VIDEO: A family of four has a long day ahead of them after their house caught fire in the Memorial area. Houston fire officials were alerted to the fire on Barryknoll Lane around 3:40 a.m. Friday. ABC13 video shows massive flames shooting from the home. One of the homeowners smelled smoke, and then the smoke detectors went off. Firefighters said the family was already out in front of the house when they arrived. Two adults, two children, their two dogs and two turtles all got out of the home safely. No injuries were reported. After the flames were extinguished, arson investigators were at the scene, trying to figure out why the fire started in the first place. Investigators said there is no indication that it was anything suspicious.  

PHOTOS: The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that a 13-year-old was not the driver in a deadly March 15 crash that killed 9 people. The day after the deadly crash, the NTSB vice chairman reported that the 13-year-old was driving. However, a crash report released by the Texas Department of Public Safety cast doubt on that assertion. DNA testing results confirmed that 38-year-old Henrich Siemens was driving the Dodge 2500 pickup truck that crashed into a transit van carrying nine people with the University of The Southwest golf team. An official statement said, "NTSB postcrash toxicological testing revealed the presence of methamphetamine in the pickup truck driver's blood." Additionally, the NTSB said it has found no evidence of "sudden or rapid loss of tire air pressure or any other indicators of catastrophic failure," in the pickup truck.  

Austin Fire crews said a fire burned two homes Friday morning in north Austin. One of the homes is likely a total loss, according to the fire department. AFD said one house was fully on fire when crews arrived, and the fire did spread to the outside of a second house, according to a social media post. AFD said two people were inside the first home. They got out through a back window. AFD said a dog inside the home died. According to Austin Fire, one of the homeowners discovered the fire when she smelled smoke. AFD is working to determine if the home had a working smoke detector. The cause of the fire is still undetermined. One person was inside the second home that burned. AFD said that home had fire damage to the outside and attic and can be reoccupied once its repaired. All three people were not hurt but now have to find another place to stay. The fire caused about $261,000 in damages total between the two homes.  

Firefighters responded to an auto parts yard in south Sacramento after two cars caught fire early Friday morning. The fire started just after 3 a.m. near 25th Avenue and Florin Perkins Road. Crews got to the scene and found the fire in the middle of an auto dismantler yard. Apparently, two vehicles that had just shown up at the yard after some recent accidents had caught fire. It's unclear how the cars caught fire, but firefighters were able to put the flames out quickly. No injuries have been reported.  

VIDEO: When the call for help goes out, LifeFlight of Maine answers. But when they're not saving lives all across the Pine Tree State, they're keeping their skills sharp at the all-new simulation and learning lab. The in-house labs officially opened this week in Bangor, Auburn and Sanford, the beginning of a statewide training connection. "This will be paramedics, nurses, doctors all working together in a community, said LifeFlight Executive Director Thomas Judge. "And this way, we can do it in virtual communities simultaneously all across the state." It's just another day at the office for critical care flight nurse Kelsi Story. "Our trainings are constant, they're ongoing," Story said. "It's pushing us to be better so we can then translate that to the people that we're taking care of." And that training is the real deal. The quote of the day? "Perfect practice makes perfect."  

PHOTOS: Two Elizabeth volunteer firefighters recently took the trip of a lifetime when they drove the town's first firetruck along U.S. 20 from Elizabeth to Newport, Ore., a round-trip journey of more than 4,000 miles. Bob "Hambone" Wand, who is retired from the Elizabeth Fire Department, and Jacob Krug, a current volunteer, left Elizabeth on June 17 in the 1½-ton 1937 Chevrolet Rotary Fire Pump firetruck. They were accompanied by a couple of "chase" cars for moral and mechanical support that carried Wand's wife, Kathy; his daughter Heather; his son Casey; and friend Bonnie Knight, all of Elizabeth. Wand acquired the truck in 2002. "It was Elizabeth's first firetruck," he said. "When the truck was sold, I knew who the department had sold it to. The guy just kept it in a nice garage, and when he was selling it, I went and got it."  

Nearly four years ago, Brian Kyle "BK" Frizzell lost his sister, Haley Frizzell, and roommate David Angel Ortiz to a fire that was deliberately set at the Iconic Village Apartments in San Marcos. Haley, 19, was the youngest of five victims – along with Dru Estes, 20; Belinda Moats, 21; Ortiz, 21; and James Philip Miranda, 23 – who lost their lives on July 20, 2018. The still-unsolved case inspired BK to create "The Weight of Ashes," a 73-minute documentary focusing on each victim's family and BK's best friend, Zachary Sutterfield, who suffered burns on 70% of his body and lost his hands. "When I was in the hospital one time visiting Zach, his mom started talking to me about maybe making a documentary about the whole thing, and at the time I humored her; I was like, ‘yeah, that might be a good idea.' But really I was thinking, ‘there's no way in hell I would ever do that,'" Frizzell said.  

The Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) is welcoming 76 new members — 67 firefighter/EMTs and nine paramedics — into its ranks after a nine-month training program. This year was the first live audience fire department graduation after the start of the pandemic. The fire department also celebrates 150 years in 2022. This year was very different from recent graduations as paramedic and firefighter classes graduating at the same time is an infrequent event. "This is an unusual extra special event because we usually don't have paramedic and firefighter classes graduating simultaneously. Plus, firefighters graduate every two years and they've all worked so hard," Kathy Matheson, Communications Director for the Philadelphia Fire Department, told AL DÍA. This year's graduation ceremony was special for other reasons, as well.