Intense lightning overnight is being blamed for a house fire and an apartment fire in west Houston, less than four miles apart. A condominium was engulfed in flames on Windchase Boulevard near Garden Grove Court around 3:40 a.m. Video from the scene shows flames shooting out of the complex roof. "I was sound asleep. I heard a commotion, then I heard screaming," one resident recalled. "I turned, then that's when I saw the condo was completely engulfed." Firefighters say no one was injured, but a number of condos were damaged. A home on Provident Oaks Lane also caught on fire just 10 minutes before the fire on Windchase. Firefighters say the homeowner reported a lightning strike around 3:30 a.m., then saw smoke coming out of the air conditioning vents.  

Given the troubled times we live in 2020, everyone is looking for a hero. Kingsville found one in its new fire chief Juan J. Adame. For the past 47 years, Adame has been a firefighter. Prior to that he spent six years in the Navy serving his country. He joined the Navy Reserves after active duty and served a total of 30 years. It's the resume heroes are made of. "Ever since I got out of high school, I've either been in the military or been a fire fighter," Adame said a few weeks ago. "Fire service and the military is all I've done. My Dad was a fire fighter, my son Eric is a fire fighter and it has been something I have always enjoyed. It is what I do and love. I think it is the greatest job in the world." Adame was born and raised in South Texas. Growing up, his father was a firefighter in Corpus Christi.  

Health officials in Laredo rushed to expand the city's medical capacity after facing a rise in hospitalizations this week. "We are in crisis mode, but a managed crisis," Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz said during a press briefing Thursday afternoon. The press briefing came after COVID-19 units at two of the border city's hospitals became overwhelmed. Dr. Victor Treviño, an official with the Laredo Health Authority, said on Tuesday night that the Laredo Medical Center's unit had reached capacity because there weren't enough staffers to care for patients. On Thursday, he reported that patients filled nearly all the beds reserved for COVID-19 patients at the intensive care unit at Doctors Hospital. Interim Fire Chief Ramiro Elizondo said the hospitals still had non-critical capacity.  

A house fire in Gregg County caused the deaths of two pet cats Thursday. Fire crews were dispatched to the fire at a home on Warren Plant Rd. around 3 p.m. Thursday. Units from Clarksville-Warren Cities Volunteer Fire Department, White Oak, Gladewater, and the Gregg County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene. Officials at the scene said no one was home at the time of the fire. Investigators are speaking with an occupant of the home who showed up as firefighters were putting the fire out. No people were injured in the fire. The Gregg County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.  

On Thursday, Texas Senator John Cornyn announced another sizable allocation of federal CARES Act money. The Austin Fire Department has been awarded $220,243.64 to enhance operations and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "Firefighters are on the front lines of keeping our communities safe, and they deserve every resource possible at their disposal," said Cornyn. "I applaud area leaders for their work to obtain this grant, and I'm grateful to the Trump Administration for supporting the City of Austin." The funding will be used for personal protective equipment and other related supplies for Austin firefighters.  

PHOTOS: A garden style apartment building on Spa Road partially collapsed on firefighters Thursday afternoon in Annapolis as they were battling a blaze that had enveloped all three floors, city fire officials said. One Anne Arundel County firefighter was injured in the fire, Capt. Aaron Edwards, fire department spokesperson, told The Capital. He sustained injuries that weren't life-threatening and was taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center for further treatment. When firefighters arrived on scene in the 1000 block of Spa Road "heavy dark brown smoke" was billowing from the 12-apartment building, Edwards said. "Within a minute of us getting there, fire was blowing out the third floor," he said. "And by the time we got in (the building), fire was blowing through the roof."  

A McDowell County volunteer firefighter was arrested for murder and arson Thursday after authorities say he set a blaze that led to the death of a fellow firefighter. Robert Lee Beckner, 36, of Iaeger, is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson, according to a criminal complaint filed in McDowell County Magistrate Court. According to the complaint, Beckner confessed to setting fire to his own home in Iaeger. Beckner was a member of the Iaeger Volunteer Fire Department. Russell Roberson, 42, also a member of the Iaeger department, died as a result of injuries sustained while responding to a second fire in two days at Beckner's home. The Iaeger fire department first responded to the fire at 908 West Virginia Avenue on the morning of Saturday, June 20, according to court documents filed by Justin England, an investigator with the West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office.  

Every year on June 30, the mountain community of Yarnell remembers the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who perished in 2013's Yarnell Hill Fire. Last year, the annual service drew nearly 150 people to a memorial park in the center of town. But this year's 7th anniversary remembrance is taking place virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A 15-minute service, filmed in advance at various locations, begins at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. One aspect that remains the same will be the signature reading of the 19 hotshots' names by Lew and Marcie Theokas, grandparents of 27-year-old Garret Zuppiger, who died in the fire. The service's late-afternoon timing coincides with when the fast-moving blaze overran the hotshots at 4:42 p.m. in a nearby box canyon. All but one crew member died in the fire, which at the time was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in 80 years. Nearly 130 homes were destroyed.  

A senior citizen held at gunpoint an Orange County firefighter who'd entered her home to check on her well-being Thursday morning, before releasing him unharmed, according to Fire Rescue spokeswoman Carrie Proudfit. Though shots were fired at first responders during the incident, no one was injured, Proudfit said, adding that the Orange County Sheriff's Office is not currently planning to pursue criminal charges. The Sentinel requested the OCSO report on the shooting as well as additional details from their investigation, but an agency spokesperson declined to comment and the report was not immediately provided. Firefighters responded to the home off Observatory Drive in west Orange County about 10 a.m. Friday because the senior's daughter was concerned about her, after not having been able to get in touch with her for several days, Proudfit said. The daughter told firefighters her mother has a serious medical condition. The home was locked.  

A handful of Nashville Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The president of the International Association of Firefighters has some concerns. "The ideal situation wouldn't be to close a station, if you need to quarantine all personnel from that station, then do it," said Mark Young. Young thinks it would be great to do rapid-result testing for the entire fire department and "and stop the spread." While waiting for test results, he believes firefighters and paramedics who were in contact with the people who are positive should quarantine. "If staffing is going to get in the way of that, overtime has got to be used," Young said. The department has transported nearly 290 COVID-19 patients.