A firefighter was injured and a husband and wife are out of a home after a massive fire in southeast Houston. Officials said the fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. at a home on Lawndale Street near Collier Street. A couple in their 60s - who had lived in that home for over 30 years - was inside when the flames erupted. The husband said he had been watching TV and had just fallen asleep when he heard the smoke alarm, and that's when he saw huge flames coming from the carport area next to the home. One neighbor said there was a major explosion and his dog woke him up, and that's when he saw the blaze shooting from the two-story home. "It was a major explosion that happened, and it erupted in a big ball of fire," said neighbor Michael Collins.  

A new addition to the Aransas Pass Fire Department is not only expanding its fleet, but it will help the local economy grow. A new $1.4 million fire truck will be the first of its kind for the Aransas Pass Fire Department. "The new ladder truck is a purpose-built truck, so it's for severe duty," said Aransas Pass Fire Chief Nathan Kelley. "The truck behind me was meant to last about 15 years, and that's where we're on it right now." The ladder -- reaching 100-feet high – also will allow Aransas Pass to achieve other goals. "We were actually limiting economical growth because we wouldn't allow any structure to come in that was over three stories," he said. "And we were really limiting that because we didn't have a ladder to access the buildings." After receiving the truck, developers in Aransas Pass will be able to build apartments, businesses, and hotels taller than three stories.  

Wildfire prevention has proven a topic of major import for Lakeway over the last several months, and a couple of actions from City Council have continued to bolster the city's ongoing preemptive efforts. During discussion of its consent agenda at a Sept. 30 special meeting, council updated language in its interlocal agreement with Lake Travis Fire Rescue in order "to actively and preemptively take action to aid in the prevention and mitigation of the increasing risks of wildfire within the city," according to city documents. "We've always had an interlocal agreement with LTFR to provide these services," Mayor Sandy Cox said. "It just happens to be a coincidence in time that we're just updating the language that was in it and the rate and so forth."  

The Smith County Emergency Services District No. 2 is inviting asking residents to consider approving a sales tax increase to pay for additional firefighters. ESD-2 is made of up 11 fire departments, most of which are staffed with volunteers. The departments cover more than 712 square miles and protect more than 92,000 residents. Citizens are encouraged to participate in a series of town hall meetings to discuss the potential of a higher sales tax. The first of those meetings will be held Thursday, October 3 at Bullard Fire Station #1, 213 S. Houston St. Currently, the Smith County sales tax is at 0.5 percent and the ESD-2 Board of Commissioners is asking voters to approve an increase of up to 1.5 percent. While Texas currently collects a sales tax of 6.25 percent, local jurisdictions can collect up to two percent with voter approval.  

A slab and a prayer. That was all that saved the home of a volunteer firefighter for the city of Liberty when Tropical Storm Imelda unleashed her fury on the Liberty County area. As the bands of the storm trained over the county, the water rose quickly within Liberty neighborhood Oak Forest. Of the 44 homes in his neighborhood of Oak Forest, his was the only one that didn't flood. As Imelda began pounding the Liberty area with torrential rain, Ruben Olvera knew the potential for flooding in the city was going to happen. "In the past few storms, our house never flooded, but during Harvey it came within a foot of the front door," he said. With that notion in his mind, he left his home to report to the station to assist with some high-water rescues never figuring that he would return to his own neighborhood.  

An apartment complex leasing office caught fire early Tuesday morning on Wells Branch Parkway and became fully engulfed in flames. Luckily, residents tell us no one was hurt, and firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to units people lived in at Ridgecrest Apartments. "It was crazy," said Michelle Behan, who lives near the leasing office. "It was really surreal. I had pounding on my door at about 3:30 in the morning and I just went in utter shock." The Austin Fire Department helped Pflugerville firefighters keep the fire at bay while they woke residents up to get them to safety. "I was just trying to wake up my man and I was like, ‘Something's happening, somebody's pounding on the door,' Behan said. "And then he finally got up and there were cops all outside. And they told us to vacate because there's a fire. But it was really scary."  

The Evanston Fire Department collaborated with local officials on a new law that creates a hiring preference for fire service career applicants with at least 600 hours of fire suppression work in a certified program. The law, signed on August 23 by Governor J.B. Pritzker, amends the Illinois Municipal Code and the Fire Protection District Act. The change will now allow qualified candidates to receive hiring preference if they have had the 600 hours of work within a 12-month period as part of a certified apprenticeship program. These applicants can receive up to 20 points added to their firefighter eligibility list score, thus increasing their chances of employment. "This law will not only encourage more individuals to explore a fire service career through a certified apprenticeship program," Scott said in a news release, "it will also help ensure that departments can hire the best candidates available, resulting in safer communities."  

The first day of the Muncie city ambulance service kicked off Monday morning with a busy day of calls, but questions remain because of contracts that are not finalized. MFD started using its own ambulances Monday in much of Muncie, taking over duties from Delaware County EMS. MFD responded to three runs right off the bat, Fire Chief Eddie Bell and EMS Chief Rachel Clark said in a live video on the city's Facebook page announcing the change. The number of runs Monday quickly grew throughout the day as scanner traffic dispatched MFD and Heartland Ambulance Service's ambulance units to calls within the city. Bell confirmed Monday afternoon that the city had responded to 17 runs throughout the day with response times of under three minutes. "We've been very happy with response times," Bell said. The city and county are still in negotiations regarding how it will split duties in the city limits.  

A program bringing together fire departments, high schools, and Madison College is working to target future firefighters, as departments across the country face challenges in recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters. The program, called Start College Now, brings together area high schools and fire departments with Madison College to provide training using firefighting equipment to certify students in firefighting, as well as get them college credits. "This is an opportunity for high school students to achieve college credits and also gain firefighting experience," said Joshua Hecht, a lieutenant with the Baraboo Fire Department and an instructor with Madison College. Programs like Start College Now are helpful in giving potential firefighters a taste of the job, as well as getting them the training early, so departments don't have to wait for them to train in the future.  

For the first time in its history, Skagit County Fire District 14 in Alger has women accounting for more than a third of its 32 firefighters and staff, a marked change in a field still dominated by men. The women take pride in that the Alger department maintains the same standards across the sexes, something they say is a trait of the fire service overall. In other words: any job he can do, she can do also. Sarah Hill, an Alger firefighter and emergency medical transporter, has met women who have been firefighters for up to 30 years. "I think it's the work they've put in to set the standard that the work we do is no different than the man sitting next to us," Hill said. Michelle Young has been a firefighter in Alger for three months. For her, the seed of service was planted when she found herself in need of emergency response.  

Starting today, volunteer firefighters in North Carolina who have served for five consecutive years will be eligible to purchase a lifetime hunting and fishing license from the Wildlife Resources Commission for only half of the full cost. House Bill 597 passed the General Assembly in mid-August and was signed into law later that month. Over the past few years, volunteer fire departments have seen declining membership around the state and the hope is that the opportunity to receive a lifetime license at such a steep discount will be an important recruiting tool for departments around the state. "This decline in volunteer fire department membership that we have seen over the past few years is a serious issue, especially in rural communities like ours where most of the fire departments are volunteer," Senators Warren Daniel (R-Burke), Danny Britt (R-Robeson), and Ted Alexander (R-Cleveland) said in a joint statement.