Three people have been taken to the hospital after a Watauga nursing home caught fire Friday morning. Officials said the 2-alarm fire started just after 6 a.m. at Northpoint Nursing and Rehab off Virgil Anthony Boulevard. The Watauga Fire Department along with multiple Tarrant County agencies have since put out the flames. At last check, there are currently 38 noncritical patients and three people have been transported to receive treatment. No deaths were reported but several officers have been treated for smoke inhalation. An official with the nursing home said one hallway sustained water damage from the sprinkler systems and residents who lived on the hallway will be temporarily relocated within the facility. They said repairs have already begun and should be completed within 10 days.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The View Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) is settling into its new digs, after years in the making for a new station. Now, crews are sharing their excitement for the new and improved workspace. "We can put five of our old facility inside of this one," said Lieutenant Brad Butler. The VFD had been operating out of an old warehouse, where they added on additional space for more trucks since 1979. "We had no kitchen, no bunk rooms, we had one little bitty bathroom, no showers, no kitchen, no training room," Lt. Butler listed. "The training room was when you pulled the trucks out. That was training." After years of planning, saving and community help, View VFD finally has its fully equipped, spacious dream home. "When we backed the trucks in for the first night, it was – I just stood there in amazement," recalled View VFD Assistant Fire Chief Richard Bilbrey.  

Longview firefighters are hoping an agenda item at a city council meeting will meet needed approval. Crews with the Longview Fire Department are looking forward to a much needed live training field with specialized wildland training. An area off of Eastman Road and Van street could become a vital location in the future. "Is important to get our hands-on training, get our new guys out here, our veterans, to get training on all the different aspects of our job," said Longview Fire Department Training Section Chief Andy Parker. In agreement with the Texas A&M Forest Service, the live training field site will offer standard and unique and critical training. It's important for firefighters because now it's all going to be in one location. In years past, training was split between the tanker training field and the Stamper park burn-house facility.  

The Amarillo Fire Marshal's Office warned about space heater dangers after a space heater was blamed for an apartment fire. Only ABC 7 was there when an apartment at 2727 Virginia Circle caught fire around 9:15 a.m. Thursday. Firefighters kept the flames contained to one unit. The Red Cross is helping the person who lived there. Investigators determined the fire was caused by a space heater place too close to combustibles. "Thankfully, there were no injuries and the Amarillo Fire Department was able to prevent the fire from spreading to other units," said the Amarillo Fire Marshal's Office. If you are going to use a space heater, the fire marshal says remember to: leave 3-feet of space around it, plug it directly into the outlet, and never leave it on unattended.  

First responders with the Round Rock Fire Department got to help one family with one of the most important moments of their life. They helped deliver a baby boy on Monday. The City of Round Rock posted on Facebook, saying a public safety team responded to a call about a woman going into labor. After a quick assessment and equipment setup, the mom gave birth to a healthy boy within 10 minutes of when the crew arrived. The City said the father got home just in time to be there for the birth and cut the umbilical cord. "Our fire crews don't just fight fires; they're here for your family day-in and day-out. No matter the call. Thank you to the amazing men and women who helped this family meet their newborn," the City wrote. The first responders on Thursday got to meet up with the family and newborn after they returned home.  

Dalhart first responders have partnered together to raise funds for their new emergency response building. The new emergency response building will allow much needed space for all the Dalhart fire, AMR, and police staff. "We're busting out the seams, there's not much room for storage. My trucks here in the bays we barely get them in here. Its a tight fit back there," said Dalhart Fire Department Chief Mario Garcia. Currently the three entities are in separate buildings, some of which are much older and cost more to keep up-to-date. The new building has already been purchased through COVID-19 funds, but the first responders are needing an additional $3 million through donations to finish the build. Chief Garcia says if they can raise funds through donations, it will put less stress on the residents of Dalhart.  

Multiple patients are being treated at University of Iowa Health Hospitals & Clinics for injuries following an explosion and fire at a Marengo plant, about 80 miles east of Des Moines. The Iowa State Patrol tells KCCI that the explosion happened around 11:20 a.m. on Thursday. Many agencies responded within a 30-50 mile radius. The first priority was to account for the people inside the plant, several of which sustained injuries. A few injuries are burn-related. The state patrol tells KCCI that preliminary findings indicate that approximately 30 people were in the plant. All of those people have been accounted for. UI Hospitals & Clinics said that they are treating 10-15 patients who were at the explosion. They cannot comment on specific conditions, but say the majority are in the minor to moderate category.  

The Ohio Senate voted down legislation Wednesday that would lengthen the minimum required prison sentence of anyone convicted of killing a firefighter or EMS worker while driving, setting up a possible negotiation session to hammer out differences in the bill with the Ohio House. The decision comes weeks after a Cleveland firefighter was killed in a recent hit-and-run by an allegedly drunk driver. Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican, said mandatory minimums pave a road to "injustice" by removing discretion from judges who are familiar with the given facts of a case. "I don't like mandatory sentencing provisions because not every case, factually, is the same," he said. "That's why we have judges, to make decisions."  

In the early morning hours of Dec. 8, 1922, fire tore through Oregon's oldest city. Astoria's fire likely began near 11th Street and quickly spread through the downtown business district. Despite a drizzle of rain and light snow, the blaze jumped from building to building. Within an hour of the first alarm, an entire block turned to ash. Newspapers described it as an "inferno." "The heat was terrible," the Oregon Journal reported. "In the path of the on-coming flames people ran through the streets carrying children and what few goods they could gather." The Journal detailed how former Astoria police officer Chris Carlson managed to salvage a few valuables before watching his house burn. "It was just like daylight, wherever you went even though the electric lights went out," he said. The fire raged for over 11 hours, burning nearly every building in the business district.  

U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal announced that his bipartisan bill to improve disability and retirement benefits for federal firefighters is included in the final version of this year's defense policy bill. He said that puts the benefits bill on the path to becoming law by the end of this month. The Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, which had already passed the House earlier this year on its own and is part of the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, ensures federal firefighters receive the same access to job-related disability and retirement benefits as state, county and municipal firefighters. The House was scheduled to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act later on Wednesday. That vote had not yet taken place when the News-Press went to press. Democrats, who control the majority in the House until the start of the new term, expect to pass the defense bill and send it to the Senate.  

VIDEO: The City of Montgomery has purchased seven new firetrucks for Montgomery Fire/Rescue, marking a historic moment. It's the largest investment in the department's 125-year history. Mayor Steven Reed and Fire Chief Miford Jordan made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in front of the fire department's headquarters, saying it's part of the city's Montgomery Forward Initiative. "With this unit, we'll improve the service for our city, all through our city from east to west, north and south," said Chief Jordan. The fire engines come with new features that will help reduce response times on fire and medical calls, including advanced life support. The fire chief believes the new fleet, with a value of more than $5 million, is long overdue.