It took dozens of firefighters to contain a large fire that ignited inside an apartment building in East Fort Worth Wednesday afternoon. The fire was reported about 4 p.m. at a three-story building in the Maxwell Apartments community located on the 1700 block of Cherbourg Drive, near Eastchase Parkway and Brentwood Star Road. Video from Texas Sky Ranger showed multiple Fort Worth fire crews surrounding the building as thick gray and black smoke billowed from the roof. Fort Worth fire spokesman Mike Drivdahl said a total of about 80 firefighters were called to battle the flames and contain the fire to the single building. No injuries were reported, Drivdahl said, though 24 adults and nine children were displaced as a result of the fire. The fire appeared to have ignited in an apartment on the lower level of the affected building before spreading into the attic. Investigators are working to determine what caused the fire to ignite.  

College Station is starting to narrow down who the next fire chief will be. City staff tell KBTX they will be looking at bringing in candidates for interviews in a few weeks. The goal is to have a finalist selected before City Manager Brian Woods heads on a military deployment. Former Chief Jonathan McMahan resigned from the department last year. KBTX asked College Station Mayor Karl Mooney what he'd like to see in the next fire chief. "You know I just want to see someone who knows a little something about a college town. Because that in itself brings about some challenges you know. Remember our fire department includes our EMT services," said Mooney. "And I say that in a very loving way with regards to our college students and others who come into town to celebrate various activities sponsored by the university." Mayor Mooney said they are looking internally and nationally for the next chief. A finalist could be announced by the end of March.  

Low humidity, drought conditions and high winds are what Emergency Services District #2 Fire Chief, Dale Scott called "a recipe for disaster." A disaster area firefighters have been facing frequently over the past several months. Chief Scott says there have been 25 grass fires so far this year. At this time last year, there were 19. That is a 30% increase. Wind is a major factor and on Wednesday wind gusts reached around 30 mph. "They move very very fast." Scott said. "The embers can fly up to half a mile away from you and start additional fires so it's pretty intense." Not only can the wind start additional fires, it causes fire to spread quickly which makes the fire even more difficult to defeat. That was the case with the fire in the area of the Crosstown Extension and County Road 22 Tuesday night.  

An East Texas fire marshal's office is saddened over the passing on one of their top investigators over the years, a K9 arson dog. K9 officer Nina worked several cases in Gregg County but is most remembered for her work in helping to find evidence in the infamous East Texas church arson cases. She was a tireless worker, and for 14 years Nina was the constant companion of Gregg County fire marshal Mark Moore. "She was a big part of my life. She became more than just my partner. All the cases we had to work," Moore says. She worked numerous cases over the years from homicide scenes to arsons. Even once catching a suspect in the crowd. "There was a young man that thought he would stick around and watch the fire burn. Nina alerted on him and we were able to take him into custody," Mark says. She was crucial in the effort to find evidence in the church fire cases which eventually led to arrests in the case, after she discovered something science couldn't.  

VIDEO: The cause of a fire that destroyed a large home in north Bexar County is still under investigation. The fire happened just after 4 p.m. Tuesday on Twin Peak Street. Crews with the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department were still at the scene of that fire on Wednesday. "This wind is pretty strong with this cold front coming through," said Jerry Bialick, chief of the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department. "We had a lot of hot spots. It's such a large home — over 6,500 square feet. We had a lot of collapse into the structures." Bialick said the department has been changing out its crews every two to three hours all night Tuesday and all day Wednesday. "We were able to clear out some trees so we can put the ladder truck up to cool down some of the spots that are very difficult for us to get to on foot," Bialick said. "There were places we just couldn't get to. They were too dangerous."  

Annaville firefighters saved some unexpected furry friends from a brush fire. Captain Staberg and the Annaville Fire Station ESD 2 responded to the call on Feb 25. The firefighters were able to contain the brush fire and rescue the pups. "Life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation are typically the 3 main priorities for us on the fireground," Annaville Fire Station posted, "Sometimes we are able to do some pretty cool things."  

