VIDEO: Schertz and Cibolo firefighters are teaming up to combat a massive, active brush fire near Highway 78. The fire broke out around 5 p.m. Thursday in the 500 block of Highway 78, according to fire officials. Sky 12 is live now, flying over the scene. As of around 5:22 p.m., the fire was still very active with large bouts of smoke and heavy flames in the area. Firefighters said the flames are contained and those in the area are urged to be cautious until the fire is extinguished. No word yet on what caused the fire. We'll bring more updates as they become available.  

The Palmview City Council has found itself in a quandary that the state, federal and local governments have had to grapple with since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: whether to prioritize the struggling economy or coronavirus response efforts. For Palmview, though, the question wasn't about whether to re-open businesses but about whether to use coronavirus relief aid funds to dole out grants to residents, or to purchase a new ambulance for its emergency medical services. The council voted 3-2 to approve the latter for a cost of $25,000 as part of the city's agreement to purchase an Infectious Disease Response Unit. The IDRU will also include a cot for $4,000, a heart monitor for $5,000, EMS software for $5,070, and medical supplies for a cost of $7,411. Palmview launched its EMS in 2018 and currently has two ambulances — one for Palmview and another in Alton. The cities entered into an agreement in April 2019 through which Palmview EMS agreed to service the Alton area.  

In the last few months, Houston's Fire Chief says there's been an uptick of people dying at home before they even reach the hospital. Authorities suspect that increasing trend may be tied to COVID-19 cases that are not being reported. After a recent analysis of data during the COVID-19 outbreak, Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena says firefighters are responding to 1,100 calls on average each day-- a 30% increase. Many of those calls are for respiratory difficulty. More frequently, firefighters arrive on scene only to find the person is too far gone, pronouncing them "dead on arrival." Just a few days ago, Pena says HFD broke a new record with 18 deaths on arrival in one day. "We can make the correlation that because of COVID-19, more people are dying at home. Usually, we average about five per day, for various reasons. In the last three months, we've seen an incredible uptick, almost a 100% increase in some months," Pena said.  

Houston's core city services are being strained by coronavirus exposures, city leaders report. As of July 9, 73 solid waste drivers, 82 METRO workers, 234 firefighters and 219 police officers were in quarantine for exposure to the virus. The numbers fluctuate daily, with some workers entering quarantine and others returning to work, but the total amounts are higher than at any other point during the pandemic. In late March, ahead of the first peak of the outbreak in Houston, the police and fire departments reported about 300 quarantined first responders collectively. "They are not necessarily getting it from the workplace, but from the community itself," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. Each department so far has been impacted differently by the added strain on personnel.  

In the most populated parts of Texas, including Central Texas and the Brazos Valley, medical and emergency services are getting close to their limits of what they can handle. The situation has become almost dire in the Houston area as hospitals fill up and first responders start falling to COVID-19. But a 25 News investigation revealed Central Texas and Brazos Valley first responders have a better record than most in keeping the virus at bay thanks to good practices and their "secret weapon." Two things government leaders worry about most during this COVID-19 pandemic is the impact on hospitals and first responders. While the impact on hospitals has increased lately, the virus has barely affected Central Texas and Brazos Valley fire departments.  

Joseph Urias wears enough hats to supply an entire neighborhood, largely because he's likely protecting that very same neighborhood in some capacity. The 32-year-old, who was born and raised in Waxahachie and still lives there, works for the Hillsboro Department of Public Safety. He has been a certified police officer since 2014. He is also an arson investigator, instructor at Navarro College, a triple-certified first responder (firefighter, EMS, police officer) and a volunteer firefighter. All this after his original ambition was to study political science at Texas A&M University. He ended up graduating with a degree in psychology and sociology. "I wanted to enter a fun and exciting career field and immediately thought of the fire service. In Texas, to be certified as a firefighter, you have to have medical training, so I started my emergency medical training at Navarro College," he said.  

VIDEO: Two workers were pulled from scaffolding that was dangling from the side of an apartment building in Boston's Chinatown on Thursday morning. The incident happened 13 stories in the air at Tai Tung Village, a housing and business complex. Witness Andres Mateo told NBC10 Boston he saw the scaffolding drop. "I saw the guy hanging from the rope," Meteo recalled. He said as he started recording with his cellphone, one man was pulled inside a window by firefighters. The other man was taken in after firefighters broke through the glass. "Both workers were brought in safely and they were immediately taken to Boston EMS just for an evaluation. They both appeared to be fine," said Jonathan Hernandez of the Boston Fire Department.  

As coronavirus cases surge in much of the country, issues with testing availability and access have once again arisen in nearly every aspect of the testing supply chain, local officials and hospital leaders in several states told ABC News -- a troubling echo of the shortages that plagued the nation's initial response to the virus months ago. Testing issues have manifested differently in different parts of the country, from states in the midst of a renewed battle against COVID-19 and those who still fear one might be coming, officials said. In California and Nebraska, some testing sites were forced to close down because of a shortage in testing kits, chemical reagents, and other supplies. Arizona and South Carolina reported slower turnaround times for test results from labs due to lack of capacity. In New York, private labs now take up to a week to return test results.  

A 100-year-old technique is still being used by firefighters to save lives in St. Bernard Parish. Firefighters at the St. Bernard Fire Department say they are incorporating the use of tourniquets when responding to emergencies. "How are you going to help somebody with a gunshot wound," said Mark Caruso, with the St. Bernard Fire Department. "We're thinking about things like tourniquets to stop the bleeding." Caruso said his crew had to make the decision to use a tourniquet while responding to a shooting. It helped stop the victim's bleeding until EMS arrived, according to Caruso. "When EMS arrived on the scene I was able to transport the patient to the trauma center," Said Raul Vallecillo, EMT. Three lives were saved that day and another the following month, all thanks to tourniquets.  

Survivors of the Camp Fire can get an online sneak peek of the Ron Howard documentary Rebuilding Paradise this weekend. The original plan of the filmmaker to have it first shown in the Paradise Performing Arts Center. This couldn't happen, however, due to the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, the film's debut was at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, which was attended by former Paradise mayor Woody Culleton, who was one of several survivors featured in the documentary. "The first 10 minutes are of live fire footage and people escaping," said Culleton, saying it can be traumatic for some survivors. "Once you get beyond that it's the story about how does a town come back from total destruction," he said. "Ron did a really good job of showing that side of our community." Showings of the film online will be at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.