A massive fire that scorched more than 100 acres of land was contained Saturday night into Sunday morning by several fire agencies. The fire began near La Prieta Road in rural Starr County southwest of La Rosita on Saturday. Crews from the immediate area responded to the fire at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and attempted to extinguish the flames but were unable to successfully do so. La Rosita FD, La Casita FD, Escobares FD, Starr County FD, Rosita FD, and Roma FD were the local fire agencies on the scene. Reinforcements were sent from the Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS), the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System engine strike team, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service who helped the crews extinguish the fire. The large number of crews worked together throughout Saturday into Sunday morning to put out the flames.  

Bryan's incoming Fire Chief says he is excited to join his new department. Richard Giusti was announced as the new Fire Chief Monday after the city conducted a nationwide search to fill the position. Giusti has been in the fire service for decades and said he's honored to come to Bryan. He's moving on from his position as Assistant Fire Chief at the San Antonio Fire Department. "Only thing I can say to the people that are working for the fire department right now is I am very humbled to have been selected to be the fire chief of such an awesome organization. Our round trip ticket for our firefighters, and the safety of our citizens is always going to be the number one thing that we're going to put first for the Bryan Fire Department," said Giusti. He's been a firefighter for 34 years and believes Bryan was the best fit for his career.  

VIDEO: The San Antonio Fire Department said smoke detectors are what saved a family from being trapped inside a house fire. The fire broke out around 1:15 a.m. Sunday at a house in the 100 block of Hickory Trail on the west side. When fire crews arrived, they found heavy flames and smoke coming from the front of the home and the garage area. The owner of the home told authorities that he heard the smoke detectors go off, and when he went to the front of the home, he saw the smoke and flames. Authorities said the home is a total loss and it appears the fire started in the garage. Firefighters were also able to protect the neighboring house from the flames; the home suffered minor damage. No injuries were reported.  

First responders slipped on ice and scrambled to find kitty litter or sand as they attempted to rescue people after a 133-car pileup on Interstate 35W north of downtown Fort Worth in the early morning hours of Feb. 11. Two and a half hours of audio from scanner audio reveals a chaotic scene that was handled by dozens of calm first responders, from firefighters and paramedics to police and dispatchers. The audio, from the Fort Worth Fire Department, was obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request. The audio is divided into four files and not time-stamped, making it difficult to determine the timeline of the radio traffic. First responders are heard dozens times warning of the slippery conditions. At least one firefighter was tasked with calling every station to ask if they had kitty litter to send to the scene.  

Austin-Travis County EMS has announced the creation of a public safety Unmanned Aerial System program. ATCEMS says the team name "SPARTAN" is an acronym for Special Projects – Aerial Recon – Transport – Aid – Navigation. The SPARTAN Team currently has sixteen qualified UAS Pilots who hold FAA Part 107 certificates and have completed a comprehensive 45-hour public safety remote Pilot in Command Academy that included day and night time training evolutions. In a Thursday statement ATCEMS says of the fleet: "Our UAS fleet includes three (3) Autel EVO II Dual drones that are equipped with a FLIR Boson 640x512 Thermal Cameras. This technology can be used to locate lost or injured patients, assist in locating fire ground hot-spots not readily visible by ground personnel, and provide pilot navigation assistance during low-light and nighttime operations. Additionally, the program possesses 12 other aircraft with varying capabilities – giving us a total fleet of 15 aircraft."  

Region-wide fires have been breaking out due to our severe drought conditions and some counties are planning to issue a burn-ban. "Right now, this minute, as we are doing this interview, we are responding to Falfurrias, Texas for a major fire that's going on," said Shawn Snider, Edinburg fire chief. Edinburg's fire chief says that the average fire calls are about one to two a week but over the past few weeks, "we've been averaging seven to 10 wildfires in Edinburg that we respond to," said Snider. They have also had to assist outside their jurisdiction because of major fire outbreaks in other parts of the region, like yesterday in Alton. "Yesterday in the Alton area, on Las Canas street, we had a 150-acre grass fire, I believe 12 structures were potentially in danger," said Homero Garza, Hidalgo county fire marshal.  

VIDEO: Lynn firefighters dealt with low water pressure and frigid weather conditions as they worked to control a house fire early Monday morning. Firefighters were met with flames – and bitter cold temperatures – when they arrived on Linden Street. No one was in the home when firefighters arrived around 2 a.m. "We had a battle with some cold and windy conditions out here," said Fire Chief Stephen Archer. "Probably the biggest battle we had was water, the water pressure in some of the hydrants. So we struggled to get the appropriate water pressure to knock this fire down." Though Archer said firefighters were concerned about surrounding homes, they never had to be evacuated.  

VIDEO: You may see a new building — a tiny one — on the property of the Ridge Road Fire District's Stoneridge Station. It's a mini firehouse library stacked with resources for the community. Firefighter Brian Shannon says due to the pandemic, many fire departments can't do something they love: head out to classrooms to teach kids about fire safety. "We should do some sort of library, some way to get our fire education out," says Shannon. This miniature firehouse is a "little library," and inside is fire safety resources for the whole community. Replicated and built, by the way, to look just like the firehouse here on Stoneridge Drive. It's a project three months in the making. "It's stuffed with fire safety books that were donated by organizations from across town," says Shannon adding, fire safety never goes out of style. "From ‘stop, drop & roll', ‘stay low & go', and know the ways out of your house," he says. Firefighter Dan Tucker says getting this literature out to neighbors is reading year-round.  

The union that represents Cal Fire firefighters in the Riverside County Unit has filed a workplace-safety complaint with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, alleging that unusual levels of physical fatigue and mental stress have set in because of excessive overtime worked due to inadequate staffing. Even during normal times, state firefighters are required to work significant amounts of overtime, especially during the height of fire season, when they fill in for coworkers who have been assigned to brush fires out of the area for days or weeks at a time. But during the pandemic, 559 Riverside County Unit firefighters have been in quarantine at some point — some multiple times — said Capt. Peter Boctor, the deputy vice president of the statewide union's Riverside district, making the situation worse.  

VIDEO: A firefighter's job often entails more than just fighting fires, but what goes on behind the scenes isn't always apparent. The Fort Walton Beach Fire Department hopes to change that with a new platform for communicating with the public. People can tune in to the Fire Department's new podcast every two weeks to discover more about its inner workings. The Fort Walton Beach Fire Brief podcast also covers current events and frequently asked questions, among other things. The podcast launched a few weeks ago as a part of a collaborative effort between Fire Chief Ken Perkins and Battalion Chief David "DJ" Stone. Fire Station 6 on Hollywood Boulevard has been shut down to anyone not considered an essential visitor for some time, putting a temporary halt to tours and educational activities with children. Meanwhile, topics of interest regarding the Fire Department continue to come up in the community.  

VIDEO: Two firefighters were killed in the line of duty while battling flames that destroyed Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill District on March 13, 2004. Firefighter Richard Stefanakis and Battalion Chief Charles Brace, both 30-year veterans of the department, were killed during the five-alarm blaze that also injured 29 other firefighters. Fire investigators said a backdraft caused an explosion that overwhelmed some of the crew. One firefighter was blown completely out of the building and across the street. The fire was mostly contained within a few hours, but firefighters were still in the building trying to put out hot spots when the 118-foot bell tower suddenly collapsed, killing Stefanakis and Brace. Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1875, was the oldest black Baptist church in the city.