A fire at a West Side home has sent two women and a baby to an area hospital as a precaution early Friday morning, according to the San Antonio Fire Department. The fire was called in around 4:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of West Laurel Street, not far from North Zarzamora Street and Woodlawn Lake. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found flames showing from the house. The fire started in the back and then eventually grew, fire officials said. Four people were inside the home at the time of the fire and they woke up to the smoke. They all managed to get out, where they then called for help. Two women and a one-month-old girl were taken to an area hospital for possible smoke inhalation. Another person, a man, had no apparent injuries. At this time, the cause of the fire is not currently known.  

First responders who have come to the small South Texas town of Uvalde are also hurting after Tuesday's deadly school shooting. That's where a little puppy love can help, says Kris Blair. She and her band of eight therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers are on the ground here urging law enforcement, firefighters and EMT personnel to stop and get a furry hug. They are part of a group called Canines 4 Christ, and they arrived Wednesday from San Antonio, where they work out of Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston. "We've over here at the scene, we are visiting with 1st responders and letting them just have a minute to decompress knowing that they're human, too. They have a job to do but they're also human. And this is difficult for everybody here," Blair told Border Report.  

The Mesquite Heat fire reached 82% containment Thursday, on day 10 of its burning in rural Taylor County. The size of the fire remained the same at just less than 11,000 acres in size, according to a release from the Texas A&M Forest Service. Crews reported finding ‘hotspots in the interior on the northern and western sides' with their drone, but said there was no threat to containment. Firefighters will continue to increase containment, patrol and mop up hotspots over Memorial Day weekend. The forest service said Saturday's weather of expected hotter and drier conditions could lead to ‘near critical fire weather concerns.' More than 150 members of fire personnel from across the Big Country, and even out-of-state assistance, has been working tirelessly for the past 10 days to control and extinguish the Mesquite Heat fire.  

The Abilene Fire Department responded to a call early this morning around 3:40am in Abilene. According to a press release, crews arrived on the 2400 Block of North Treadaway Blvd to find a private business with heavy levels of smoke and flames coming from the roof. Due to the size and structure of the building, a second alarm had to be initiated. One person was inside the building at the time of the incident, and was able to evacuate without injury. Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire and damages are estimated to be at $30,000. The fire is still under investigation.  

Firefighters from departments across East Texas took to the Pineywoods recently to get a taste of what it is like to fight a wildland fire. The firefighters spent a week learning wildland firefighting techniques as the Texas A&M Forest Service hosted the 2022 East Texas Interagency Wildfire and Incident Management Academy. The purpose of the academy is to provide wildland firefighting courses to firefighters from local, state and federal entities that utilize the National Wildfire Coordinating Group standards. This annual training academy provides a variety of wildland firefighting courses that cover everything from basic firefighting techniques to advanced firefighting tactics and leadership skills. When it comes to wildfires in East Texas, structural firefighters are normally who get called first, which is why this training is so important for them, said Ryan Burns, WUI coordinator for the Texas A&M Forest Service.  

PHOTOS: Fire investigators are looking into how a garage caught fire at a home on the Northeast Side. The fire started just after 1 a.m. Friday at a vacant home off Prince Valiant near Midcrown Drive. When crews arrived, they saw flames shooting out of the garage, which is where they believe it started. But the flames quickly spread from there to the ceiling area. Firefighters were then able to knock it down pretty quickly. Investigators are talking to neighbors to figure out how the fire started since nobody lives there. The home suffered substantial damage. Luckily, nobody was injured.  

A home in Jackson's Belhaven neighborhood appears to be a total loss after a massive fire overnight. The house is at the corner of Pinehurst and Olive Streets, right across from Belhaven University and a few doors down from the historic Eudora Welty House. There's no word yet on how it started or whether anyone was inside at the time.  

A firebug is wreaking havoc in south Sacramento, setting more than a dozen fires during the month of May near the same intersection. Gesselle Pablo drove up on the flames and started snapping pictures. In one picture, fire lined Freeport Boulevard, but that wasn't the only one. Pablo spotted another fire a block away off Florin Road. "I think it's messed up. There's already a lot going on in this world to start this, too, especially in this neighborhood," said Pablo. What's more concerning is that there have been 16 fires just this month. They've all been right near Florin Road and Freeport Boulevard. "It's frustrating. I don't know what to do about it, though," said Chris Matsumoto. Matsumoto works at a nearby barbershop. "This is our area. We live around here. It hurts," said Matsumoto.  

One family is celebrating more than a century of service to Milwaukee in 2022. The Lipski family has been serving in the Milwaukee Fire Department for 110 years. It started back in 1912 when current Chief Aaron Lipski's great-grandfather's oldest brother started at Engine No 21 off of Palmer and Lloyd Street. "First Sylvan, and then the second one was Ignatz [who] came on the job," Chief Lipski told 12 News. "My great grandfather was Henry I." In 1944 his grandfather, Daniel F. Lipski joined, followed by his father Neil in 1977. "I was fortunate enough to come on in the same fire academy class as my older brother Dan," he said. The 110th anniversary is a milestone four generations in the making. When the first Lipski started in 1912 horses were still pulling their steam engines, and there were no water tanks on board.  

The city of Charleston is having trouble retaining employees, especially those outside of the police and fire departments. These workers, often referred to as "non-sworn" or "civilians," are leaving at a higher rate than in years past, according to an internal survey conducted by the city. So far in 2022, 62 percent of exiting employees cited pay as their main reason for leaving. That's up from 47 percent who cited the same reason last year. The city has over 900 civilian employees. If current trends from January through April continue, the city will see 33 percent of its civilian staff turn over by the end of the year. "We've lost about 10 percent of our non-sworn employees just through the end of last month," said Ryan Landry, Charleston's compensation and human resources data manager.  

A bill to ensure condominium safety passed both chambers of the legislature and was signed Thursday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Within days of the special legislative session starting this week, both chambers passed bills to reform property insurance and increase safety measures for condominiums. Both bills, Senate Bill 2D, Property Insurance, and Senate Bill 4D, Building Safety, were sponsored by state Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance. The new law will "keep Florida's condominium residents safe in the aftermath of Surfside," Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, said. It includes a "House-championed measure that requires condo associations to fully fund a reserve so that repairs and maintenance are covered and completed in a timely manner."