VIDEO: The Red Cross is assisting residents after a fire at a Round Rock apartment complex damages 24 units. It happened just after 8 a.m. on January 3 at the Terrastone Travesia apartments on Quick Hill Road. Round Rock officials say the fire was contained to one building, and it took about an hour to put it out. But fire crews are still on scene looking for hotspots. All 24 units in the building were damaged. The Red Cross is on scene helping residents find another place to stay. Fortunately, no injuries were reported. Austin Fire Department, Pflugerville Fire Department, Williamson County Sheriff's Office, Williamson County Constable Precinct 4, and Williamson County EMS all assisted with the fire.  

In 2022, Texas experienced one of the most severe wildfire seasons in over a decade. The Texas A&M Forest Service and local fire departments responded to over 11,000 wildfires across the state, covering 645,000 acres. The Texas A&M Forest Service alone dealt with over 2,000 of these wildfires, accounting for 85% of the acres burned in the state. Some of the largest fires in Texas included the Dempsey Fire in Palo Pinto County, which started in June and burned for nearly two weeks. The fire consumed more than 11,000 acres and threatened around 120 homes and 140 buildings. It also crossed the Brazos River in two places as it spread north towards Graford. Four heat-related firefighter injuries were treated at the scene, and no other injuries were reported. The final acreage of the Dempsey Fire was 11,598 acres.  

A woman was found dead after a house fire in Galveston Sunday night, according to the Galveston Fire Department. This happened just before 8 p.m. at a home on Avenue M near 34th Street. Galveston firefighters responded to the scene and found the woman's body in the back of the home where they also found a cat. Fire officials said the woman lived in a home alone. Her identity has not been released. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

One person is facing charges following a fire breaking out in El Paso's Lower Valley. The fire happened at Marmolejo Apartments, located at 600 N Carolina Drive, according for First Responders. One person suffered minor injuries, and another person was displaced due to the fire, according to a spokesman from the Fire Department. Firefighters first responded to the scene around midnight Monday morning, and the fire was knocked down at 12:18 a.m., according to tweets from the El Paso Fire Department. Police have not released information on identities of those involved, and what charges the suspect is now facing.  

Heavy flames from a fire inside a northeast-side home have destroyed the house making it a total loss. It happened just before 3 a.m. Tuesday on the 400 block of Faircrest Drive in Windcrest. Firefighters were met with heavy flames and immediately requested help from surrounding agencies. Details are limited at this time but it is obvious that the home is a total loss. The damage to the roof of the structure could be seen from the street. No word on any injuries from the blaze.  

Multiple families were displaced on the first night of 2023 after an apartment fire broke out in the Kingwood area, officials with Houston Fire Department said. According to HPD Capt. S. Robintt, the fire was reported at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2900 block of Sycamore Springs Dr. The fire was upgraded to a two-alarm, where at least 70 firefighters arrived at the complex to help extinguish the blaze, officials said. One firefighter was treated at the scene for heat exhaustion, but no additional injuries were reported. The Red Cross was called to assist the families affected. Capt. Robinitt said arson investigators are looking into what caused the fire.  

PHOTOS: Residents saw black smoke again Monday afternoon after a flare up fire at the warehouse fire in Evansville. On Saturday, a fire broke out at an Evansville warehouse on North Garvin Street, burning an estimated 260,000 square feet. For nearby neighbors like Samuel Dickenson, it was a little too close for comfort. "I can see the smoke first off, and I can tell ‘okay, something's up,' and then all I see are these huge chunks of ash, like as big as my hand, just falling from the sky like snow," says Dickenson. Monday marks three days since the initial blaze took hold, and while there are still hotspots rekindling here and there, things look remarkably tamer. Now, those who live nearby can take a step back and remember the fear and uncertainty as the fire was progressing.  

Donating blood can save lives, but in the future, doctors may also prescribe rolling up a sleeve and exposing a vein for the health of certain donors. Research from Australia published in 2021 suggests blood donations reduce the donor's concentration of a class of toxic substances called "per- and polyfluoroakyl substances," or PFAS, popularly called "forever chemicals." PFAS don't really last "forever," but they earned the moniker because some stay in the body for almost 10 years and accumulate in organs, blood and bones with repeated exposures. Recent research link PFAS to higher cancer rates, decreased birth weight, hormone disruption, elevated blood pressure and increased incidence of preeclampsia in pregnant women. Firefighters are at higher risk of PFAS exposure due to the chemicals in foams and protective gear as well as in household products burned in fires.  

A California woman was saved after her car crashed off a 200-foot cliff on Christmas Day thanks in part to her iPhone's location tracking feature, the San Bernardino County Fire Department said. The woman likely crashed her vehicle driving home from a family gathering overnight on Christmas Day, according to a press release from the fire department. Family members grew concerned when they didn't hear from her on the morning of Dec. 26, so used her phone's tracking functionality to see it was located off the side of a California highway, the release said. Apple products are sold with software called Find My, which can be used to track Apple products or other people's products with their consent. After locating the woman on the app, the family called 911 to report an accident, which prompted firefighters to find the car off California Highway 18. The fire department said the vehicle was 200 feet below the roadway on its side, and they began staging a rescue around roughly 7 a.m.  

Emmanuel Mielke was nervous when he started his first day as a firefighter in February at a station in downtown Madison. But he had a head start. Mielke already met some of his colleagues when they were his instructors at the NextGen Responders Academy, an emergency medical responder and fire training certification program for high schoolers. His first day also marked a first for the city fire department. Mielke was the first candidate they hired from the NextGen program, which launched in 2017 with the hope to draw more young people into the fire service. "It's a blessing. It's not very common for young people to get into the fire service and have a full career going at the age of 21," Mielke said, adding that many volunteer or work part-time at stations. High school students can enroll in NextGen's free classes at their local tech college.