VIDEOS: Two people are dead after a large explosion at a warehouse in Houston early Friday damaged buildings, scattered debris and sent a loud boom across the city, the city's police chief confirmed. The explosion happened about 4:30 a.m. inside a building at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, which makes valves and provides thermal-spray coatings for equipment in various industries, authorities said. The building was reduced to burning rubble and debris, and some of the surrounding buildings suffered heavy damage to parts of their walls and roofs. Authorities don't believe the explosion was intentional though a criminal investigation is underway, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo. Acevedo asked residents who live nearby to search their homes and neighborhoods for any debris -- including body parts -- and to contact police if they find anything that could aid in the investigation.  

A Fort Worth firefighter is still dealing with pain weeks after being hit on the highway while responding to a separate crash. In the middle of her recovery, Shonna Moorman reached out to FOX 4 after seeing our report on the Slow Down or Move Over reminder. Moorman's latest challenge involves a wheelchair and coping with what happened Dec. 31 on Highway 114 that landed her in a hospital for at least a week. "As soon as I heard the brakes lock up, I just knew to run because I knew there were two vehicles behind me," Moorman recalled. "And it wasn't until I started to come around the engine that I saw it over my shoulder." Moorman says a FOX 4 story earlier this week encouraged her to speak publicly. She says she's grateful for the story that highlighted the Cedar Hill Police Department's campaign reminding drivers it is the law to slow down or move over for the safety of first responders.  

Just days after news broke of a San Antonio communications company's link to a federal bribery investigation, the chiefs of every Bexar County Emergency Services district are urging the commissioners court to pass over acquiring the company's fire radios. Dailey and Wells Communications has a $108 million deal with the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and CPS Energy to replace a public safety radio system. The company was also linked to a bribery investigation in which the former San Angelo police chief was charged on Friday. The former chief was accused of funneling $130,000 to himself through checks made out to his band, "Funky Munky." His band was provided the money in exchange for him pushing city officials to twice award its public-safety radio system to a company named in the indictment as "Vendor 1," according to the Department of Justice.  

Texas A&M Forest Service will receive a $4,388,092.62 federal grant to aid with the cost of responding to the McDannald Fire in Jeff Davis County in May 2018, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced today. The funding comes from the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) through the Robert T. Stafford Act, which grants authority for the federal government to assist in local disaster aid efforts. "Texas A&M Forest Service has been on the front lines of keeping Texans -- like the residents of Jeff Davis County -- safe, and they deserve every resource possible at their disposable," said Sen. Cornyn. "I commend the Trump Administration and leaders at the Texas A&M Forest Service who worked to secure this funding."  

Firefighters at several North Texas fire departments are joining forces to help earthquake victims in Puerto Rico. A former Rangers pitcher has family in Puerto Rico. When talking about the situation there with a firefighter, they launched a plan with multiple departments to gather supplies. The Pantego Fire Department services a town of just over 2,000 people. But now, it's organizing help for tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans devastated by hundreds of earthquakes. The most powerful one was a 6.4 quake that struck on Jan 7. "We help people in their time of need," said Pantego Fire Chief Randy Fulton. "They'll know how generous Texans are. Not just first responders, but all Texans." Jose Guzman is a former Rangers pitcher who lives in North Texas but was born in Puerto Rico. He still has family living there.  

An otherwise normal school day for Elijah Ortega quickly turned into a day he and his classmates won't soon forget. "It was a big surprise when I saw my family," Ortega said. "I got inside here, drove off and waved to the fourth grade." His mom, Marina Ortega says it all started after a day of school when her son told his classmates his dad was a firefighter. "I asked him, ‘What's wrong?' He was like, ‘Well I'm really proud of my daddy, and I was telling my friend that he was part of the fire department and they didn't believe me,'" she said. But for Elijah, getting teased by schoolmates isn't new. "He was still kind of small for his age, so he got teased for being small," she said. Just kids being kids. His dad, the captain of the Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department, went to the chief and rest of the crew to ask for a favor.  

VIDEOS: Broken windows, busted garage doors, and plumes of smoke could be seen from a northwest Houston neighborhood rattled by a large building explosion. According to area residents, the explosion happened around 4:20 a.m. Friday at Watson Valve Services, which is about half a mile away from their homes on Rockcrest road and Stanford Court. Nearly every house in the area had extensive damage, including blown-out windows, damaged garage doors and more. "(The explosion) knocked us all out of our bed, it was so strong," said resident Mark Brady. "It busted out every window in our house. It busted everybody's garage door in around here … and closer toward the explosion over here, it busted people's roofs in and walls in, and we don't know what it is … It's a warzone over here."  

An official with the Detroit Fire Department said 13 firefighters are facing department charges for a photo that surfaced on New Year's Day that featured them posing in front of a burning house in Detroit. The Detroit Fire Department official was not authorized to go on the record about the 13 firefighters but told FOX 2 they are charged with exhibiting ignorance of the rules or orders. Additionally, 4 sergeants who were involved have also been charged with failure to supervise or take the appropriate action. Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones released a statement saying that the appropriate discipline would be doled out. The picture was posted on social media on New Year's Eve and featured the firefighters posing in front of a burning home on South Green Street in Detroit with a caption that says, "Crews take a moment to take a selfie on New Years!"  

The Cleveland Fire Department is taking steps to better protect your neighborhood while possibly saving you money, improving how it responds to suspicious fires. "It's very unusual for somebody to have more than one fire in their life," said Chief Chris Posante, Cleveland Fire Investigation Unit. However, in Cleveland, serial arsonists are keeping the city's recently revamped investigation unit busy. In 2019, the department investigated 349 fires. "For the city of Cleveland, arson's a problem. Some of these people we've identified had four and five fires," Posante said. One of the biggest factors fanning those flames is insurance fraud. "It's an arson for profit scheme," Posante said. In their ongoing effort to crack down on those criminals, the firefighters—turned police officers—are adding new equipment to better execute their investigations.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio will meet with health officials on Friday to discuss the city's response to any potential cases of the deadly coronavirus, which has shut down parts of China and led to fears of an epidemic. The mayor will meet with members from the Department of Health, NYC Emergency Management, the FDNY and the NYPD on Friday morning to talk about how the city will respond if the virus makes its way to the city. New York City is home to some 8.6 million people and health officials are taking a proactive approach to responding to the disease. Many people are traveling this week for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which begins Saturday. A case has already been reported in a man in Washington State; officials said they're monitoring 43 people he had contact with.  

Just think that over a hundred years ago there was no cellphones, no 911 emergency system, no fire department as we know it today! If your home caught on fire, you had to rely on whoever happened to be nearby to help you extinguish the fire, then hopefully you were within reach of a pump, or a water resource. Nowadays the village of Newcomerstown is in the very capable hands of the Newcomerstown Emergency Rescue Squad & Division of Fire when it comes to the need for fire control and rescue. Early records indicate that the village had a volunteer fire department well before 1870. The very early fire-fighting process consisted of a bucket brigade which was comprised of volunteers and whichever citizens were nearby, and available to assist. The brigade would use water from the Tuscarawas River, Ohio-Erie Canal, or Buckhorn Creek.