VIDEO: Several families were burned out of their homes during an early Sunday morning fire in Socorro. It happened overnight in the 10000 block of Mirisa Street, where the multi-family residence was destroyed by flames. Video of the blaze taken by ABC-7 viewer Sixto Ramirez showed the dark sky lit up with an orange glow as fire consumed the home. Socorro firefighters were back at the scene on Sunday afternoon knocking down hot spots that flared up due to the wind. Neighbors told ABC-7 that the burned building contained three apartments with a total of nine people living there. All the residents apparently made it out safe, and the local American Red Cross chapter said it was working to provide assistance to the families who were displaced as a result of the fire. There was no immediate word on a cause for that fire.  

An elderly handicapped man was found dead inside a burning mobile home on the South Side Sunday afternoon. Firefighters responded to reports of a fire on the 7000 block of South Flores around 4:30 p.m. When they arrived at the location, they found a travel trailer with heavy smoke coming out of it. An elderly, handicapped man was found right inside the door deceased. Officials believe the man had been dead for some time. No other injuries were reported and no damage to any other buildings. According to the SAFD, the man's son lives with him but was at work at the time of the fire. Arson will be investigating.  

Texas first responders are getting ready to help their Louisiana neighbors deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, as the historically strong Category 4 storm makes it way through the state following landfall late Sunday morning. Texas A&M Task Force 1 was put in place to be activated late last week by Gov. Greg Abbott after the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested it ahead of the storm. FEMA has now activated that task force as a federal deployment, officials with Texas A&M told WFAA. The task force is one of the federal agency's Urban Search and Rescue Teams. "Our team is organized and ready to assist the residents in areas affected by the storm," officials said. The Frisco Fire Department also sent three of its members as part of that task force to help in the response following the hurricane.  

At the forefront of everyone's mind in the Denton County firefighter community is 36-year-old Stephen Forrest. "I think about Stephen all day every day, all of us do," Denton County Emergency Services District Chief Mac Hohenberger said. "Oh yeah, we are a family. A fire family, you bet." The father of two is fighting COVID-19 at a Denton hospital. Forrest, a young and fit firefighter from Arygle, has been on a ventilator for weeks. Hohenberger said Forrest tested positive a few days after transferring a COVID-19 patient. "Somebody went by to check on [Forrest] and when they saw his oxygen levels and said we need to get you to the emergency room because it's low," Hohenberger explained. That person was interim assistant fire chief Cody Miller. "He's one of my best friends," Miller said.  

COVID-19 continues to spread across the area, and Houston's Fire Department is especially feeling the brunt of this latest delta surge. First responders are stretched thin right now, and it's starting to be felt across the city. "They are battle weary," said HFD Chief Sam Peña. "It's essentially a sustained hurricane response for a year and a half, putting pressure on our ability to maintain operations." Peña said this latest COVID-19 surge is the worst one yet. 60 firefighters are currently out with COVID. Another 40 to 50 are out dealing with lingering effects from the virus. "Even though they aren't positive, we don't have them available for staffing," Peña said. And that is creating problems, because the work hasn't stopped. It's only increased. "We're definitely seeing an unprecedented number of 911 calls," Peña said.  

Prosper Fire Rescue has received the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures to treat patients who suffering severe heart attacks. Each year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack, caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it is critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication. The American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment for heart attacks – starting from when 9-1-1 is called, to EMS transport and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge.  

VIDEO: Several families were burned out of their homes during an early Sunday morning fire in Socorro. It happened overnight in the 10000 block of Mirisa Street, where the multi-family residence was destroyed by flames. Video of the blaze taken by ABC-7 viewer Sixto Ramirez showed the dark sky lit up with an orange glow as fire consumed the home. Socorro firefighters were back at the scene on Sunday afternoon knocking down hot spots that flared up due to the wind. Neighbors told ABC-7 that the burned building contained three apartments with a total of nine people living there. All the residents apparently made it out safe, and the local American Red Cross chapter said it was working to provide assistance to the families who were displaced as a result of the fire.  

VIDEO: Several fire departments in the Finger Lakes region showed off their old fire trucks at the Emergency Vehicle & Antique Fire Show in Spencerport on Sunday. The Ionia Fire Department in Ontario County had one of their firetruck that used from the mid-1950s until Hurricane Agnes in 1972 on display. Jim Kurycki, president of the Genesee Valley Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America (SPAAMFAA), helped organize the show. "We want to preserve the history and show them the history of the firefighting and our heritage," Kurycki said. "Our families have been involved for hundreds of years. It's just kind of nice the equipment come out." Jerry Clement, vice president of SPAAMFAA, explained it's not just about showing off the past, but also hoping to inspire the future.  

Hurricane Ida carved a path across Louisiana that cuts through a region packed with hazardous-chemical plants, raising risks of an environmental disaster along an industrial strip infamously nicknamed "Cancer Alley." About two thirds of Louisiana's industrial sites with toxic chemicals were in Ida's path, with the storm predicted to charge through 590 sites that produce or store those hazardous materials, according to an analysis of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory by the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. "These kinds of toxic industries in the path of these storms are what we call accidents waiting to happen," John Rumpler, a senior director with the group Environment America, said in an interview.  

The Never Forgotten Games return to Redding for their third Cross Fit competition. The chairman of the Never Forgotten Games, Darren Hull, made sure the event went on this year after canceling last year due to COVID-19. The event honors the lives of five first responders from Northern California who lost their lives in the line of duty. Each of their names and pictures hang on banners above the competition. One of their family members said that they felt the support shown at the event was a form of therapy in itself. "He thanks me afterward. He says you know, I've had some friends tell me that I should probably talk to somebody about this, but I haven't," said Hull. So thanks for my first therapy session," Hull continued. "I mean that in and of itself makes it all worth it." Over 50 teams entered the Redding Civic Auditorium to compete in the events.  

COVID-19 is the illness that's caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. To date, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided emergency use authorization to three different vaccines to help protect against COVID-19. The vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States so far use two different types of technology: Messenger RNA (mRNA) and adenovirus vector. Let's break down how each vaccine uses one of these two technologies to help promote immunity against the coronavirus. The included infographic provides a visual representation of how the mRNA and adenovirus vector vaccines work.