VIDEO: A North Texas 911 center is offering a service during emergency calls that no other agency is offering. Dispatchers at the North Texas Emergency Communications Center are not only ready to listen to your call for help, but they are prepared to watch your emergency as it's happening. "When someone calls 911, it is their worst day," said the executive director of NTECC Terry Goswick. "This service allows us to view what's going on. Just like we were taught when we were little kids: a picture's worth a thousand words." NTECC is a joint 911 dispatch hub serving Carrollton, Addison, Coppell, and Farmers Branch. Think of ‘Prepared 911' as a one-way FaceTime call for help. You cannot see the dispatcher, but if you allow it, the dispatcher can see what you're seeing in real time.  

VIDEO: Killeen's Fire Station 9 held an auction to raise donations for two firefighters who are currently battling cancer. The station has an allotted pool of donations named the Benevolence fund, which goes to taking care of firefighter's financial stability when they leave work due to medical or personal issues. While the team has been covering both shifts for the firefighters, the station captain, Darren Morphis, made a decision to raise money in a special way. Morphis' signature mustache, which he has been growing for more than 12 years, was an iconic feature of the captain that most of his colleagues recognized him for. By announcing he would shave it off for donations, the station raised more than $8,000 for the firefighters' home and health expenses.  

Governor Greg Abbott today announced the State of Texas is offering virtual peer-to-peer counseling services at no cost for law enforcement and firefighters in Hawaii who have been impacted by the response to the unprecedented wildfires on the island of Maui. The Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network (TLEPN) is a statewide partnership between the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement and the Caruth Police Institute at the University of North Texas-Dallas to provide law enforcement with confidential access to specially-trained peers to help address work-related stressors, trauma, fatigue, and burnout and end suicide and self-harm. "Texas stands with law enforcement and firefighters bravely and selflessly responding to the tragedy on Maui and the communities devastated by the wildfires," said Governor Abbott.  

VIDEO: State officials had been warning Florida residents about the threat posed by storm surge to electric vehicles since Monday, days before Hurricane Idalia made landfall. In the aftermath of the destructive storm, Pinellas officials report at least two incidents of electric vehicles combusting after their lithium-ion batteries were exposed to the saltwater. In Pinellas Park on Thursday, an immobilized Tesla caught fire and was destroyed by flames. Video taken by James McLynas showed the remains of the destroyed vehicle being towed away at the intersection of 65th Way and Park Boulevard. "Hurricane flooded Tesla bursts into flames while being towed to the storage lot," McLynas wrote in his post on YouTube. "Driver picked up the flood damaged Tesla from a storm damaged home and was towing it back when it burst into flames."  

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the creation of a new Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group meant to ensure the safety and security of energy storage systems across the state, following fire incidents at facilities in Jefferson, Orange, and Suffolk Counties this summer. State agencies will begin immediate inspections of energy storage sites, and the working group is intended to help prevent fires and ensure emergency responders have the necessary training and information to prepare and deploy resources in the event of a fire. "Following multiple fire safety incidents across New York, I've directed State agencies to immediately form the Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group to mobilize the personnel and resources necessary to keep New Yorkers safe," Governor Hochul said.  

Firefighters who battled the deadly Lahaina wildfires on August 8 have earned immense gratitude for their efforts to fend off the historic inferno fed by hurricane force winds and large swaths of fire prone bone-dry brush. Chris Frueh, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo provides insight into short- and long-term medical, psychological and social risks firefighters can sustain in their line of work. According to Frueh and researchers Isabella Zingray, a UH Hilo alumna and Gina Rudine, a graduate student in UH Hilo's counseling psychology program, because firefighting involves regular exposure to chronic stress, lethal risks and potential for a wide range of injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and toxic exposures, the accumulation can lead to profound physiological changes.  

VIDEO: Killeen's Fire Station 9 held an auction to raise donations for two firefighters who are currently battling cancer. The station has an allotted pool of donations named the Benevolence fund, which goes to taking care of firefighter's financial stability when they leave work due to medical or personal issues. While the team has been covering both shifts for the firefighters, the station captain, Darren Morphis, made a decision to raise money in a special way. Morphis' signature mustache, which he has been growing for more than 12 years, was an iconic feature of the captain that most of his colleagues recognized him for. By announcing he would shave it off for donations, the station raised more than $8,000 for the firefighters' home and health expenses.