After a successful trial period, Lubbock Fire Rescue is installing more devices on its trucks that will alert nearby drivers of their presence on the scene of an incident or while on their way to it. The goal is to get drivers to focus on what's ahead for their safety and the safety of first responders. "After the accident on January 11, we're very proactive in every avenue possible on how can we increase the safety for our personnel, as well as just the citizens out there," Captain Phillip Grandon said. "A vehicle accident, especially on a high-speed road, is hazardous to everyone involved." LFR has currently installed HAAS Alert transponders on 1/3 of its fleet and anticipates all necessary apparatus to have the technology in about a month. When the emergency lights are activated on those vehicles, members of the public who use the Waze app will be notified of those trucks.  

Funeral services will be held Saturday for longtime firefighter and paramedic Lester Garza. Garza died last week after a long battle with cancer. He was 61. Garza was one of the founding members of the Corpus Christi Fire Department's Care T-Shirt campaign, which raises money for firefighters battling cancer. As one his final wishes, Garza will be carried on the back of the CCFD's pink firetruck to his final resting place. Garza was a member of the CCFD for 29 years before retiring in 2016. He also served as a paramedic with Driscoll Children's Hospital's Transport Team for 18 years. His friend said he loved his occupation, and that included raising money and awareness for cancer research through the Care campaign. According to Carlos Torres, President of the Corpus Christi Firefighters CARE group, Garza was noble in his cause up until the very end.  

A paramedic has died in a crash on Wednesday night. A UT Health ambulance collided into the side of an 18-wheeler around 7 p.m. on Hwy 69, north of Greenville, DPS Sgt. Kyle Bradford confirmed. The rock-hauler 18-wheeler was backing out of a private drive across two lanes of Hwy 69, and the southbound ambulance was unable to stop in time to avoid the crash. The ambulance struck the trailer. The ambulance driver died at the scene. The other paramedic was taken to a Tyler hospital in serious condition. The driver of the 18-wheeler was not injured. Officials say no patients were in the ambulance when the crash happened. UT Health East Texas released the following statement: "We are devastated by the loss of one of our team members who was involved in a two-vehicle accident while on duty Wednesday night. Another crew member was also injured."  

VIDEO: Del Mar College hosted a fire training exercise for academy recruits this Wednesday on its Windward Campus. 10 cadets took part in a demonstration of their firefighting skills as they completed their program. The cadets dressed in full firefighting gear as they took the final steps toward their training. Their ages ranged from 18 to more than 30 years old. 3News spoke with Cadet Eric Barhan about this year's class. "We've been fortunate enough to get hands-on experience," Barhan said. "A lot more than previous classes from what we've heard. So we've enjoyed it and it's beneficial in the end when we put everything together, and do what we're taught, and it's been a rewarding experience." Barhan said that being able to pull from different age groups makes his experience even more invaluable.  

Portland Fire Chief Jeff Morris headed to the Portland City Council last week to ask for the city to replace their 15-year-old utility vehicle which serves as the tow vehicle for the department's hazardous materials trailer as well as their technical rescue trailer. "Currently we have a 15-16-year-old pickup truck that's met its life expectancy," Morris said. "The fire department utilizes a multi-purpose vehicle or utility truck that serves in a multitude of capacities. "That vehicle is used for the guys to go to training classes and is also used for bringing supplies to fire scenes. More importantly what this truck is going to do, based on the specifications we sent to the vendors, is this vehicle will also become a tow vehicle." He said that currently the hazardous materials trailer can only be pulled by their tanker truck which takes it out of service when doing so.  

Lubbock area volunteer firefighters were called out to a grass fire which threatened nearby homes and structures Wednesday morning. The fire was along County Road 1000 near Highway 84 (northwest of Shallowater). The Lubbock County Sheriff's Office said the Texas Forest Service has been contacted for a request to provide a water tanker. West Carlisle, Shallowater, New Deal, Wolfforth, Buffalo Springs Lake and Woodrow were among the fire departments called to the scene. Lubbock County road crews came out to help with creating fire breaks. The fire was mostly put out before 12:30 with work continuing on some hot spots at that time. Officials said no injuries were reported and no structures were burned.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Crews responded to a fire at the U-haul Storage and Moving Facility on Ragland Road November 17, 2021. The cause of the fire is still undetermined. Fire Prevention Bureau Captain Ernest Parsons confirmed there was no one in the building when the fire started and there are no injuries. When it came to fighting the fire, Parsons said fire crews were dealing with high winds that created some challenges. "High wings is always a problem because it misdirects your hose streams so it can affect reach and the angle that you are flowing so it can be a challenge," Parsons said. Parsons said an investigation into the cause of the fire will happen in the next few days.  

After a successful trial period, Lubbock Fire Rescue is installing more devices on its trucks that will alert nearby drivers of their presence on the scene of an incident or while on their way to it. The goal is to get drivers to focus on what's ahead for their safety and the safety of first responders. "After the accident on January 11, we're very proactive in every avenue possible on how can we increase the safety for our personnel, as well as just the citizens out there," Captain Phillip Grandon said. "A vehicle accident, especially on a high-speed road, is hazardous to everyone involved." LFR has currently installed HAAS Alert transponders on 1/3 of its fleet and anticipates all necessary apparatus to have the technology in about a month. When the emergency lights are activated on those vehicles, members of the public who use the Waze app will be notified of those trucks.  

America's drug epidemic is the deadliest it has ever been, new federal data suggests. More than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States during the 12-month period ending April 2021, according to provisional data published Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a new record high, with overdose deaths jumping 28.5% from the same period a year earlier. Opioids continue to be the driving cause of drug overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, caused nearly two-thirds (64%) of all drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending April 2021, up 49% from the year before, the CDC's 's National Center for Health Statistics found. The Covid-19 pandemic and the rise in use of fentanyl have both been key contributors to the rising overdose death toll, experts say. The latest provisional data on drug overdose deaths captures those occurring in May 2020 through April 2021.  

VIDEO: The nation's capital is suffering a surge in the number of fires and fire department responses to encampments for people experiencing homelessness. A News4 I-Team investigation revealed fire department calls more than doubled at encampments already this year. The problem is posing a risk to the safety and health of people living in encampments and in nearby neighborhoods. "I've seen several tents on fire, burned up," said Kory Walker, who has been living at an encampment on O Street NW for multiple years. The fires are often accidentally ignited by makeshift heating equipment, including grills, space heaters and cooking equipment, said Walker. Others, he said, are deliberately set during disputes between people living in encampments. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Rachelle Nigro said the encampment near New Jersey Avenue and O Street NW had several large fires in recent months.  

VIDEO: Many firefighters will go their whole careers without seeing a train crash, derailment, or train hazard spill. But it's the one time it does happen, and being prepared for it, that can mean the difference between life and death. "You can actually YouTube a video of a tank car imploding," said a Norfolk Southern Railway instructor. "It's a rail car that's being off loaded out of a facility, wasn't vented appropriately, once it got enough liquid out and there was more vapor space in that car. That vacuum finally overcame the structural integrity of that car and it sucks it in like a coke can." Many thousands of tons of chemicals and fuels are transported on Atlanta railways. Firefighters got a rare chance to learn about the carriage systems that transport these hazardous materials.