The Waco Fire Department grew by 10 new members last Friday. According to Chief Gregory Summers, the new recruiting class is one of the most unique the department has seen in quite some time. Turns out this class is the most diverse the department has ever seen. "I think diversity in any organization is important because you want to work toward having an operation, or a fire department in my case that is reflective in the community you serve," said Summers. The class included one Asian American and two women, one of whom is the department's first African American woman. "It makes me happy to see a qualified work force, a workforce that is capable doing the task that are necessary for firefighters. Now being that they are women and minorities, it does add to that," said Summers.  

PHOTO: Law enforcement officers are investigating the death of a man found inside a home that was consumed by flames. At about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, , the Liberty County Sheriff's Office received a call reporting a house fire on FM 160 North. According to Liberty County Fire Marshal Bill Hergemueller, fire departments responded from the Hull Daisetta VFD, Hardin VFD, Liberty FD along with Allegiance EMS and the Liberty County Sheriff's Office. When firefighters put out the flames, they discovered the body of 64-year-old Donald Ray Guillory inside the home, where he lived alone. Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Judge Ronnie Davis arrived and conducted the inquest. Fire Marshall Hergemueller said the home appeared to be undergoing partial repairs and there are several possibilities for the point of ignition.  

VIDEO: First responders face dangers every day. Often, their safety is put at risk while trying to help others. Every year, hundreds of first responders are injured or killed while serving the community. Edinburg Fire Chief Shawn Snider says many times while they're working an active scene, people will slow down to better look at what happened. But Snider says that can often make the situation worse. "Because of car accidents and other incidents that occur— the individuals are not used to seeing fire trucks on the road," Snider said. "We have people that are not totally focusing their attention on being able to mitigate themselves around those incidents that occur. I've been hit before. We've had fire trucks that have been hit, and it's because of people not focusing their attention on the roadways."  

VIDEO: A Lubbock native is headed to Chicago in December as he embarks on a new role in the hit television show Chicago Fire. First, he wanted to stop by and learn from his hometown heroes. "I think it's very, very important whenever you can become this character months before," Ynez Spencer said. "And, I think it's very important to show up ready to go." That's a lesson in acting but also a lesson in being a rookie firefighter he learned during his time touring Lubbock Fire Station 1 on Thursday. "I'm sure he's gonna have great people there advising him," LFR Captain Phillip Grandon said. "It's just different, though. A show is not the same as real life. So, I did want him to know when a rookie shows up to the fire station, this is what they do. It's a lot of work. You're the new guy. You're having to prove yourself to the other crew members with a lot of little trivial things. As a rookie, are you willing to be humble to do all these trivial things really well."  

A woman in her 40s was taken to an area hospital following a house fire on the city's North Side late Wednesday night, the San Antonio Fire Department said. The fire was called in around 11:15 p.m. at a home in the 415 block of Elmwood Drive, not far from West Hildebrand Avenue and San Pedro Avenue. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found flames coming through the roof on the backside of the house. They were able to get a quick knock down of the fire. Fire officials said a woman was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center with significant burns. Officers with SAPD arrived first and escorted the woman to the EMS unit. She is expected to recover. A fire investigation team is now working to determine the exact cause of the fire. A damage estimate was not given. No other injuries were reported.  

You likely drive by them all the time and don't even notice. But after a facelift, fire hydrants in Carthage really stand out. The Rotary Club of Carthage has teamed up with the Carthage Fire Department and the community to give all of the city's fire hydrants a fresh coat of paint. "We're up to about 200 out of the 531," said Carthage Fire Marshal Randy Liedtke. "And we just continue to keep working. Our goal is to get all of them repainted throughout the city." Liedtke said the project not only makes Carthage look better, but it also improves safety by helping make the hydrants more visible to firefighters. "Makes it much easier to see, especially at night," he said. Among the first people to paint a fire hydrant, 90-year-old Dorothy Shahan. "My first husband was a fireman in Shreveport, Louisiana," she said. Shahan's son-in-law is also a fireman.  

VIDEO: It took 100 firefighters about an hour and a half to get the upper hand on a blaze that gutted a Koreatown karaoke bar and pool hall at 207 S. Vermont Ave. on Thursday. The Los Angeles Fire Department said they were actually able to get crews inside the building at first, but the intensity of the fire grew in the attic. Crews cut some holes in the roof, but the flames spread too fast and firefighters were forced to pull back. Shortly thereafter, the roof collapsed. "All of our members on the inside, they recognized the signs that this was not gonna be a fire they were gonna get a hold of, and the roof companies that were up on top, they were already feeling the roof was getting soft," said Steve Hissong, Incident Commander with LAFD. Witness John Wesley said it's not the first time this strip mall has seen what he referred to as "odd fires."  

VIDEO: A Lubbock native is headed to Chicago in December as he embarks on a new role in the hit television show Chicago Fire. First, he wanted to stop by and learn from his hometown heroes. "I think it's very, very important whenever you can become this character months before," Ynez Spencer said. "And, I think it's very important to show up ready to go." That's a lesson in acting but also a lesson in being a rookie firefighter he learned during his time touring Lubbock Fire Station 1 on Thursday. "I'm sure he's gonna have great people there advising him," LFR Captain Phillip Grandon said. "It's just different, though. A show is not the same as real life. So, I did want him to know when a rookie shows up to the fire station, this is what they do. It's a lot of work. You're the new guy. You're having to prove yourself to the other crew members with a lot of little trivial things. As a rookie, are you willing to be humble to do all these trivial things really well."  

The Seminole County Fire Department says golf carts and other low-emission vehicles are becoming more popular in Central Florida but they are also causing a fire concern. "The big problem we are worried about with hydrogen gas is the explosiveness of the hydrogen gas it has a wide flammable range," said Lt. Todd Zellers of the agency's special hazards team. In the last three months the department has received three calls of carbon monoxide alarms going of but in reality, he says, the alarms were picking up hydrogen gas caused by overcharged batteries. "We go there in time. We were able to isolate it to the golf cart in the garage on all three events and get the battery unplugged," said Zellers. Hydrogen gas isn't as toxic as carbon monoxide but could cause fire and explosions.  

The North Carolina Department of Justice filed suit Thursday against more than a dozen manufacturers of firefighting foam that contains toxic "forever chemicals," accusing the companies of failing to tell those using the foam how to properly handle it, leading to groundwater contamination at four sites across the state. N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein is announcing the lawsuits this morning at a Charlotte briefing alongside members of the Charlotte International Association of Fire Fighters Local 660 and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. "We want the companies that manufactured this product, knew or should have known of its risks and then sold it to either the local government for the firefighters or the federal government to pay to clean up the PFAS and remove the risk to North Carolinians," Stein told The News & Observer.  

The U.S. has settled into an uneasy, drawn-out exit from the delta surge that took hold over the summer. For many weeks, declining cases and hospitalizations have offered hope ahead of the holiday season, when Americans travel and spend more time indoors, but progress has stalled recently, with cases rising or plateauing in more than 20 states. In fact, the country's daily average of cases has hovered around 72,000 infections for the past two weeks as outbreaks smolder, particularly in the northern half of the country. About 40,000 people are in the hospital with COVID-19, under half of the peak in early September. The Mountain West — where vaccination coverage tends to be lower — is the worst off, especially Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Parts of the Southwest and Midwest are also trying to control an uptick.