A vacant building on the Southwest Side was destroyed after a massive fire early Friday morning. The fire started just after 12:30 a.m. at a building along Frio City Road near West Malone. Crews arrived to find heavy flames shooting out of the building. The building eventually collapsed. Firefighters say the building wasn't occupied at the time and there were no injuries reported. CPS Energy crew was on scene to repair some damaged overhead electrical lines. Nobody sustained any power outages due to the fire. The cause is still under investigation.  

The Sweetwater Fire Department will be saying so long to their Assistant Fire Chief on October 8. According to their social media website: "After twenty years of dedicated and selfless service to the citizens and visitors of the City of Sweetwater, Texas, Assistant Chief Russell Reeves is retiring from the Sweetwater Fire Department. Chief Reeves' retirement ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. on October 8, 2022, at the Sweetwater Fire Station located at 900 East Broadway Ave. Everyone is invited to attend this ceremony to say thank you to Chief Reeves for his years of service, and to his family for sharing him with us during his tenure as a Sweetwater Firefighter."  

VIDEO: Several fire departments and local crews in Palo Pinto County are currently working on a large grass fire near Possum Kingdom Lake The fire is happening just south of the lake. According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, the fire, which the organization named the Lazy Fire, has burned an estimated 750 acres and is 10% contained as of 9 p.m. Thursday. Multiple homes are threatened. Officials said earlier in the night that at least six homes were threatened but not damaged, yet they haven't provided an update as of 8:45 p.m. Prior to the Forest Service's response, the Possum Kingdom East Volunteer Fire Department had said on Facebook that there was a controlled burn happening in the area. Officials said that the prescribed burn was happening on SET Ranch. The volunteer department later said the fire "has gotten out of control."  

The second Amarillo Fire Department Fire Academy has it's first round of testing coming up on Saturday. AFD says it has been short staffed since before the pandemic. "It's been tough of our firefighters for a while now so we're glad to get some new firefighters and fill all those positions," says Jeff Justus, public information officer, AFD. Officials say 110 candidates have applied for positions and will take a written civil service test for aptitude. The top candidates then take a physical test. "It's a lot of work to become a firefighter and you have to be able to stick to it," says Dana Havilk, training chief, AFD. "It's not easy, you have to have dedication." Around 24 cadets are expected to attend the upcoming academy. Justus says being a firefighter is more than physical ability. Justus says he's looking for hard workers who will be the first one in and the last one out.  

Wood County Firefighters were called to a tire fire in the 2200 block of FM 2659 about three miles northeast of Hawkins. And the tires were still smoldering today. Nearby residents say they could see flames shooting above the trees. Lorraine and Robert Pedretti live across a lake from the fire. Tires were still putting off smoke around noon. "Last night when I was coming home from church, I spotted it about 8:30, 9 o'clock and drove right past it. Saw the fire engines and saw the smoke," Pedretti said. He had a clear view of just what was burning. "From the road you could see the tires were on fire and trees all the tires were on fire," Pedretti said. He says he first noticed the tires were piling up on the property. "Eight months, six, eight months, maybe more. The pile just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger," Pedretti said.  

VIDEO: A first generation Mexican American Firefighter told KLBK News about her roots and how her heritage has made her a humble and hardworking first responder today. Angelica Aldape, equipment operator on Lubbock Fire Rescue, Quint 16, is one of three Hispanic female firefighters with Lubbock Fire Rescue. Everythinglubbock.com asked Aldape what being a Hispanic Latina means to her. "My culture is very important to me, because my parents worked hard to, to get to the United States. And they worked very hard their entire lives, to build a life for themselves to build a life for me and my brother and sister." Aldape said. Both of Aldape's parents came from Mexico and have always been hardworking people that persevere.  

A vacant building on the Southwest Side was destroyed after a massive fire early Friday morning. The fire started just after 12:30 a.m. at a building along Frio City Road near West Malone. Crews arrived to find heavy flames shooting out of the building. The building eventually collapsed. Firefighters say the building wasn't occupied at the time and there were no injuries reported. CPS Energy crew was on scene to repair some damaged overhead electrical lines. Nobody sustained any power outages due to the fire. The cause is still under investigation.  

PHOTOS: A Shawnee fire truck is heavily damaged after a car crashed through a garage door at the John B. Glaser Fire Station, 6501 Quivira Road, early Thursday morning. Shawnee Deputy Fire Chief Corey Sands says that one of the station's two fire crews was out on an emergency medical call around midnight, when the second fire crew back at the station awoke to a loud sound and found a car had crashed through a garage door and into the front of their parked truck. Firefighters went to work extricating the injured driver from his heavily damaged car. Sands says the man was alert and talking at the scene. Johnson County Med-Act transported the man to Overland Park Regional Medical Center with what Sands described as "serious injuries."  

Nearly 2 million customers in Florida were without power early Friday two days after Hurricane Ian slammed into the state, killing at least 12. Florida's Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie suggested the number could be higher, announcing during a news conference Friday that as many as 21 deaths had been reported in Ian's wake. He said it was yet to be confirmed whether many of those were connected to the storm, however. Ian, which hit Florida's southwest coast as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday, strengthened back into a hurricane after being downgraded to a tropical storm as it barreled toward South Carolina's coast. The hurricane is expected to make landfall in the state later Friday.  

PHOTOS: The Danville Fire Department has just implemented a new system to give its firefighters bragging rights for good work. "Starting this month, we have instituted the "Hall of Flame" Championship Belt," DFD said in a Facebook post. "This will be awarded to the station and shift with the fastest turnout time [each quarter.]" The new effort comes with what DFD said is part of striving to provide the best customer service possible. Response time is par tof good customer service and is measured between when a call is dispatched and when crews are on the way to the call. Station 2's A shift was the first winner of the Hall of Flame. "Who will have bragging rights next?" DFD said.