POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KFVS) - Three people are about to enter a burning trailer, armed with nothing but a high-pressure water hose. Smoke hisses out from around a closed door, the boiling heat radiating off the metal walls hard enough to be felt 20 feet away. Even being near it makes most people nervous--but the man who organized the whole event is having the time of his life.

Jack Armor is a stocky, white-bearded man who looks like someone’s grandfather. He’s also a 30-year veteran of the Poplar Bluff fire department and currently works for Three Rivers College coordinating training events for firefighters across the state. For Armor, this training event, which pulls firefighters from across the area, doesn't even qualify as exciting anymore.

POPLAR BLUFF, MO (KFVS) -  The Poplar Bluff School Board voted to replace textbooks with laptops.

The decision was made during the March school board meeting.

“Our children won’t have to go to college feeling like they are less prepared than students from St. Louis and Kansas City,” Riffle said in a news release. “So often in this rural part of Missouri we find ourselves playing catch up with bigger cities, but this initiative puts us on the cusp of innovation in education.”

About 800 Junior High students will be issued a MacBook Air during the 2013/14 school year.

The following year, about 1,300 high-schoolers will receive a laptop as part of the one-to-one initiative.

The initiative is designed to even the playing field for students regardless of their socioeconomic background, according to school officials.

(KFVS) - The Missouri Department of Transportation will celebrate National Work Zone Awareness Week from April 15-19.

To celebrate this week, the Southeast District has planned interactive activities to emphasize the importance of work zone safety.

"In 2012, 8 people were killed in work zones, a decrease from 2011 when 11 people were killed," said District Engineer Mark Shelton. "We want to make sure this progress continues. Our goal is to educate the public, as well as our employees and contractors, to ensure everyone gets home safe at the end of each day."

During Work Zone Awareness Week, check MoDOT's Southeast District facebook and twitter pages to participate in daily safety trivia.

"Work Zone Awareness Week is not only a time to remind drivers of the importance of slowing down and paying attention in work zones," said Shelton. "It is also a great opportunity for MoDOT to receive feedback about our work zones."