VIDEO: A home was destroyed following a massive fire early Tuesday morning. Officer Brent Grundstrom, with the Mathis police department, said the fire started around 1:30 a.m. Due to the size of the fire, fire fighters with Sandia, Bee, and Jim Wells County all responded to get the fire under control. One person was in the home when the fire started and was able to get out without any injury. A truck under a car port was also charred in the blaze. There is no word on how the fire started.  

The Brownsville Fire Emergency Management Services and Valley Regional Medical Center held a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday to commemorate the building of a bridge that will allow EMS units easier access back to the station from the hospital. The bridge will improve the time it takes for EMS to return to their station to replenish supplies between calls, which will improve response times to other emergency calls. "This station is the primary hub for EMS to keep all of their supplies, so they use it as a distribution center. So, now they will not only be able to get on the street faster because of this intersection being so busy, they will also be able to resource their trucks much faster which means teams can get out to different parts of the city much faster," Art Garza, CEO at Valley Regional Medical Center, said.  

Drivers on the roads and freeways in the Houston area gave way Monday to a police-escorted procession for HFD arson investigator Lemuel "DJ" Bruce, who died while serving surveillance in the Heights area last week. Bruce's procession started from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences on Old Spanish Trail, with his firefighter comrades standing in salute. The procession moved on to the freeways in the direction of Tomball's Klein Funeral Home. On the North Freeway, with traffic cleared, Bruce's body and his escorts drove by a line of firefighters standing and saluting while on the shoulder of I-45. At the scene where Bruce was shot and killed, a small memorial was erected by retired firefighter Richard Kercho and current firefighter John Ortiz.  

College Station firefighters say Sunday's apartment fire at The Pearl was likely started by improperly discarded smoking material in a bedroom, officials said on Monday. "When firefighters arrived they found fire in a bedroom and contained the fire to that room," said Captain Stuart Marrs. Nobody was injured but the residents of that apartment and a family of five in a neighboring apartment were displaced. "If you smoke, smoke outside," said Marrs. The complex is located along Harvey Road in College Station near Texas Avenue.  

For the month of October, Corpus Christi firefighters are making great strides in selling their annual t-shirt fundraiser which helps those in the community who are battling cancer. Due to the ongoing health crisis, they are not only selling t-shirts but also masks. Since 2009, the Corpus Christi Cancer Awareness Relief Effort (C.A.R.E.) have done their part to educate the community about cancer. The group will take their pink fire truck to several events and speak to residents about the effects of cancer along with the potentially deadly disease that can affect everyday heroes. "Normally, in an average year, we'll sell sometimes up to 10,000 shirts in a year," said Carlos Torres, president C.A.R.E. Lester Garza worked for CCFD for 20 years before retiring in 2016. Three months later Garza was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In August 2017, the cancer metastasized to his bones, and Garza was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  

VIDEO: Authorities are currently investigating a massive fire that consumed a church in northeast Oklahoma City late Monday night. Around 10 p.m. on Monday, Oklahoma City firefighters were called to a large fire at a vacant church in the 2200 block of N. Prospect. As soon as firefighters arrived on the scene, portions of the roof and the masonry walls began to collapse. Officials say it was simply too dangerous to try to fight the fire from the inside, so they kept a defensive stance. Once they were able to get the fire under control, firefighters came up with a plan to make sure that hot spots didn't reignite the blaze. Due to the size of the church and the amount of debris inside, they decided to leave two fire engines on scene all night while rotating fresh companies at different times.  

Second Alarm Brewhouse in Pasadena is pioneering a new business model: Great coffee that helps local volunteer firefighters. The shop has opened its doors in Pasadena and celebrated Saturday. But instead of cutting a ribbon, they cut a hose. The coffee shop was originally a coffee truck, and owner Duane McKee is a volunteer himself. It is the first of its kind, or at least to McKee's knowledge. The coffee shop is a non-profit with 501(c)(3) status. Money made will be used to develop a marketing firm to help volunteer fire companies recruit and raise funds. McKee also hopes to expand the brewhouse with a liquor license and operate as a pub at night. He plans to cut a firetruck in half and mount it to the front of the building. The front of a truck adorns the wall indoors. "I'm not interested in making money; I just want to help," McKee said.  

The city and its firefighters union have come to a contract agreement in which the International Association of Firefighters Local 974 agreed to a wage freeze for the first year of the three-year deal. City Council agreed to the new contract during its Zoom meeting held Monday, Oct. 19. With the city facing uncertainty as to its tax collections in a year in which COVID-19 has played havoc with communities' budgets, Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan was grateful for the union's consideration. "Everybody is rising to the occasion during this pandemic," Brennan said. "If we could give them raises, we would give them, but we can't commit to that right now, and the fire union understands that. They look out for us every day in their capacity as firefighters, and they were looking out for us with this (agreement)."  

PHOTOS: The city of Portage's all-new Fire Station No. 2 went into service this October with a design that takes into account the health and wellness of the firefighters who will use it and offers some unique training opportunities. The new facility at 6101 Oakland Drive replaces the oldest of three free stations in the city. Fire Station No. 2 is now the largest of the three stations at 18,364 square feet. The old station had a mere 8,000 square feet of space. Portage Fire responds to nearly 6,000 calls a year with station No. 1 and 2 responding to most of the calls. The station is also the closest to I-94 and often deploys the first response team. In 2018, the station responded to 2,154 calls. The $6.1 million-dollar project was funded through the city's capital improvement program funds. A 2015 evaluation found that it would be more cost-effective to build a new building rather than renovating the old station, which was built in 1974.  

The Dodgers are headed to the World Series after clinching their third National League pennant in four years Sunday, and all of Los Angeles is celebrating a thrilling 4-3 win over the Braves in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. That includes the Los Angeles Fire Department, whose chief announced via Twitter shortly after the Dodgers' victory that all LAFD firefighters are authorized to wear Dodgers caps while on duty through the end of the World Series. After the Lakers won the 2019-20 NBA championship in six games over the Miami Heat, it will be Los Angeles vs. Florida again come Tuesday, when the World Series between the Dodgers and Rays begins at 8 p.m. ET on FOX from Globe Life Field.