Harris County officials and firefighters are investigating a large industrial fire at the 1000 block of Lakeside Drive in the Channelview area Tuesday afternoon. The two-alarm fire broke out around 4 p.m. Residents in the area reported hearing loud noises and then seeing a huge plume of black smoke fill the air. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the fire was extinguished around 7 p.m. A shelter-in-place order that was issued for residents in Lakeside Park Estates and Lakeview Homes has now been lifted, Hidalgo said. Rachel Moreno with the Harris County Fire Marshall's office said the building is owned by K-Solv, a chemical distribution company. Mikie Sopczak, the director of environmental health, safety, and security for K-Solv said the fire started during a drum transfer operation, which is the transfer of one product into a smaller container. Sopczak said during the transfer there was an ignition source that caused an intense fire.  

Around 1:30 Wednesday morning, Paris fire was called to a structure fire on West Houston. When they arrived, they found 5 structures in flames. "It's just horrible," said Othave Nickerson, Paris resident. Nickerson has lived in his Paris home with his wife for over 20 years. "My wife woke up I guess about 2:00 and she said ‘I smell smoke.' I was like ‘ah no you don't.' So I just turned over, and she said ‘it's a fire out there!' And so I got up, looked out the window and yes it was a fire next door in the backyard," said Nickerson. Officials say the fire started in a storage shed behind one of the houses, and spread quickly to another storage shed and 3 houses from high winds. Paris Assistant Fire Chief Bob Rast says the community should take caution with this time of year's high winds and dry air.  

Firefighters are searching for a missing 84-year-old man following a massive house fire near Lytle early Thursday morning, the Bexar County Fire Department said. The fire was called in just before 4 a.m. at a home in 15400 block of Old Frio City Road, not far from Wisdom Road. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found the home engulfed in flames. According to a spokesman for the Bexar County Fire Department, a woman and her teenage daughter were able to escape the flames with minor injuries. An 84-year-old man who also lives with the women however is unaccounted for, fire officials said. Crews are presently searching through the debris to try and find the missing man. Authorities said a nearby shed and vehicle were also damaged by the early morning fire. The mom and daughter have since been taken to University Hospital to be checked out.  

VIDEO: A suspect has been arrested for starting the fire that caused damage to the Austin Fire Department's iconic Buford Fire Tower in downtown Austin. David Rosenblum, 58, has been arrested for arson. According to court documents, surveillance video shows Rosenblum intentionally start a fire at a dwelling made of sticks and other materials found in the area that was near the historic tower. Shortly after starting the fire, Rosenblum pushes his wheelchair across the street and sat down next to his friend to watch the fire. Rosenblum allegedly left before firefighters and police officers arrived. AFD first reported the flames as a structure fire just after 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 1. When firefighters arrived, they found the fire creeping up the south side of the tower. The fire was quickly extinguished, according to the Austin Fire Department. No injuries were reported and the damage was mostly contained to the exterior and windows of the tower. Damage is estimated at $12,000.  

A Howe family lost their home Monday and are staying in a motel courtesy of the Red Cross. Sharron Griffin said she finished working from home that day, went to the kitchen to make herself lunch, walked back to her bedroom and started smelling smoke. She walked outside and saw it pouring out from under her home. "The fire was contained to just my bedroom but it destroyed practically everything in there," Griffin said. The fire was contained to Griffin's bedroom but in the moment Griffin said she "didn't panic." "i lost some pictures," Griffin said. Both Howe and Van Alstyne fire departments responded to the fire. But Grayson County Fire Marshal John Weda said it was a discarded cigarette butt and a strong south wind that blew it into an exposed wood floor joist that caused the fire.  

McKinney Fire Department Battalion Chief Tino Paredes has been selected to participate in an elite leadership program. Next month, Paredes will take part in a weeklong continuing education program, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) Fire Service Executive Officer Program, according to a news release. The elite program provides advanced professional development to sharpen leadership skills of executives in the fire service, according to the department. "We are so proud of Battalion Chief Paredes for earning this opportunity and look forward to the skills he will bring back to our fire department," said McKinney Fire Department Assistant Chief RB Alley in a release. The program will feature professors from Texas A&M's Mays Business School and include topics like creativity and innovation; managing change and transition; budgeting and stress management.  

A massive four-alarm fire has destroyed an apartment complex in West Windsor Township, New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-two people from seven families are now without homes. With daylight Thursday morning, the severe damage the fire caused could be seen. The roof is gone from the building and the siding is melted away. The flames broke out at about 3:30 p.m. in the unit block of Taylor Court at Building 8 of the Avalon Princeton Junction Apartments. Views from Chopper 6 showed flames shooting through the roof of the three-story apartment building. "They had heavy fire on arrival from the second and third floor and it quickly extended from there," said Lt. Mike McMahon with the West Windsor Township Police Department. Roughly 200 firefighters battled the blaze for four hours. A fourth alarm was struck just before 5 p.m. before it was brought under control an hour later.  

VIDEO: Oklahoma State University computer science students have created new technology to help fight the pandemic. They created a virtual reality simulator that allows nurses and doctors to train to administer COVID-19 tests and even hook patients up to a ventilator without ever being exposed to the virus. Dr. Joe Cecil, Professor of Computer Science at OSU, says his students created the technology in record time. "We knew there was a shortage of well-trained nurses and first responders who could interact safely with patients. The goal was very simple. Create these simulators, give them to the hospitals so that the nurse trainees as well as the nurses can actually be prepared," said Dr. Cecil. Senior Sam Kauffman is the leader of the team. "It really makes me feel good that I'm doing something that benefits the pandemic," said Kauffman. Nurses from Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas have tested the technology and helped the team improve it.  

PHOTO: It doesn't take much looking to see that Clay County is extremely military friendly. The county has numerous veterans, the City of Green Cove Springs holds several events honoring veterans and is the home of the TAPS Memorial. Camp Blanding is also in the county and is home to many active duty and reserve service men and women. Many personnel assigned to Naval Air Station Jacksonville live in Clay County. Veterans are truly respected and honored. With that respect, appreciation for veterans is shown every day and in different ways throughout the county. One of those ways is by Fire Station 25, which is located at Camp Blanding. Fire trucks are usually painted red and gold or red and white, to be easily seen from a distance as they go about their life and property-saving duties. For more than one year now, one of the engines at Station 25 however, has a completely different look to it.  

VIDEO: The Bowling Green Fire Department will use a decommissioned Comp Air Jet for training purposes. The jet had been decommissioned at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport for several years and the airport donated it to the fire department. The aircraft was transported to its new concrete pad Wednesday morning. Susan Harmon, the Airport Manager, says "I'm very excited for the opportunity that the airport was able to do this and the fire department will be able to utilize it in many ways. I think it will also benefit the community, pilots and users of the airport, so that the firefighters have the full capacity training that they're allowed to have. I think this is a whole new level than what we've had here in Bowling Green before." Harmon added this will allow the firefighters to do real-life training.  

VIDEO: Following last month's massive fireworks explosion in an Ontario neighborhood which left two men dead and caused millions of dollars in damage, San Bernardino County Thursday was unveiling a new illegal fireworks reporting system. The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District and other local law enforcement agencies were holding a news conference Thursday morning to launch a new system which allows the public to report illegal fireworks. Illegal Firework Reporting System. Once a complaint is filed, it alerts law enforcement to conduct a follow-up investigation. Then the reports go into a database designed to assist agencies in "targeting the problem areas, thus focusing our patrol and interdiction resources to those specific areas," SBCFPD said in a news release.