A family of five was killed in an overnight house fire in Leon County. "It is with a heavy heart that Leon County Sheriff Kevin Ellis reports that a house fire claimed the lives of a family of five in the Flynn area," said the Leon County Sheriff's Office in a Facebook post. The home was located on County Road 449 about 13 miles northwest of Normangee. Sheriff Ellis told 25 News the victims are two adults and three children. He also said the fire started around midnight. According to a family member, the victims are TJ Donahoe, 24, his fiancée, 22-year-old Haleigh Wiese, and their three young children, Joseph Lancombe, 4, Tenzleigh Donahoe, 2, and Jordan Donahoe, 4-months-old. Danielle Adams, TJ's aunt, said she woke up around midnight after hearing a strange noise next door. When she went outside, she saw TJ's house on fire and called 911.  

Mac Hohenberger, the longtime fire chief of Denton County Emergency Services District No. 1 (formerly known as the Argyle Fire District), is retiring this year. Hohenberger, 63, first joined the Argyle Fire District over 28 years ago as a volunteer firefighter/paramedic. He said he had had some volunteer firefighting experience from when he was younger, and he finally joined the district at the urging of a friend. "I had a friend who kept bugging me to death wanting me to come join the volunteer district, and I saw they were in desperate need of leadership," said Hohenberger, who has had an auditing firm since he was 18. "They needed someone to get in there and straighten up the books. I was named treasurer almost immediately." Hohenberger worked his way up to captain with AFD, and then was named fire chief in 1999.  

VIDEO: An elderly woman was able to escape a 'complicated' house fire early Monday morning, according to the Houston Fire Department. The fire started around 2:30 a.m. in the 10000 block of Whitehead Street in northwest Houston. Firefighters say when they arrived, smoke and fire were still showing from the front of the house. The elderly woman was able to get out of the house in time, but firefighters say the home's contents made it difficult for them to enter. Once inside, they were able to get the fire knocked out quickly. Houston fire officials said the cause and origin are still under investigation, but the elderly woman said she heard a loud pop before the fire occurred. Firefighters say indications are the fire was electrical in nature. No injuries were reported.  

Two popular businesses were damaged in a two-alarm fire in Old Town Spring. Spring fire officials said Envy Wine Room on Preston Street near Main Street caught on fire just before 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Firefighters said the roof collapsed, and the restaurant sustained heavy fire damage. Prohibition, the speakeasy bar next door which is owned by the same people, was also damaged by heavy smoke. Officials said 85 firefighters from five different departments responded to the scene. Because the building is so old, they had to take special precautions to put it out. In total, it took about 45 minutes. "We did have a significant opportunity for flashover to take place," District Chief Chris vonWiesenthal said. "We pulled our crews out and everybody was safe."  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Someone set fire to a U-Haul truck in early February, and the Lubbock Fire Marshal's Office asked for help finding the suspect. Authorities said the fire happened on Saturday, February 5, 2022. Someone called 911 after seeing a U-Haul truck on fire in the 9600 block of Avenue P, according to Lubbock Fire Rescue. LFR said a suspect drilled a hole in the truck's gas tank to steal gasoline. While the gas was draining, the vapors ignited and started a fire under the truck. The suspect ran before LFR got to the scene. Flames had spread from the U-Haul truck to two nearby trailers. Crews were able to put the fire out, according to LFR. Anyone with information was asked to contact the Fire Marshal's Office.  

The Allen Police hockey team turned on the red lamp twice, while the Allen Fire hockey team finished red hot in the overtime shootout in the 12th annual Allen Americans Police vs. Fire On Ice hockey game Saturday evening at the Credit Union of Texas Center. The Allen Fire Department escaped with a 3-2 win as AFD engineer Dustin Wackett scored in the shootout. The score wasn't the big highlight of the event. The big highlight was that proceeds from the game will benefit the Allen Public Safety Recovery Fund, a local philanthropic foundation that helps Allen police officers, firefighters and paramedics who are injured in the line of duty, according to the foundation's website. And the other highlight is no police or fire department players were injured during the game — though it is a safe bet to assume there were some sore muscles on Sunday.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: A massive fire early Monday morning in the Albany Park neighborhood destroyed two businesses and an apartment building, injuring one person and leaving several others homeless. More than 150 firefighters responded to the blaze at the corner of Montrose Avenue and Richmond Street. The fire started around 3:30 a.m. and swept through a three-story apartment building at 4337-39 N. Richmond St. It spread to the neighboring building at the southeast corner of Richmond Street and Montrose Avenue – which housed Twisted Hippo Taproom and Eatery, and Ultimate Ninjas gym. Late Monday, the Fire Department said the point of origin for the fire appeared to be in a gangway between the two buildings. The gangway had two sets of exterior stairs and the fire was believed to have started under one of them.  

VIDEO: "These are people that are really serving our community and if they're not safe what has it really come to?" A long-time Harrisburg resident and community advocate, Dr. Kevin Dolphin, asked that question as he reacted to another shooting this weekend in Harrisburg. Authorities said it happened on Saturday just before 3 p.m., when there was a shootout between two cars on N. 16 Street in front of Harrisburg Fire Station 2. Several stray bullets struck multiple fire trucks and the walls of the fire station's garage but no one was injured. Community leaders like Dr. Dolphin say it's fortunate that this was one of the times in Harrisburg where a shooting did not cause a fatal ending. "We need everyone to come to the table. Everyone from the city officials to these grassroots organizations," said Dr. Dolphin, Founder of Breaking the Chainz, Inc.  

VIDEO: One local fire station has its very own mental health therapy dog. It's the first therapy dog designated to firefighters in the Tampa Bay Area. At the North River Fire District, the new mental health dog named Drew, right here, is changing the whole morale of the station, and officials say he's helping firefighters after they respond to traumatic calls. "We see most everyone on their worst days so we try to do our best and be professionals. Drew kind of comes back and be a human again," said firefighter, Michael Davila. We all know the saying "A man's best friend…" but what about a first responder's best friend? "He'll come and run up to you, give a nice little lick and you can pet him, he's always happy to see you," said Davila. For the firefighters at the North River Fire District, this little golden retriever named Drew is their best friend.  

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has released video showing who they call a 'person of interest' in a vacant rowhouse fire that killed three Baltimore firefighters in January. The video shows a man wearing a hoodie walking near South Stricker Street around 11:35 p.m. on Jan. 23. Hours after the video was shot, Baltimore firefighters were called to 205 S. Stricker St. and entered an abandoned house to extinguish a heavy blaze. The vacant rowhouse collapsed minutes later, killing Lt. Paul Butrim, Lt. Kelsey Sadler and firefighter/paramedic Kenny Lacayo. City and state officials, as well as the ATF, are offering a $100,000 in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 888-ATF-TIPS.  

Forty-nine states have announced plans to drop their indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations steadily decline across the country. The only holdout remains Hawaii. The island state has taken strong precautions against the coronavirus from the beginning of the pandemic and is still requiring out-of-state American travelers to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to avoid a mandatory quarantine. Over 75% of Hawaii residents have received two doses of a COVID vaccine – 10% higher than the national rate – according to the Hawaii Department of Health, and coronavirus cases have dropped by a whopping 64% from Feb. 5 to Feb. 18. Hawaii's rapid drop in COVID cases mirrors nationwide statistics: Reported U.S. cases on Saturday barely exceeded 100,000, a sharp downturn from around 800,850 five weeks ago, according to Johns Hopkins University data.