VIDEO: A DWI suspect crashed into a fire station leaving one firefighter in the hospital overnight. Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena visited the firefighter at the hospital overnight. HFD District Fire Chief Ruy Lozano said the firefighter suffered a head injury, possibly a concussion. Pena later tweeted on Thursday morning that the firefighter had been released from the hospital. This happened 10 p.m. Wednesday at Fire Station No. 18 just off Telephone Road near Lockwood in southeast Houston. The crash left a gaping hole in the brick wall, which has now been covered with plywood. Lozano said the crash could have been much worse since the suspected drunken driver crashed into the kitchen and lounge area of the fire station. He added that moments before the crash the room was full of firefighters who had just cleared out after getting dispatched to a call. One firefighter was left behind and was injured when a refrigerator fell on him due to the crash, Lozano said.  

Denver Fire Chief Eric Tade has resigned his position with the Denver Fire Department. Tade gave his resignation to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock on Monday afternoon. "Chief Tade is dedicated to this department, and his decision that new leadership was needed reflects his devotion to the men and women who serve our residents in the Denver Fire Department," Mayor Hancock said in a statement. "When the Chief told me it was time for a new set of eyes, as difficult of a decision as that was, I knew he meant it, and I let him know that I appreciated his courage and wisdom in recognizing that it was time for a change." Tade will continue to serve in the Denver Fire Department as Assistant Chief. He will leave his position as Chief on March 16. "It has been an honor to serve the people of Denver as their Fire Chief, and I want to thank them, the department and the mayor for this opportunity to lead one of the premier fire departments in the country," Chief Tade said in a statement.  

Five Escambia County fire stations are operating with reduced staffing because of budget constraints. Escambia County Interim Fire Chief Paul Williams sent a memo Friday to all firefighters announcing several changes, including the reduction in staffing levels at the five stations in an effort to cut down on the amount of overtime. The county is five months into its fiscal year, but the fire department has used more than 50% of the $784,018 budgeted for overtime. Five fire stations — Bellview, Cantonment, Ferry Pass, Innerarity Point and West Pensacola — have gone from having four certified firefighters on shift to having three firefighters on shift. In some situations, the change could slow down firefighters in making entry into a building on fire. Escambia County Fire Rescue Capt. Craig Ammons told the News Journal that during a structure fire, regulations require two firefighters to remain outside a building while two firefighters enter a building to fight the fire.  

A Carroll County commissioner with decades of firefighting experience testified in Annapolis on Tuesday in support of a Maryland bill that would require the state fire marshal to enforce residential fire sprinkler requirements. Commissioner Stephen Wantz, R-District 1, who has 30 years of experience as a career firefighter in the state and 44 years as a volunteer firefighter, said Tuesday the Maryland State Firemen's Association asked if he would speak to the importance of House Bill 823 at a hearing of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, and he did. The bill seeks to support an existing mandate that requires sprinklers in newly constructed townhouses and one- and two-family homes. The mandate, signed by then-Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2012, lacked an enforcement component, according to Wantz, and this session's bill intends to remedy that by making it so the Office of the State Fire Marshal enforces sprinkler requirements.  

VIDEO: Over the years, Hoboken has evolved from a gritty, working-class enclave to a town with the highest rents in the state of New Jersey. Hoboken's Hispanic population has dropped by 50% during that time. The gentrification of Hoboken wasn't just the result of market forces and economics. It was fueled by evictions, intimidation, violence, arson and murder. As many as 55 people died in a series of fires in Hoboken between 1978 and 1983 – many of them children and the impoverished. Hundreds more were displaced by fires that were intentionally set. Newspaper headlines of the era described an epidemic of arson. On Jan. 21, 1979, 21 people were killed and 21 more injured in a fire at 131 Clinton St. On Oct. 25, 1981, 11 were killed, including a 9-year-old child, in an unsolved arson at the El Dorado apartment complex on Washington Street.