With the COVID-19 Delta variant spreading and moving fast in Texas, first responders are once again getting infected. Dallas Fire-Rescue and the Dallas Fire Fighters Association reported Monday that 31 members of the department are now quarantined due to the virus. Per DFFA, 21 firefighters as of Monday have active cases, and 10 others have had recent exposure to the virus. DFFA President Jim McDade is worried about staffing shortages, leading to members of his union getting overworked. Those concerns are amplified by a legal tightrope the department is trying to navigate due to Gov. Greg Abbott's recent executive order banning local municipalities or counties from mandating masks. Current CDC guidelines say that anyone fully vaccinated should get tested 3-5 days following known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and should wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days after exposure or until a negative test result.  

Austin firefighters last week participated in a trailblazing training program designed to better protect homes from widespread wildfire devastation, classes that local wildfire experts say will save lives when flames threaten the area. Randy Denzer, vice president of the Austin Firefighters Association, said he was one of several wildfire experts across the nation who came together seven years ago to develop the new training exercises. The classes taught to two dozen Austin firefighters last week were the final of five beta tests needed before the program could be approved by the International Association of Fire Fighters. The program will now be taught to firefighters in high-risk areas such as California and even parts of Canada. "It's the latest and greatest thing," Denzer said Thursday. "  

After serving the City of League City for 7 years and a career of 40 years, League City Fire Chief Gary Warren retired Friday, July 30. During his tenure with the City, Chief Warren made a significant impact by making the fire department stronger, reducing response times, and increasing volunteer numbers to their highest levels. Some of his major accomplishments include: Developing a stipend program to add a day and night crew using our own volunteer firefighters. This program provides the City with at least one fire crew on duty 20 hours a day; Advocating to increase firefighter pension contribution to improve retention rates in the department; Obtaining an ISO 1 recommendation for fire insurance premium calculations, saving residents on fire insurance premiums...  

The pandemic has taken a huge toll on EMS and other first responders, many of whom already dealt with so much trauma in their industry. That's what a recent survey released by the Department of State Health Services says. A survey of about 1,467 individuals by Project HEROES (Houston Emergency Opioid Engagement System) shows statistics on how the pandemic has affected the Texas EMS workforce and other first responders. 60% of the surveyors said they currently exhibit symptoms of a significant mental disorder, frequently including physical symptoms, sleep disturbance, and anger. 58% of respondents who are experiencing or diagnosed with a mental health disorder are or have been treated. 24% of respondents who have a substance use disorder (SUB) have sought treatment.  

The shortage of people to answer emergency calls in Fort Worth grew to a new high in July. Thirty-nine positions were open at the end of the month, according to a report scheduled to be delivered to city council members Tuesday, August 3. That's up from 34 positions open in June, when the understaffing became more publicly known. Most of the 911 call-takers and dispatchers are resigning the report says, pointing to stress, mandatory overtime, culture and personality conflicts, and low pay as the reasons for leaving. A hiring push has attracted more than 400 applicants for the open jobs. The first eight potential hires though, would not start until possibly the end of August. Training so they can work on their own could take another three months.  

Sunday The Woodlands Fire Department TWFD responded to two major motor vehicle accidents. Just before 2:00am The Woodlands Fire Department along with South Montgomery County Fire Department and Spring Fire Department responded to I45 main lanes just north of Rayford Road on a two vehicle collision caused by a wrong way driver. Firefighters had to extricate several of the patients from the heavily damaged vehicles. Two people died in the accident and Montgomery County Hospital District transported another 4 to local hospitals, 3 of whom had critical injuries. The second incident occurred at 3pm when a vehicle left the road and rolled over on College Park/242 near the intersection of Alden Woods. Callers reported that the driver was trapped inside.  

In a scary scene on a crowded Chicago expressway this past weekend, a motorcycle crash ended in a blaze of flames. What happened was brazen, risky, and illegal – to select three relevant adjectives. And CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke Monday with a woman who got trapped in the middle of the mess. The motorcyclists didn't perform their stunts on closed roads or a professional course Saturday afternoon – they did it right on the Stevenson Expressway. Video shows one rider popping a wheelie and touching his feet together in midair. Moments later, he loses control while trying to touch the ground. Another rider violently flips over the crashed bike, causing a fiery pileup. Other riders stopped to help and are even seen patting the fire out on one of the injured drivers  

PHOTOS: On this day more than four decades ago, an inferno at a Sheepshead Bay supermarket claimed the lives of six firefighters — and today, as in years past, the first responders' friends and families convened at St. Brendan's Roman Catholic Church on Avenue O to commemorate the occasion and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice that fateful day. On Aug. 2, 1978, firefighters from nearly a half-dozen fire companies headed to the Waldbaum's on Ocean Avenue between Avenues Y and Z to battle a blaze in the summer heat. The fire broke out at about 8:40 am within the business, which was undergoing renovations and the time but still open to customers. Six firefighters fell to their deaths when the roof of the supermarket collapsed underneath them, and an additional 34 firefighters and one emergency services police officer were injured as they battled back the blaze — six of whom also plunged into the flames, but were ultimately rescued.  

VIDEO: A fire truck crashed with another car en-route to a call, causing the back cab of the truck to crash into a building. The impact injured a firefighter who was steering the back end of the truck at the time. There were terrifying moments Outside Riggs Real Estate in Stockton early Monday morning. Just after 2 a.m., the fire truck hit a car and the tiller on the truck's trailer — with the tiller driver inside — crashed into the office. "People came out right away to secure the building," said Theresa Dread with Riggs Real Estate. Four Stockton firefighters were headed to a call on Solano. The crew was coming from Station 4, less than a two-minute drive from where the crash happened. It's not clear whether the sirens were on at the time. Dread showed CBS13 the office surveillance footage that captured the moment of impact, just out of view.  

With the COVID-19 Delta variant spreading and moving fast in Texas, first responders are once again getting infected. Dallas Fire-Rescue and the Dallas Fire Fighters Association reported Monday that 31 members of the department are now quarantined due to the virus. Per DFFA, 21 firefighters as of Monday have active cases, and 10 others have had recent exposure to the virus. DFFA President Jim McDade is worried about staffing shortages, leading to members of his union getting overworked. Those concerns are amplified by a legal tightrope the department is trying to navigate due to Gov. Greg Abbott's recent executive order banning local municipalities or counties from mandating masks. Current CDC guidelines say that anyone fully vaccinated should get tested 3-5 days following known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and should wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days after exposure or until a negative test result.