A Lubbock firefighter and police officer are dead and one firefighter remains in serious condition after they were struck by a vehicle while working a wreck on Saturday morning. Chief Floyd Mitchell called it a tragic day for firefighters and the men and women of law enforcement. Lubbock has lost some heroes, he said in a news conference Saturday morning. The officer and firefighter who died have been identified as 27-year-old Nicholas Reyna with LPD and the firefighter was 39-year-old Lt. and Paramedic Eric Hill. The firefighter who is in critical condition has been identified as 30-year-old Matt Dawson. LPD and LFR responded to a single-vehicle rollover crash on northbound I-27 and Drew Street. That call came in at 8:19 a.m. The vehicle was traveling southbound and crossed over into the northbound lanes and came to rest.  

VIDEO: First responders lined up along I-30 in Fort Worth to honor two fallen heroes from west Texas Sunday afternoon. Lubbock Police Officer Nicholas Reyna and Lubbock Firefighter Eric Hill were killed Saturday morning while responding to a crash. At 8:36 a.m. Jan. 11, first responders arrived at a single-vehicle rollover crash on North Interstate 27. While working the incident, a second vehicle traveling southbound crossed over into a median — prompting their assistance. While working both crashes, officials said a third vehicle traveling southbound crossed over into the median — striking Reyna, Hill as well as a second firefighter Matt Dawson, who is currently in critical condition. Both victims were taken to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office for official autopsies. And the entire way there, the two fallen first responders were escorted by multiple law enforcement agencies.  

Battalion Chief James "Jimmy" Vogel has spent the past 40 years serving the community as a member of the Seguin Fire Department. On Friday, with a call over the radio to the city's dispatch, that service came to a close. "Seguin Battalion Chief Jimmy Vogel has proudly served the city of Seguin for the past 40 years," the dispatcher said. "He's been an exceptional leader and role model to several firefighters and community members. On behalf of the Seguin Fire Department and the city of Seguin, we thank you for your years of wish you a happy retirement. You will be greatly missed." Vogel began his service by joining a relatively new volunteer fire department in the county. New Berlin Fire Department had just started, and Vogel signed up to help.  

Gainesville Fire-Rescue's Swift Water Rescue Team snatched six people - three adults and three children - from two cars that had been washed into rising floodwaters late Friday night, Jan. 10. The six were taken to the hospital to be checked out, GF-R Capt. Randy Prestage said as his crew loaded rescue boats onto trailers on scene around midnight Friday night. He described the children as "little bitty" - ages 4, 6 and 7. Two cars remained in a field near the end of Dairy Lane south of Gainesville, slowly being submerged in the rising waters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. While the rescue team is frequently called to flooded areas throughout Texas, this was the first rescue the team had carried out near Gainesville since 2007, Prestage said.  

VIDEO: A homeowner on the city's northeast side was treated for smoke inhalation after a fire spread through the home Saturday morning. According to an official with the San Antonio Fire Department, crews were called out to the 2700 block of Old Moss Road just before 3 a.m. When they arrived, the home was 'fully involved.' The fire reportedly quickly spread throughout the home. Firefighters fought the flames, but were unable to save the home and was declared a 'complete loss.' The homeowner was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. A firefighter was also treated at the scene.  

The Australian fires have some people in El Paso wondering if a large brush fire could happen in our area. The West Valley Fire Department in 2019 said they responded to a total of 77 fires in the Upper Valley Area. More than half of those fires were brush fires. "The terrain and everything in El Paso area and the great deserts in the Southwest is a little bit different than what you're going to find in Australia or LA or one of those places that you read about having the big fires. But we do get some large brush fires that are 100 acres in size," said Boyd Smith the Assistant Fire Chief of West Valley Fire. West Valley fire is prepared to battle brush fires with their specialized brush fire engines. Most brush fires happen in areas where fire hydrants might be scarce, which is why brush engines are able to carry their own water and are capable of four-wheel drive.  

VIDEO: A massive fire ripped through several buildings, including a pair of apartment complexes under construction in downtown Bound Brook Sunday night, according to fire officials. Firefighters, who continued to battle the blaze past 11 p.m., said there were no serious injuries. A Bound Brook firefighter was treated for a sprained ankle. The fire broke out on East Main Street near Mountain Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. Photos and video showed roaring flames spreading to both sides of the street and consuming a building in the borough's downtown commercial district. In addition to the construction sites, Bound Brook Police Chief Vito Bet said the fire spread to two houses and an electronics store, as well. "The whole thing caught flame quickly," Bet said. The fire "was so hot it blew to the other new building under construction across the street. We're gonna be out here for awhile. It keeps rekindling."  

The Colorado Department of Public Safety is using a high-tech airplane to try and solve the mystery of the drones flying in Northeast Colorado. They call it a multi-mission aircraft and it's usually used to help fight fires. "We're charged with public safety as one of the missions from our department. That's how we operate, to support whatever the Department of Public Safety is going to need for a mission," said Rocco Snart, the Planning Branch Chief for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. "Our biggest mission is supporting initial attack and detection. We can see the heat through there with the infrared. We can see the edge of where the fire line is." The plane belongs to the Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control, which probably has you wondering why a fire fighting plane is out looking for drones.  

A group of Detroit firefighters who made national headlines by posing for a group photo in front of an empty, burning home on New Year's Eve will be disciplined for what the city's fire commissioner described as a "momentary lapse in judgement." Detroit Fire Commissioner Eric Jones said an investigation into the incident has wrapped up. It determined that firefighters who responded to the blaze initially went into the home to fight the fire, but were ordered out and told to fight the fire defensively - from the outside only - because of safety concerns over the home's structural integrity, according to the Associated Press. "During this transition from offensive operations to defensive operations, a suggestion was made to take a photo, with the retiring battalion chief, in front of the building," Jones said, calling their actions "inappropriate behavior."  

VIDEO: North Little Rock has invested millions of dollars in its Fire Department over the past few years to create one of the most prepared disaster organizations in the state, officials said. The department has received more than $36 million over the past two years, and part of that is being used to beef up its specialized units. The hazardous materials and special operations teams received $177,000 from the city in 2019, an increase from $151,000 in 2018. The hazardous materials team alone is expected to get $87,000 this year, and Fire Department officials say that money is being spent to equip teams with the best materials available. The department currently has the equipment needed to respond to anything from water rescues to natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks, said Beau Buford, assistant fire chief.  

The Myrtle Beach Fire Department hosted its first companion fire academy on Sunday to show the people closest to them what they do every day on the job. The wives and significant others of 14 different firefighters suited up in their own turnout gear, went through the agility training course, climbed up the ladder on the engine, and even drove a fire engine at Sunday's academy. Chief of the Myrtle Beach Fire Department, Tom Gwyer says it's important to show the people who support the firefighters at home what they do on the job. "We try to disassociate our personal lives from our professional life, but some of the things that that we see, some of the things that we experience on the job, inevitably, we take home. Without the support of our family to be there it would make the job much more difficult," Chief Gwyer said.