and some parts of central Spain also recorded record temperatures for the time of year.

☆ Spain tells 'fire tourists' to stay away from forest blaze
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Guillermo Martinez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A plane throws water over a wildfire in Pina de Montalgrao, Castellon, following a wildfire raged in eastern Spain, March 26, 2023. REUTERS/Lorena SopenaBARRACAS, Spain, March 26 (Reuters) - Officials urged 'fire tourists' to keep away from blazes raging in eastern Spain on Sunday, saying onlookers were putting themselves at risk and disrupting efforts to quell the flames. Police had spotted 14 cyclists near the scene trying to get a closer look, Gabriela Bravo, the regional head of interior affairs in the Valencia region, told reporters. "We ask once again and above all tourists not to engage in fire tourism, not to approach the perimeter area," she said. In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System.

☆ Palestinians accuse settlers of arson, Israel says electrical fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Ali Sawafta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Firefighters work at a Palestinian house which Palestinians say was attacked by Israeli settlers near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 26, 2023. A Sinjel resident who requested anonymity told Reuters he saw cars whose occupants he recognised as Jewish settlers nearby minutes before the incident. Most countries deem the settlements, which take up land Palestinians seek for a state, illegal. That sparked a revenge rampage by settlers in which a Palestinian was killed and properties torched. In overnight West Bank raids, Israeli forces arrested three suspected militants, the army said on Sunday.

☆ Spain firefighters working to control blaze that has destroyed 4,000 hectares
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VILLANUEVA DE VIVER, Spain, March 25 (Reuters) - Firefighters said on Saturday they had stopped Spain's first major wildfire of the year from spreading further through the eastern Valencia region, where it destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres) of forest and forced 1,500 residents to abandon their homes. In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System. More than 500 firefighters supported by 20 planes and helicopters were working to bring the blaze under control near the village of Villanueva de Viver, in the Valencia region, emergency services said on Saturday. [1/2] A wildfire burns parts of rural areas in Monte Pino, Spain, March 24, 2023. "On Saturday morning, airplanes will try to stop the fire spreading to other communities," Bravo told a news conference on Friday night.

[1/7] A view shows a forest parcel from which trees burned by the last summer's wildfires have been removed, in Landiras, in the Gironde region, France, March 20, 2023. Columns of white, acrid smoke rise from a forest floor outside the town of Hostens in the Gironde region, south of Bordeaux. The Gironde region was particularly badly hit with 20,000 hectares of forest destroyed, and the risk of renewed fires is a great concern. When it comes to wildfires risk, she said that prevention was crucial, as well as swift intervention when a fire first starts, which is easier to do from above. The interior ministry said measures for fighting forest fires across France will be presented in the coming weeks.

☆ Thousands evacuated as fire hits warehouse in crowded Hong Kong district
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Jessie Pang | Thomson Reuters | Jessie Pang Joined Reuters In After An Internship. She Covers Hong Kong With A Focus On Politics | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A firefighter walks next to a blaze at a warehouse in the city's bustling Kowloon district, in Hong Kong, China March 24, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, March 24 (Reuters) - About 3,600 people were evacuated from buildings in Hong Kong's crowded Kowloon district on Friday as firefighters battled a blaze in a warehouse. The warehouse is owned by China Resources Group (1109.HK) but it was not clear what was being stored there. The state-owned company, which runs businesses from healthcare to consumer products such as beer, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Police told Reuters that about 3600 people from nearby residential schools and buildings needed to be evacuated.

☆ First major fire of year destroys 3,000 hectares in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

VILLANUEVA DE VIVER, Spain, March 24 (Reuters) - Spain's first major wildfire of the year raged in the eastern Valencia region on Friday, destroying more than 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of forest and forcing 1,500 residents to abandon their homes, authorities said. In Spain, 493 fires destroyed a record 307,000 hectares of land last year, according to the Commission's European Forest Fire Information System. Spain is experiencing a long-term drought after three years of below-average rainfall. A European Commission report this month observed a lack of rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures during the winter, raising drought warnings for southern Spain, France, Ireland, Britain, northern Italy, Greece and parts of eastern Europe. The Commission report warned that low levels of water could affect strategic sectors including agriculture, hydropower and energy production.

☆ Bill Gates says 'we need a fire department for pandemics' as he worries we're unprepared for the next one
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates wrote a New York Times op-ed Sunday warning about future pandemics. He supported the WHO's global health emergency corps, calling it a "fire department for pandemics." "We can't afford to get caught flat-footed again," Gates wrote. But he added he was "optimistic" about the global health emergency corps – a network of health leaders around the world designed to promote collaboration between different countries. "The Global Health Emergency Corps will represent massive progress toward a pandemic-free future," Gates wrote in the Times.

☆ Canadian investigators seek seven missing after fire at Montreal building
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] Firefighters watch as investigators inspect a three-storey heritage building in Old Montreal where a fire broke out last week leaving seven people unaccounted for, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 19, 2023. REUTERS/Christinne MuschiMONTREAL, March 19 (Reuters) - Police and fire officials in Canada said they were preparing on Sunday to search the rubble of a Montreal heritage building for seven missing people believed trapped after flames engulfed the site last week. Flowers were left across a courtyard from the beige stone building in the historic Old Montreal district as workers took steps to secure the three-storey structure which remained inaccessible to firefighters and police on Sunday morning. Montreal Police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said investigators had reason to believe there were victims inside. Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Man charged with dangerous driving after 'premeditated' killing of two in Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Firefighters stand near the site where a man ran down a group of pedestrians with a van in the in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Amqui, Quebec, Canada on March 13, 2023. Prosecutors told reporters that more charges would be filed as police completed their investigations but said it was too early to talk about possible murder charges. Police spokesperson Claude Doiron told reporters Gagnon was cooperating in the investigation. Quebec prosecutor Simon Blanchette told reporters it was too early to speak about a motive. "We see these types of events are happening more and more around the world, it's not unique to us," Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters.

☆ A tiny-home village with $1,000-a-month rents will allow teachers and firefighters to afford to live in the community they serve
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A lack of homes in Dover, New Hampshire has pushed prices up and made housing unaffordable for many. They are building 44 tiny homes that will cost between $1,000 and $1,200 a month to rent. They shouldn't have to live an hour away and then come serve you every day and then drive home." "A lot of affordable-housing projects are killed because of overhead costs," Maggie Randolph told the Concord Monitor. In Colorado, for example, ski towns like Breckenridge — where the ultrawealthy flocked to amid the pandemic — have gotten so expensive that the government is building housing that its snowplow workers can actually afford.

☆ Republicans are preparing to let some bills go unpaid as the debt ceiling crisis looms. Janet Yellen says their plan is just 'default by another name.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Another debt ceiling crisis is looming, and Republicans and Democrats aren't negotiating. "Prioritization is simply not paying all of the government's bills when they come due. This isn't the first time Yellen has slammed GOP plans to address the debt ceiling. "What's critical is that we maintain our commitment to pay the government's bills — all the government's bills — when they come due," Yellen said on Friday. The clock is ticking for Congress to raise the debt ceiling, with the US expected to run out of measures to keep the government funded as soon as July.

☆ Federal safety regulator probing fatal Tesla crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The agency is investigating the crash of a 2014 model year Tesla involving a fire truck in Contra Costa County, California. The fire department said a Tesla struck one of its fire trucks and the Tesla driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Since 2016, NHTSA has opened more than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations where driver assistance systems were suspected of being used, with 20 crash deaths reported. In this photo released by Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in California, firefighters work the scene of a fatal accident involving a Tesla and a Contra Costa County fire truck on February 18. NHTSA is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.

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