VIDEO: A man is in critical condition Thursday morning after a three-alarm fire overnight in northwest Houston. A three-alarm fire calls for triple the amount of firefighters, trucks, and equipment. These fires are considered to be large and usually take longer to completely extinguish. The fire sparked at about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday at Coronado Park Apartments in the 7600 block of Fallbrook Drive near Highway 249. Crews with the Northwest Volunteer Fire Department and Harris County Fire Marshal's Office cleared the scene after six hours, according to District Chief Mike Jochims. A Red Cross representative told ABC13 that the fire displaced about 40 people. Some of the families impacted are made up of five to six family members. The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office determined the cause was an electrical failure.  

Shannon Stephens, the new chief of the Harker Heights Fire Department, started work on Monday. Stephens was a 24-year veteran of the Colony Fire Department and served as an assistant chief in the Colony since 2014. In an interview with the Herald Wednesday, Stephens said, "My first day at HHFD was busy but it was not work. One of the great things about being a firefighter is you get to go to work and not have to go to work, if that makes sense. One of my first impressions was that is the case at HHFD and I want to continue that from me to everyone in the organization." During Stephens' research about the city and the fire department, he learned from the website and other sources about the city's leadership and how they interacted with each other.  

During this hot and humid summer, Grand Prairie Fire Department is getting plenty of heat-related calls. And as they treat patients each day, it's a reminder to take care of themselves in the extreme temperatures. "It's pretty difficult to deal with some days," said Captain James Purdom. "We've all been through hot summers in Texas, but with the humidity being even higher than normal this year, it does make it a little bit more difficult on your body to compensate for that heat." Around the clock, the fire department has an air truck staffed. It's a vehicle used to provide air tank refills for firefighters. But these days, the air truck has been used to help fire crews cool off. Grand Prairie firefighter Doug St. Clair says he is always ready to go when the air truck is needed.  

14 firefighters were battling each other and the elements at the tactical medic tryouts at the Corpus Christi Police Department's training facility. The training was to see which firefighter had the potential to become the 12th member of the department's SWAT team. The physical part of the test included a lot of running along with pushups and pulling dummies along the ground -- everything that would be involved in an actual SWAT call. "This is actually our greatest and biggest turn out that we have had. We have 14 applicants that are trying out for one, just one spot," said Corpus Christi Fire Department Capt. Tom Cruz. Everyone was pushed to their limits under a hot sun and the ever-present South Texas humidity, something CCFD firefighter Christopher Sanders said can help set the tone for the training.  

At least one person was rescued Wednesday as firefighters battled a large fire that spread to multiple apartment buildings in Hollywood. The fire broke out around 5:21 p.m. at a building on 7764 W Hollywood Blvd., just east of Fairfax Avenue. Investigators said two vehicles were spotted burning in a carport. The fires then spread to two of three apartment buildings in the area. Steve Nelson, who manages a building across the street, reported seeing "cars exploding" in the back area. "It was pretty intense for all of us," he said. "The smoke ... you couldn't see." AIR7 HD captured a two-story building engulfed in flames. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire in that building caused severe damage to the attic and 16 apartment units on the second floor, including "structural compromise and partial collapse."  

VIDEO: When someone goes missing at one of the Triangle's many lakes, the search process can be long and put first responders at risk as well, but the Wake Forest Fire Department is using the help of an underwater drone to get the job done faster. Firefighter Korey Floyd said the department has been using the technology for two years and has assisted in searches across the state. "Without this, you have to wait for a dive team to come and with a dive team, you're limited on personnel and also the capability of what they can do," Floyd said. Earlier this week, the underwater drone helped recovered the body of a man who went missing after an accident during a severe thunderstorm on Falls Lake. Floyd said the drone allows for longer searches, in deeper water and more extreme temperatures.  

VIDEO: A local fire department has become the unintentional catalyst of conversation after changing their drug policy and allowing its firefighters to use CBD products. Despite CBD being legal in Indiana since March of 2018, the decision for White River Township Fire Department to change their policy to allow its staff to use CBD products has turned out to be quite controversial among Indiana's firefighting industry. The White River Township Fire Department runs like any other firehouse. Firefighters spend their time training, working on equipment around the firehouse and responding to emergencies. But when they go home, these firefighters are able to unwind from their long shift or treat side effects from their demanding job with CBD products.  

PHOTOS: The apocalyptic scene is still burned into Mike Buttery's memory 50 years later: Black smoke billowing from the top floor of the Military Personnel Records Center; bits of paper wafting through the air as dozens of firefighters tried desperately to stem the inferno. "They'd hit it (the paper) with the water, and the water would knock it back up in the air, and then it would float around some more out there," Buttery, then a janitor at the center, recalls of the wind-whipped paper swirling around the massive six-story building outside Saint Louis. As he watched from a safe remove, Buttery could only think of the millions of veterans — like himself — whose records were being consumed and "how in the world would they get their benefits."  

An expanding, intensifying heat wave prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 112 million people on Thursday morning, with no letup in sight for some areas. Why it matters: The heat will topple longstanding records, especially in the Southwest, and the duration of this event that's set to continue well into next week increases public health dangers. The big picture: This heat wave is already notable for its scope, intensity and endurance. An area of high pressure aloft, also known as a heat dome, is moving into place over the Southwest, but will influence a much broader area. The Southwest will see the longest-lasting impacts, and parts of Texas are coming off their hottest June on record. Alerts are up from the Atlantic to Pacific coasts, and include nearly all of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, California and Arizona.