VIDEO: Fire broke out at a popular butcher shop and restaurant early Thursday morning in Pinehurst. Firefighters were sent to the 3000 block of West Park Avenue in Pinehurst after the fire was reported at Robert's Meat Market and Steakhouse at around 3 a.m. Three hours later, firefighters were still on the scene of the fire where no injuries have been reported. The Orange County community is devastated knowing that they won't be able to stop in for their favorite meals at a restaurant that has served them for generations. Robert's Meat Market and Steakhouse has long been a staple in the Orange community. "I know that this place is like an institution in Orange. It's been here forever," customer Anitra Perry said. Early Thursday morning, Robert Ramirez received the call no business owner ever hopes to never get.  

Stephanie Gunderson remembers when her husband woke up one morning asking if her back hurts every time she gets out of bed. She told him no and didn't think anything of it. Capt. Will Gunderson had been a firefighter for the Houston Fire Department for nearly 30 years so she thought maybe it was just years of sleeping on station mattresses that finally caught up to him. But the pain persisted. It got so bad that Gunderson would spend nights walking around the fire station instead of sleeping. He finally went to a doctor, who ordered an ultrasound, then an MRI, CAT scan and colonoscopy. "I remember he looked at me because I was in there with him in the recovery room, and he just looked at me and he said, 'It's not good,'" Stephanie recalled. "We didn't know, but we had a feeling."  

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) is recommending its member cities adopt Appendix L of the International Fire Code, which would mandate the installation of firefighter air replenishment systems (FARS) in construction of new high-rise buildings, big-box style horizontal structures, and other large buildings in their jurisdictions. FARS are a standpipe for air, the latest technology in building-installed firefighter life safety systems. FARS deliver a safe, instant supply of air replenishment to firefighters so they can survive in the toxic, smoky environment of a structure fire. Just as water standpipes replaced water buckets as a delivery system, FARS replaces the "bottle brigade" of firefighters who must hand-carry replacement air bottles up dozens of flights of stairs, or deep into structures, to provide air replenishment to fire crews.  

A house caught fire in Tyler on Thursday. A structure fire was reported to first responders at 609 Top Hill Drive in Tyler around 12:40 p.m. Thursday. At the time of the fire, one man was in the house. First responders said he described waking up to what he called a "popping sound" coming from the kitchen. He left the house and was outside when the first fire units got there. According to Fire Marshal Paul Findley, cooking oil was left unattended on an electric glass top range and ignited, spreading to nearby combustibles. The fire was "fairly advanced" when firefighters got to the residence. The occupant of the house did seem to inhale some smoke, but is being checked out by EMS at the scene. Tyler Fire Marshal Paul Findley said that investigators are in the home gathering information and more details should be available shortly.  

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has recently provided a $24,210 critical grant award to Hutto Fire Rescue/Williamson County Emergency Services District #3. The funding will be applied toward the purchase of Hurst eDraulic extrication equipment, which will be used to ensure greater lifesaving capabilities for first responders in the community. First responders nationwide are often the first to experience the effects of a crisis, says the ESD. As communities gradually recover from the pandemic, additional safety protocols and equipment needs have created new challenges for first responders on the front line.  

Hunt County voters will not have the option to accept or reject the creation of an Emergency Services District in this November's general election. If created, such a district would serve as a taxing entity to fund the county's volunteer fire departments. The Hunt County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to deny the petition for the inclusion of an Emergency Services District on November ballots. However, local volunteer fire departments should be getting a "significant increase in funding" in next year's budget, the Greenville Herald Banner reported. The item was defeated by a 4-1 vote. County Judge Bobby Stovall said during Tuesday's meeting that he hadn't been given enough information about the proposal to support it, while Precinct 1 Commissioner Mark Hutchins, who cast the dissenting vote, said he considered the information provided by local firefighters adequate, the Herald-Banner reported.  

VIDEO: Three Honolulu aircraft rescue firefighters are talking for the first time about their role in helping save two pilots earlier this month after engine failure caused their Boeing 737 cargo plane to crash in the ocean off Kalaeloa. On July 2, the pilot of Transair Flight 810 to Kahului alerted air traffic control it was headed back to Honolulu's airport because of an in-flight emergency. "We've lost number one engine," the pilot said over the radio. "And we're coming straight to the airport. We're going to need the fire department. It's a chance we're going to lose the other engine, too. It's running very hot." "It was about 1:40 in the morning," said Airport Fire Lt. Ray Vegas. Everybody at the fire station was asleep."You hear the alarms go off and you get up real fast," said Airport Equipment Operator Terrence Kashima.  

VIDEO: When tragedy or disasters strike, first responders rush to the scene — often putting their own lives in danger. Now there's a renewed focus in Boston to make sure that when emergency personnel head home, the traumatic images they witness on the job don't have dangerous or potentially deadly impacts on their mental well-being. "We have this hero kind of persona, the stigma is still real," Boston Fire Lt. Sheila Leahy said. Leahy is a peer supporter in the Boston Fire Department who is often tasked with starting a conversation with members who may not willingly admit they're struggling. "If you're used to being the person who's always the helper to other people, it's very hard to reach out and say, ‘Hey I need help,'" Leahy said. During the next month and a half, 1,500 Boston firefighters will be trained in suicide awareness thanks to the nonprofit Gelt Charitable Foundation that has designed a workshop specifically for first responders.  

VIDEO: The U.S. Navy said Thursday that charges have been filed against a Navy Sailor who is accused of starting the July 2020 fire that destroyed the warship while it was docked in San Diego. According to Cmdr. Sean Robertson, U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesperson, the evidence collected during the investigation is sufficient to direct a preliminary hearing for the sailer who was a member of Bonhomme Richard's crew at the time of the fire. The massive fire erupted late on the morning of July 12 in a storage area aboard the 27,565-ton military sea vessel and soon was sending thick columns of acrid smoke above San Diego Bay and across much of the city. In August 2020, a senior defense official said that arson was suspected as the cause of the July 12 fire that left extensive damage to the USS Bonhomme Richard.  

VIDEO: Instead of wearing shorts and swimsuits, teens are in heavy fire protection gear at a special summer camp on Long Island this week. They're learning what it takes to become volunteer firefighters amid a national firefighter shortage, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported Thursday. Camp Fahrenheit 516 is named for the blazing heat campers encounter while training as the next generation of volunteer firefighters. "There's not switch to turn off in here. They're going into this building, what they come across burning is what, they're gonna go on a call one day when they're in their departments, and they go into a residence or a commercial building," said Jerry Presta, chairman of the Nassau County Junior Firefighter Association. At the nation's only junior firefighting training camp with hands-on experience like this, 28 Long Islanders ages 14 to 17 learn if they have the right stuff to serve their communities. Many already know they do.  

Twenty years after the devastating attacks on September 11, doctors are still uncovering the fallout from the destruction of the World Trade Center. In a new study, researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York have discovered a link between the toxic dust coming from Ground Zero and liver damage. Their findings show that the earliest first responders on the scene have an even higher risk of fatty liver disease than others in the area after the terror attacks. The report is the first to connect higher odds of liver disease to time spent near the rubble in 2001. Study authors find that emergency personnel at Ground Zero within the first two weeks of the attack encountered the highest concentrations of toxic materials. These individuals are now showing greater signs of decreasing density in their livers — a key measure of liver disease due to chemical exposure (or hepatic steatosis).