A man was arrested Tuesday morning following reports of him setting multiple fires at a senior living apartment complex in northeast Austin. Austin Fire officials say they received a call at 4:30 a.m. of a fire on the third floor of a building at the Harris Branch 55+ apartments located at 12433 Dessau Road. When units arrived, they found several fires that were controlled by the sprinkler system and quickly extinguished by the crew. AFD also called the Austin Police Department because the suspect was a resident "in his underwear" setting the fires. According to residents, the suspect has been an issue for some time. The suspect is now in custody. Fire crews worked all morning cleaning up the water as a result of the sprinklers running for a little while. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.  

A fire that destroyed a concession building at the Texas Renaissance Festival overnight was likely caused by an electric transformer, festival officials said. The fire was reported around midnight in a kitchen in the Kingdom of Tuscany section of the festival grounds, formerly known as the Italian Village. According to a statement from the Texas Renaissance Festival, officials believe an electric transformer blew, sparking the fire, which was exacerbated by a propane tank nearby. At one point, the flames and smoke were reportedly very significant. ABC13 cameras captured the aftermath of the fire early Tuesday morning, showing the building burnt to the ground. "Todd Mission Fire Department, need you en route to the area of the renaissance festival," an emergency responder could be heard reporting on radio traffic. "It's going to be in reference to a fire. Advising that she sees flames, not sure what's on fire, but there's a lot of smoke and it sounds like fireworks are going off."  

Coffee and breakfast tacos, along with a big thanks were delivered to members of the Fort Worth Fire Department for their service at the historic Fort Worth Fire Station No. 1 in downtown Fort Worth. City Center Management Company and former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price were among those saying thanks. The former mayor had a good reason for being there. Built in 1907, Fire Station No. 1 has stood for 114 years, housing the original Fort Worth City Hall, with the mayor's office located on the second floor. The building, situated between the Wells Fargo Tower and Bank of America Tower, was in use until 1980 and was restored in 1982 for commercial use. "We wanted to take the opportunity ahead of a busy holiday season and let our firefighters know how much we appreciate them," said Johnny Campbell, President and CEO of City Center Management, which manages the two towers that surround Fire Station No. 1.  

Waco Fire crews responded to a fire in a laundry room of the Hilton Hotel on the 100 block of S. University Parks Drive late Monday night. The fire was first reported around 11 p.m. Monday and was later upgraded to a second alarm incident. Crews extinguished the fire. The hotel was evacuated due to the fire, officials said. People were seen returning inside around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. No injuries were reported, officials add.  

The Clifton Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire Monday morning. Clifton Police said Officer Don Barron and Interim Police Chief Gage Guinn responded at about 6:24 a.m. to the house fire located at the 300 block of South Avenue D. Officers safely located both occupants of the home outside. "When officers arrived on the scene, the front of the residence was fully engulfed," said Clifton Police. The Clifton Volunteer Fire Department arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire, assisted by the Valley Mills Volunteer Fire Department. "Officers checked the surrounding structures and confirmed no animals were inside as well," said Clifton police. "North Bosque EMS out of Clifton also responded as a precautionary measure." An ongoing investigation is being conducted by Bosque County Office Of Emergency Management Fire Marshal Kirk Turner.  

PHOTOS: The New Braunfels Fire Department (NBFD) was at the scene of a large brush fire on the city's South Side. Fire officials say fire was off of Statemen Lane and was under control. The fire was causing a large plume of smoke in the area and was being allowed to burn itself out. NBFD said the burn out was expected to take about three hours. No injuries have been reported and firefighters remained on the scene until the fire was out. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, NBFD says.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Police are investigating after a house explosion in Flint on Monday night. It happened on the 3900 block of Hogarth Avenue. According to Battalion Chief Ramsey Clapper, multiple people are injured. A 3-year-old girl, that was in the house at time of the explosion, is missing at this time. Another child is injured and in the hospital; that child was also inside the house at the time of the explosion. Mayor Sheldon Neeley says one person is in critical condition; it is unclear if the child is the critical individual. The Fire Department also says that a neighbor, approximately 70-years-old, died as result of the explosion. Flint Blight Teams are currently working to clean up damage. A total of 17 structures received damage. Flint will be using emergency funds to help the families involved.  

They're our modern-day superheroes — charging into burning buildings without hesitation, rescuing those in peril, staving off destruction. But in risking their lives for us, firefighters pay a heavy price, with cancer rates that far outpace the public at large. Derek Urwin, a longtime firefighter who expects to complete his Ph.D. in chemistry during the winter quarter, is out to change that, using his knowledge of chemistry to improve firefighter health and safety and, ultimately, bring these cancer rates down. It's a mission that had a very personal origin. In 2014, Urwin's brother Isaac, then 33, died of leukemia. Urwin, who was serving with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, took time off to care for him through his chemotherapy treatments.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: His name may not be Griswold, but Justin Rhodes has mapped out a stunning show that debuts on Thanksgiving night outside his home at 93 Crayton Road in Asheville. "One of the big reasons I do it is seeing the joy it brings to kids," said Rhodes, who's been working since Nov. 1. "All of our props are custom made," he explained. For the third year, he's got something epic planned. The show itself is called E.L.F.'s holiday light show. E.L.F. stands for Extreme Lighting Fanatic. "This is pretty much the layout of the house," he told us at his computer, showing us how the holiday magic happens. "It's a 3D model of the house that's all the props I have in the yard."  

PHOTOS: Murdo, South Dakota had only just gotten started as a town when disaster struck on a cold February night in 1910. A fire that was likely started by a hot stovepipe in a printing business on Main Street quickly spread to nearby buildings and destroyed an entire block of businesses before it finally burned itself out. Wayne Esmay owns an electrical contracting business in Murdo and today owns one of the buildings erected on Main Street after the fire. Esmay is also an amateur historian and has studied the story of the fire and its aftermath. "Nobody knows for sure how it started, but they think it was the wood burning stove in the print shop. The editor of the paper, he started the fire and went up to his residence on the upper floor. In a couple hours there was smoke and he raised the alarm. It was pretty devastating. It was the most devastating fire that Murdo has ever had."  

The latest U.S. COVID-19 wave is taking its toll on some states' intensive-care units, with several parts of the country seeing outbreaks that are as bad as ever. In 15 states, patients with confirmed or suspected COVID are taking up more ICU beds than a year earlier, according to Department of Health and Human Services data. Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan have 41%, 37% and 34% of ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, respectively, the data show. In some areas, COVID patients are filling ICU beds as much as ever before The dramatic uptick means there's proportionately less space in hospitals for those suffering from other potentially deadly ailments. "Many of our physicians are at a breaking point," said Ali Mokdad, a professor with the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. "It's not easy to be day in and day out in an emergency room, in an ICU, looking at someone who is dying because he or she is not vaccinated."