The San Antonio Fire Department identified Greg Garza during a news conference as the firefighter who died after authorities said he was hit by the driver of a Culligan van Tuesday morning. Garza was working a scene when the incident occurred. Garza was part of a crew with Platform 3 responding to smoke coming from the lobby of the Comfort Suites at 505 Live Oak Street, where the firefighter was hit at about 7:15 a.m. As crews were returning to their apparatus and putting away their equipment, a Culligan van coming down Live Oak hit the firefighter, according to authorities. The driver stayed on scene and is cooperating with police. Garza was transported to a local hospital. The area around the hotel was blocked off for more than two hours as the Traffic Investigation Division, or TID, collected evidence at the scene. Woody Woodward, a spokesman for SAFD said the firefighter's crew went to the hospital with him, but additional crews were on scene to pick up the two fire apparatuses.  

Denison Fire Chief Gregg Loyd told city council Monday morning the department's ladder truck was in a repair shop getting maintenance on the day of the fire that took down two buildings on Main Street. "I think many properties could have been saved with a ladder truck if it had been dispatched right away from Denison," said Jay Connelly, who used to own 317 West Main Street. Connelly told Denison City Council Monday morning he got a text shortly after the fire started and watched the building crumble to the ground. "That should be priority one of our council, our city to rent a ladder truck or lease a ladder truck 'til that ladder truck is done. If that happens today again, we're in trouble again," said Connelly.  

Potter County commissioners approved about $500,000 in equipment for the Potter County Fire Department. Potter County Fire Department Chief Richard Lake says the investment is important because it keeps crews safer from equipment issues that can appear over time. "When you go to a structure fire, you have carcinogens contaminating smoke particles and things that basically degrade the gear," said Chief Lake. "It exposes our members to carcinogens. We still have guys getting cancer, and we're doing everything we can to keep it from happening. So, if we're able to come back and say that this helped, then I'm all for it." There has been a need for more equipment to make sure firefighters are always protected from the cancer risk.  

Local police, fire, and other public safety agencies will conduct training exercises around Hemisfair in downtown San Antonio during the next few weeks, according to officials. The exercises, which started Sunday, will take place at night sporadically until early November, San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) spokesman Joe Arrington said. It's part of a joint training effort with the San Antonio Police Department, local school district police, hospitals, and other groups to better prepare for emergencies. "We don't want folks to worry … when they see [roughly a dozen fire and police vehicles] at the park," Arrington said. "There's no danger." SAFD is also asking the media and members of the public to refrain from taking photos or shooting videos of the training.  

The Portland Fire Department received a significant donation Monday for their selfless work. Portland firefighters were presented a grant of over $18,000 from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to receive eight new sets of bunker gear. The bunker gear helps protect firefighters from not just the heat but some of the dangerous chemicals and byproducts from the fires they're called out to. Before the new gear, firefighters would have to continue to wear the same equipment for the remainder of the shift before being able to clean it. After a fire, firefighters now can get into a clean new set of gear while their gear is being decontaminated, which will reduce the risk of coming into contact with cancer-causing agents. "It is a blessing to receive a grant from Firehouse Foundation. To know that the guys are going to be protected for a long career. Not have to worry about some of the cancers that take firefighters every day," Chief Jeff Morris said.  

Texas is no stranger to big storms. This year, Mother Nature hit the Lone Star State with some nasty weather. Several local first responders are specially trained to help in times of disaster. Several San Antonio Firefighters recently returned from making water rescues in East Texas during Imelda. The group stays ready to help anyone in need. "I felt bad for the people that the water affects because it's it has no mercy," said Captain Luke Schott, a member of Rescue 11 with the San Antonio Fire Department and member of Texas A&M Task Force One. Less than a month ago, he saw water everywhere when Tropical Storm Imelda unleashed an unfathomable amount of rain on East Texas. As the waters rushed in, Texas A&M Task Force One rose up. The elite group helps with federal disasters and state search and rescue missions.  

VIDEO: The ABC11 I-Team obtained videos that are the first examples of what Person County officials call their "game-changing" technology for 911 callers. The videos are from live calls and were recorded at Person County Emergency Management's offices in Roxboro. "This is wonderful. This makes 911 dispatchers the true first responder," Brett Wrenn, Person County Emergency Communications Manager, told ABC11. "This is going to give that insight first responders need while they're on their way to these types of events." Person County introduced the technology in August, and so far its implementation has been limited to mostly fire calls and some "law enforcement," Wrenn said. The video feature starts only after a caller phones in regularly to 911, then the dispatcher uses discretion if he or she thinks live video might provide more information.  

A new program designed to help former offenders pursue a career in firefighting made its first deployment over the weekend to help battle the Saddleridge Fire in the San Fernando Valley. The Ventura Training Center Firefighter Training and Reentry Program began teaching its first class of participants in October 2018, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which developed the project with Calfire and the California Conservation Corps. The 18-month program in Camarillo provides advanced training in firefighting to those previously housed in fire camps operated by Calfire and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The first cohort is expected to complete training in April 2020, but two participants have already left to accept full-time positions by Calfire, according to CDCR.  

Passaic County Fire Academy welcomed the largest and most diverse class of recruits on Monday. The 47 trainees, who will be ready to fight fires by March, hail mostly from Paterson and Passaic - and that's no accident. Paterson's 34 recruits who walked into the fire academy in Wayne, were found by a specially created committee that helped its Fire Department scour the city for eligible individuals. "We aggressively recruited," Paterson Fire Chief Brian McDermott said. "We went to schools, libraries, religious houses, street corners." The committee found 1,000 Paterson residents to take the qualification test. The list was narrowed down to 150 candidates who took a competitive physical test which further narrowed the list down to the 34 — 17 of them Latinos and two women, the chief said. "Look at this class," Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said to the recruits, their family and friends at Monday's welcome ceremony. "This is what America looks like."  

Firefighters now have the ability to send an EKG of your heart within seconds of arriving at your location in an emergency. "Oh, it could save someone's life. Matter of fact, actually it'll change their outcome." Travis Hollis, the City of Cape Girardeau's fire chief, is talking about a new feature on their Zoll monitor and defibrillator machines. "Previously we had to print a strip like this and hand that to the doctor once the patient arrived to the hospital. Now the doctor receives this while we're still in the patient's living," said Hollis. "Every second that the doctor's not prepared to receive that patient is a time that that heart or that brain is dying." Now, firefighters can send patient's EKG results back to the hospital before an ambulance even arrives if they're having symptoms of a heart attack.  

The Washington Department of Ecology announced Monday it will begin collecting and incinerating stockpiles of a toxic fire retardant foam that was used by fire departments for decades before the state restricted its use in 2018. The same type of foam was long used at Fairchild Air Force Base and blamed for contaminating West Plains water supplies, including the city of Airway Heights' tap system. Manufactured by chemical giants including 3M Co., the foam contains per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances, or PFAS, which have been linked with an array of health problems. The man-made compounds, also used in products such as Teflon and Scotchguard, are sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they degrade extremely slowly in the environment and in the human body.