Officials say one person has died in a fire at a group home in southwest Houston. The fire was reported near Gladewell Drive and High Star Drive around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Authorities say seven people were in the home at the time of the fire. A man in his 60s died. His cause of death has not been determined. Six people were able to get out of the house and are displaced. Arson investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.  

Dallas firefighters worked for more than three hours Sunday to extinguish a large fire at a vacant building in north Oak Cliff near Bishop Arts. Dallas Fire-Rescue got a call shortly before 9 a.m. for a smoke odor in the area around the 400 block of North Beckley Avenue, near North Zang Boulevard, and found smoke coming from a two-story commercial building. Firefighters went inside to search for the source of the smoke and found fire smoldering in the floors and walls. Additional crews were called out and flames soon started showing from the second floor of the building, Dallas Fire-Rescue said. Between 60 and 70 firefighters responded and extinguished the fire just after noon. Firefighters are being rotated to ensure they stay safe in the heat. The nonprofit organization the Box 4 Fire Buffs was also out at the blaze to provide cooling stations and other supplies to the crews, department spokesman Jason Evans said.  

The Texarkana, Texas City Council voted unanimously Monday to put a pay raise for the city's firefighters on the November 3, 2020 election ballot. According to Texarkana Texas Firefighters Association President Scott Robertson, Texarkana, Texas firefighters are among the lowest-paid in East Texas. Robertson said about 90 percent of the firefighters at TTFD are union members. In this case, the union's job is to compare pay wages to other departments to make sure there's equality in compensation. "To be competitive, so we're not losing our guys, we don't have any turnovers. We have lost guys to Longview and to Red River Army Depot because they make more. You know, the guys stay here and they can't afford anything. They got young families and they take off for better pay," said Robertson. Robertson said the firefighters have been given only two pay raises in the last nine years.  

New video posted publicly to Snapchat over the weekend shows crowded Houston area restaurants and bars. According to Houston Fire Marshals, they've received more than 10,000 social distancing complaints since mid-March. "We're averaging about 80 complaints per day," said Houston Fire Marshal Alfredo Martinez. "We just cleared 10,000 complaints." La Fogata on Eastex Freeway was forced to close Saturday night for violating COVID-19 restrictions. We're told between 200-300 people were inside their establishment. "As we were investigating this, and looking into their permits, the [La Fogata] manager made an announcement that they were shutting the event down," said Martinez. "We just let that happen. They shut it down. It was pretty peaceful after that."  

A body was found burning on the side of the road in West Bexar County late Sunday night, according to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. This happened just before midnight on the access road of Highway 90 eastbound, just inside Loop 1604. The sheriff's office said they originally got a call for a car fire, however, when the caller approached the area it was confirmed it wasn't a vehicle on fire, but a person. When the fire was extinguished, first responders declared the person dead upon arrival. Sheriff Javier Salazar said investigators believe the man, who is in his 30s or 40s, was already dead before his body was driven to the crime scene and lit on fire. "It is a very gruesome crime scene," Salazar said. "The facts that have been recounted to me are very gruesome in nature." Salazar said the burning appeared to be "hastily done."  

An East Texas wildfire that covered nearly 100 acres is now contained. It happened on a private ranch in Van Zandt County, north of Highway 80, northwest of Edgewood. "We first got the page for a grass and brush fire off of 1395 and 3702," said Wills Point Fire Captain Christopher DeBoard. "On our way out there we saw a heavy column of smoke and that's when we started calling for reinforcements, right off the bat." The Wills Point fire department enlisted the help of the Edgewood fire department and eventually the Texas Forestry Service to fight a fire that eventually became 100 acres. "Once we arrived on scene, the fire was moving rapidly," said DeBoard. "It got to a point where we couldn't get any further into it because it was very thick woods, so we set up different sectors with two to three trucks at each sector.  

VIDEO: The driver of a big rig was seriously hurt in a Tuesday morning crash involving three fire trucks that shut down a portion of Interstate 85 in Rowan County for hours. The crash happened shortly before 5 a.m. in the southbound lanes near mile marker 82, north of Long Ferry Road and near the Yadkin River. Officials said three fire engines from the Millers Ferry Fire Department were in the process of clearing from another call on the interstate when the tractor-trailer crashed into them. Officials said the 18-wheeler collided with one fire truck and sent it careening into the other two. No firefighters were hurt in the crash. The driver of the tractor-trailer was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, authorities told Channel 9. Witnesses said the tractor-trailer immediately caught fire after the impact, as did one of the fire trucks. The firefighters on the scene were able to quickly pull the driver from the cab of the big rig before it went up in flames.  

North Metro firefighter Matt Chan was crowned champion during Monday night's season finale of "The Titans Games" on NBC. Chan and Dani Speegle each took home the title after competing among a field of elite athletes in a series of intense athletic competitions. Along with the title, Chan and Speegle are each taking home a $100,000 cash prize. Show host Dwayne Johnson had some kind words for the Titan Games winners. "Matt and Dani have showcased exactly what it takes to become a Titan through their hard work, mental toughness and being the hardest workers in the room," Dwayne Johnson said. "They have overcome incredible obstacles to make it here today, and their stories have inspired millions across the country during these challenging times. I'm very proud of our athletes and grateful to our audience for making this an incredible season."  

VIDEO: The images shot from above Rachael Ray's Lake Luzerne home offer some perspective of the damage. Most of it, according the county fire coordinator, was contained to the second floor of the two-story, 12-year-old home. "The kitchen wasn't touched at all, so pretty much the whole first floor is in good shape," said Warren County Fire Coordinator Brian LaFlure. Judging from the first images of the fire, Ray and her family were fortunate. It was reported Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. A neighbor alerted Ray and her family and called 911. Because the home is on a private road in the middle of the woods, well off Route 9-N, with no hydrants nearby, the fire chief called in mutual aid from Warren and Saratoga counties right away. Chief Ted Backus of the Luzerne-Hadley Volunteer Fire Company is glad he did. "When we arrived we had flames through the roof," said Backus, "and I just started calling for mutual aid departments and everybody came as quickly as they could."  

Nearly 600 children in the United States have been diagnosed with a medical syndrome linked to COVID-19 and 10 of those children have died as a result, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC released updated information Friday as it continues to track the prevalence and effects of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, known as MIS-C. The agency received 570 reported cases of MIS-C between March 2 and July 29 — up more than 200 from the 342 cases reported on July 15. At least 40 states, New York City and the District of Columbia have one or more reported cases of the syndrome, according to the CDC. In New York, 245 cases of MIS-C have been reported, state officials said Sunday. That's only up by about 100 cases since mid-May.  

Chief G. Edward Bradley is pleased to announce that the Plymouth Fire Department assisted local and state agencies to provide an escort for the renovated Mayflower II ship into Plymouth Harbor on Monday, Aug. 10. The ship, which is a replica of the original Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to America 400 years ago this year, docked at Pilgrim Memorial State Park following a month-long journey up the coast from Connecticut. The ship had been receiving more than $11 million worth of renovations at the Mystic Seaport. Once complete, the ship sailed up the coast and docked at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay on Saturday. Monday marked the final leg of the ship's journey. Plymouth Fire Department's fire boat joined in the escort alongside units from the Plymouth Police Department, Plymouth Harbormaster, Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit and Massachusetts Environmental Police.