Investigators are trying to determine what sparked a house fire where an 83-year-old woman was found dead. The fire broke in the 10800 block of Donna Drive, just outside the West Sam Houston Tollway in the Cy-Fair area, around 2 a.m. Friday. The grandmother who was killed lived inside the home alone and had limited mobility, fire officials said. A dog was also killed in the fire. A neighbor called 911 after they saw the flames and smoke early Friday morning. The Cy-Fair Fire Department responded to the scene, along with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Fire officials worked quickly to put the fire out, and when they forced entry into the home, they found the body of the 83-year-old woman. Officials said the victim's son runs his pest control business out of the house. There are people at the home during the day, but the grandmother stays there alone at night.  

An investigation is underway after several horses were reportedly burned to death and some were injured in a barn fire in northeast Houston Friday, officials with the Houston Fire Department said. Officials with HFD received calls about a fire in the 4800 block of Linn Street around 2 a.m. When they arrived, they discovered flames coming from a barn where multiple horses were living. The owners were reportedly not available when officials went to the scene. According to HFD, 15 to 20 horses were killed in the fire. Officials said they were able to save six horses, some of which were injured. The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation by HFD Arson Bureau. Harris County Animal control was also requested as the investigation is underway.  

A woman has been arrested after officials said she intentionally burned down a house in Jefferson on Wednesday night. Letissue Mapps, 37, has been charged with arson of a habitation and criminal trespass, the Jefferson Police Department said in a press release. Officials were called around 10 p.m. Wednesday to the 100 block of Alford Street to a house fire. While on scene, investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set by Mapps. JPD said efforts to save the house were unsuccessful, and the house burned completely to the ground. JPD said the house was unoccupied, and no injuries were reported. "The Jefferson Police Department thanks the Marion County deputy that assisted and the great efforts of the Jefferson Voluntary Fire Department in the attempt to save the residence," Police Chief Florentino Perez said.  

Texas was hit hard by wildfires over the summer, but rainfall has gotten rid of most of our worries. But that doesn't mean firefighters get time off. The Texas A&M Forest Service sent a 20-man crew to help in a massive fire in Cedar Creek, Oregon. The fire has burned over 110,000 acres so far according to Ryan Burns, resource specialist at Texas A&M Forest Service. The twenty firefighters make up the Lone Star State Type II Initial Attack Handcrew. They all specialize in fighting fires, according to Burns, and have gone out of state to fight massive fires three years in a row. Burns says battling fires in Texas versus the mountains is a different challenge for the firefighters. "They're not able to go fighting fire with our dozers that we like to use in Texas and East Texas," Burns said "Now a lot of them they're hiking in mountains with nothing more than (a fire hoe) sometimes fighting fires."  

Lubbock firefighters have received a new set of tools that can help them save the lives of animals during a call-out. Nicknamed "Fido Bags," they are kits that can be used to treat pets for smoke inhalation or other fire-related injuries. The kits even include safety equipment for the firefighter when he or she is handling an animal. Every fire engine will receive one, compliments from the Fetch Foundation, a nonprofit out of Arizona. Heather Dopson of the Fetch Foundation says, "Our pets are our family, and the Fetch Foundation wants to make sure that we're taking care of all members of our family, including our four-legged ones." Lubbock Fire Rescue has used specialized oxygen masks for pets for about a decade. Deputy Chief Nick Wilson says this donation will ensure there is one at every call going forward.  

VIDEO: 3NEWS gave a Corpus Christi firefighter a GoPro camera to wear as he climbed up the water tower at the city's O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant in Calallen. He was taking part in a high-angle rescue training exercise. Training that could end up saving lives. Firefighter Erik Saxvik explained how the first part of the training had gotten up to that point. "It's just a lot of practice, you know we're always going to have hiccups in the beginning, but you learn from those hiccups and you move on, and you get better," Saxvik said. It's not every day that you interview firefighters like Saxvik up on a water tower. The training scenario was that someone had climbed the tower and couldn't get down. Captain Eric Macleod works out of Corpus Christi Fire Station #3. His crews and those from Corpus Christi Fire Station #4 do all of the high-angle rope rescues in the city.  

PHOTOS: A fire Wednesday evening that destroyed a vacant, historic building in downtown Shreveport is under investigation, Fire Chief Clarence Reece said Thursday morning. "Anytime a building catches on fire after it's been standing for a while, it's always going to be suspicious in nature. But again, we are doing our due diligence in investigating that," Reece said. Fire crews continued to put out hot spots through the night. All that's left of the building at 114 Texas Street – the former home of Sportspage and Humpfrees in The Square – are a pile of charred bricks. The fire call in the Red River District came in at 6:11 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene in 4 minutes, reporting heavy smoke and flames visible. More than three dozen fire units and 50 firefighters were fighting the intense blaze.  

VIDEO: Most kids can instantly recognize a firefighter by their uniform, but it's different for a child who is blind. That all changed for 6-year-old Junie during a recent trip to Plant City Fire Rescue's Station #3 with fellow homeschool students. The group got the chance to tour the station and explore the fire trucks. But for Junie, the most meaningful part of the visit was the opportunity to get some hands-on experience. "His favorite part was spending time with this patient firefighter who allowed Junie to feel all over his uniform and gear, touch whatever he wanted, hear the sounds his equipment made, and answered all of his questions," Junie's mother, Destiny Fiaschetti, wrote on her Facebook page, Adventures of a June Bug.  

VIDEO: Three Sonoma County fire stations are now equipped with a new emergency response tool: mobile generators powered by the sun. On Thursday, firefighters got a hands-on lesson on how they work. "What we're building here is a solar-powered generator," said Jim Kracke with the Sonoma Valley Fire Department "This is going to be in one of our stations. The station it is going to does not have a backup generator. So now it will." It could prove to be a life-saving tool in the field, but building it won't be easy. "It's a learning experience for a lot of us," Kracke said. "There are schematics, instructions. We have instructors that are overseeing the process." "These are higher voltage systems," explained Nate Heegard with the Footprint Project, an organization that helps communities build and maintain solar generators for power outages and disaster response.  

VIDEO: The death toll of firefighters felled by 9/11-related illnesses has surpassed 300, with one of the latest victims buried Thursday following a funeral Mass in Floral Park. Retired FDNY Battalion Chief Joseph McKie, 60, who died Sunday, was transported to Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in an America-flag-draped casket atop a fire truck. Hundreds of firefighters lined the streets to pay their respects. At a news conference before the funeral, leaders of firefighter labor unions urged Congress to reauthorize funding for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act before the money runs out in three years. "We are unfortunately here today with the proof that … the damages are ongoing," said Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association.  

VIDEO: The area around Fire Station 1 in Albuquerque is looking a lot brighter. The mural on the side of the station has been repainted. Albuquerque Fire Rescue says they reached out to the artist who created it after someone vandalized one of the faces and asked him if he could fix it. Instead, he repainted the entire thing. "It really is cool and a lot of folks don't know that it's there. It's on the backside of our Fire Marshal's office building on what is the west face of Fire Station one. And it's part of the one percent of the arts for Albuquerque and it's a great piece. A lot of folks have commented, we had put it up on our social media and a lot of folks are commenting because of how great a piece it appears to be and its quite bright and it really does quite encapsulate what we do in the fire department," said Lt. Tom Ruiz, Albuquerque Fire Rescue.