A mixture of salt and water with a splash of vinegar and a jolt of electrochemical activation is supplying Waco firefighters with a safe but powerful disinfectant as they work to keep their equipment and quarters free of COVID-19. Crews at Waco Fire Station No. 11, where the department's hazardous materials unit is housed, have also developed a new spray system for the disinfectant using their air tanks and other common firehouse equipment. Their formula for homemade hypochlorous acid paired with the spray system lets them kill viruses, bacteria and fungus on gear, trucks and high-use firehouse areas in 60 seconds without the need to wipe everything down afterward. "For lack of a better term, we are the science nerds at Station 11, you know the hazmat crew. Because there is a lot of chemistry that goes into working hazmat calls, we knew we could do something during this time," said Waco fire Lt. Philip Burnett, who works at Station No. 11.  

El Paso Firefighter Eduardo ‘Eddie' Arturo Ramirez was laid to rest Saturday morning after collapsing earlier this week while on duty at his fire station. Ramirez, 43, known to fellow firefighters as ‘Lurch,' died while on duty Tuesday, April 21. He'd been with the El Paso Fire Department for 19 years, serving as a Fire Suppression Technician (FST) at Station 8, located at Stanton and Robinson in the Kern Place neighborhood. Saturday's funeral service was not made public due to current social distancing guidelines, however, El Pasoans were able to watch the service online through Funeraria de Angel East Funeral Home and Cemetery. Despite social distancing orders, Ramirez was honored with traditional bagpipers, color guard, and a last call.  

One officer was killed, and the other officer is in critical condition after a Houston Police Department helicopter crashed early Saturday in an apartment complex in north Houston, according to local officials. Officials from the Houston Fire Department, the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff's Office all rushed to the scene, Acevedo said. The pilot and the co-pilot were trapped in the wreckage for a while as crews worked to get them out. Firefighters "worked feverishly to extricate and cut the pilots out. They literally had to cut the pilots out of the wreckage," Acevedo said. Once freed, the officers were airlifted to Memorial Hermann hospital for treatment and both were in critical condition with serious injuries, Acevedo said.  

An investigation is underway after a fire broke out on the Northwest Side early Saturday morning. The fire happened around 2 a.m. between two condos on Donore Square, according to San Antonio Fire Department. The wall of one of the buildings caught fire; however, firefighters were able to get it under control quickly to prevent the flames from spreading, officials said. No one was home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. Residents of the condo were moving in or out at the time of the fire, firefighters said. Damages to the property are unknown and the investigation is still ongoing.  

Kylie Harmon, a 26-year-old firefighter-paramedic, was at work one day in February when she heard about the coronavirus for the first time. Her colleagues speculated about how scary it would be to be a health care worker in China at the time. None of them expected that the virus would soon come to their small, peaceful town of Brady, Texas. Brady is a town of about 5,500 people and it's known best for hunting and being the geographical center of Texas. In Brady, Harman says, "everybody knows everybody." "We were kind of all in denial that we would be affected by this, especially ... living in a small town," Harmon told ABC News. "You don't ever think that, you know, you're going to experience anything like this." Now, Harmon faces sleepless nights as her mind is consumed by thoughts of the coronavirus, COVID-19.  

VIDEO: First responders were able to pull a man from a ditch that collapsed Friday afternoon in Dallas. Dallas Fire-Rescue responded just after 1:15 p.m., to the intersection of Stone Canyon and Meadow roads in the Preston Hollow area. Responding crews learned that the man was working about 16 feet down, when the walls caved in. The man freed himself from a pile of dirt, but needed to be lifted from the hole. He was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but his condition was not released.  

New York has formed a partnership with six other northeast states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, to purchase personal protective equipment, tests, ventilators and other medical equipment, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday. The Governor said the agreement between New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, will increase the state's market power. "We're going to form a consortium with our seven northeast partner states, which buy about $5 billion worth of equipment and supplies," Cuomo said. "Which will make us more competitive in the international marketplace." Our states should never be in a position where we are actively competing against each other for life-saving resources," New Jersey Governor Murphy said. Cuomo said he believes the partnership will save taxpayers money.  

On May 4, 2020, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) will be joining in the celebration of International Firefighters' Day which began on May 4, 1999, after the deaths of five Australian firefighters in a wildland fire. New this year, the NFFF is asking members of the public to light their homes in "red" on May 4-5 to celebrate International Firefighters' Day. They ask that families share their stories on social media using #ShineYourLight4Firefighters. Since March 2020, reported from various outlets across the country, over 30 fire and EMS responders have succumbed to COVID-19, NFFF says. Every firefighter who makes the ultimate sacrifice is one too many. Countless others suffer from physical, mental, and emotional injuries.  

A mixture of salt and water with a splash of vinegar and a jolt of electrochemical activation is supplying Waco firefighters with a safe but powerful disinfectant as they work to keep their equipment and quarters free of COVID-19. Crews at Waco Fire Station No. 11, where the department's hazardous materials unit is housed, have also developed a new spray system for the disinfectant using their air tanks and other common firehouse equipment. Their formula for homemade hypochlorous acid paired with the spray system lets them kill viruses, bacteria and fungus on gear, trucks and high-use firehouse areas in 60 seconds without the need to wipe everything down afterward. "For lack of a better term, we are the science nerds at Station 11, you know the hazmat crew. Because there is a lot of chemistry that goes into working hazmat calls, we knew we could do something during this time," said Waco fire Lt. Philip Burnett, who works at Station No. 11.  

The first wave of emergency medical technicians who contracted COVID-19 and survived are now returning to the job, armed with a first-hand understanding of the disease and a new empathy for the patients. "I was able to be more in touch with my patients who called, because I knew exactly how they were feeling," said firefighter/EMT Shantice Samuels, who has just returned to work in Washington, DC, after recovering from a case herself. "The toughest symptom for me was the shortness of breath, and the body aches," she told CNN affiliate WJLA. "When they're talking to people, the questions they ask put them in better tune with what's going on," said Assistant Fire Chief John Donnelly of the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department, who has also recovered. "The other thing that they're able to do is provide assurance to somebody and say, I've survived this, you can relax, we're going to get you help, these are the things that are going to happen next."  

A fire captain who died in the line of duty in 1953 is no longer forgotten, thanks to some fellow firefighters who became a team of detectives, solving the nearly 70-year-old mystery of his death. Being a firefighter is about a lot more than just hooking up hoses and spraying water. They're also the ones who show up in ambulances, help out at car crashes, and wear a number of other hats many of us never even think of. When the South Salt Lake Fire Department was faced with a nearly 70-year-old mystery they couldn't solve, it turned them into something else: a team of detectives. But if there's one common thread that runs through every one of their jobs, it's being prepared for the future. But for Captain Lyndsie Hauck, it's also about remembering the past. Strolling through the rooms and hallways of the fire stations, nearly every space is filled with a photo — firefighters posing in group shots, firefighters working scenes, buildings engulfed in flames.