PHOTOS: An Abilene home was completely destroyed in a fire that spread to a neighboring residence overnight. The first home that caught fire on the 1600 block of Chestnut Street around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday has been deemed a total loss. A press release from the Abilene Fire Department says first responders arrived on scene to find a home fully engulfed in flames with fire also showing at one of the homes next door. After a second alarm was sounded, crews were able to extinguish the fire at the first residence and stop the fire from spreading even further at the second residence. Investigators say the first residence is a total loss and the second residence sustained $30,000 worth of damage. All occupants were able to escape the homes without injury and are currently being assisted by the Red Cross.  

Investigators with the Fort Worth Fire Department arrested a man after he admitted to starting as many as 20 different fires, the department says. On Thursday, the FWFD's Arson Unit responded to a grass fire near Buck Sansom Park, the 20th in the area in a seven-day period. Two of those fires were multi-alarm responses. Upon arrival, investigators observed a man who matched the description of a person of interest in the fires leaving the area and he was taken into custody less than two miles away in the 2800 block of Prospect Avenue. The suspect stood out because he was riding a red bicycle, spokesman Craig Trojacek said. "There was a short little pursuit and they finally got hold of him," Trojacek said. The man, 32-year-old Julio Frausto, confessed to starting Thursday's fire as well as others in the area, the department said.  

A new life-saving device secured by the Port Arthur Fire Department successfully resuscitated its first patient, one day before it was scheduled to enter service. The AutoPulse, an automated CPR device that performs chest compressions through a vest that wraps around the patient, was used Sunday during a cardiac arrest event. Fire Chief Greg Benson said a call came into Station 8, which is located on 9th Avenue, regarding a woman who was choking. She ultimately went into cardiac arrest. Capt. Jeremy Kasko, who was at Station 6 less than two miles away, heard the call on the radio and carried the AutoPulse to the scene. Station 6, Benson said, is one of two locations with an AutoPulse, the other being Station 1 on Woodworth Boulevard. On scene Sunday, with use of the machine, firefighters were able to fully resuscitate the patient within 15 minutes.  

Fire crews were working to get a wildfire in Bastrop County under control on Monday afternoon. Around 1 p.m., the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management said firefighters were called to the scene of the fire in the 300 block of Margarita Dr., off State Highway 21 W. As of 7:15 p.m., the fire was approximately 80% contained with an estimated 96 acres burned. A perimeter was established around the fire and structures in close proximity were being protected, the Bastrop County Office of Emergency Management said. No injuries have been reported. Helicopters were assisting in fighting the fire. The public has been asked not to launch personal drones in the area, as drones are an immediate safety threat to the air crews. Crews will remain on the scene overnight and fire operations will continue on Tuesday.  

In response to local wildfires, a 10-year-old has made it her responsibility to make sure the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Dept has everything they need to do their job, and her results are pretty impressive. "I was talking to my husband on the phone as we were dropping them off, telling him about a fire truck that's broken, we were going to figure out how much we could donate to the fire department to fix the truck," Brandy Vallier said. "Well, she overheard the conversation and said, ‘Well Mom, I have an idea.'" 10-year-old Alli Vallier decided that she would just raise the money to help the fire department with the $1,400 repair. Alli sat outside of her parents' restaurant Wholly Frijole with a money box, and the support she received from the community was incredible.  

VIDEO: The Longview Fire Department deployed four firefighters to help fight fires in West Texas. They are relieving four Longview firefighters that were deployed to the Big Springs area two weeks ago. The Longview Fire Department has about 170 on staff. They require a minimum of 45 firefighters on duty in Longview on any given day. Firefighters who are deployed can sometimes affect certain shifts. "Any time we send people on deployment, if our numbers are low that day then people come in and work overtime. All the overtime, all the money is paid for by the State of Texas. So, it doesn't cost the citizens of Longview anything," said Longview Fire Marshal Kevin May. Sometimes the state will keep a crew for 21 days, but generally firefighters return home after two weeks.  

Sioux Falls police say a man is facing multiple charges after crashing a car into a gas station. Police spokesman Sam Clemens said around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, a man was driving south on Minnesota avenue and tried to turn left onto 41st street. The driver did not complete the turn but instead drove through a gas station parking lot, hitting a gas pump before hitting the front of the building. Authorities say a small fire started as a result of the gas pump being hit, which firefighters were able to extinguish. The driver left the scene before authorities arrived. The suspect, Jeremiah Hudson, 26, from Sioux Falls, was found a short time later in Brandon. Hudson was arrested for Reckless Driving, Hit-and-Run, 1st Degree DUI, and Possession of Marijuana. No injuries have been reported.  

VIDEO: Aug. 1, 2022 marks 15 years since the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring over a hundred others. For at least one Iowan who was responding in the aftermath, it still feels recent. Ankeny Fire Chief James Clack started the job back in 2014, but before that, he held the same job in Minneapolis. Remembering when he first arrived on the scene of the collapse, Clack said, "It was almost surreal. It looked like a movie set, almost. That was the first thing that went through my mind: 'Is this real?'" Aug. 1 has been an important date for Clack for a long time, even before the accident. "I think about it every year. August 1 happens to be my wedding anniversary, so [my wife and I] were going to go out to dinner that night," he said. But those plans were interrupted by a flurry of calls over the radio.  

When a business owner and beloved member of Denver's East Colfax neighborhood was shot outside her apartment late July 15, four calls to 911 — including the first one made — went to Aurora's emergency operations center, most likely because the callers were using Verizon as their wireless carrier. Technology exists to more accurately route 911 calls from cellphones to the correct 911 communications center, but Verizon — one of the three major carriers in the United States — has refused to install it in Denver and other parts of the country. T-Mobile and AT&T put the technology in play in Denver earlier this year, said Andrew Dameron, director of the city's 911 service. But Verizon declined even after city officials asked the company to do so. "Their response was they essentially are not doing the same thing that AT&T and T-Mobile are doing but believe the onus is on the states and 911 authorities to come up with solutions to use that technology," Dameron said.  

Ray Olsen has had it with the pictures. He's been leaning against the front bumper of a 1966 American LaFrance fire truck, posing for photos as best he can, but there's a limit, and Ray, a man for whom vanity is not a strong point, has reached it. "That's it," he says as Deseret News photographer Ben Braun pauses to check the latest digital images on his camera. "I'm sorry," Ray quickly adds, relieved when he sees that Ben, as requested, is packing up his camera gear and he can be confident his torment is over. "I'm not a picture man." What he is is a fire chief, and if the media wants to help him get the word out that the fire truck he's leaning against is going up for auction, he's all for it. In his line of work — namely volunteer firefighting — it's called just part of the job.