A Calvert man who spent many years volunteering and working at area fire departments and serving several Texas communities has passed away. Volney "Rusty" Alston died while off-duty on Sunday in a one-vehicle crash, authorities confirm. Alston was a member of the Tomball Fire Department since April 2018 and worked part-time for Waller-Harris County Emergency Services District 200. He also previously volunteered for the Calvert Fire Department. "He made a lasting impression on our fire department and we are proud to have served with him," the city of Tomball Fire Department said this week in a posting on Facebook. Alston is survived by his wife, Angela, and two sons, Arturo and Cary. He was also a member of First Baptist Church Calvert.  

The Tyler Fire Department has brought a fire in an abandoned building downtown under control after rescuing multiple people who were trapped. According to the TFD, the fire broke out in the 600 block of E. Erwin St., at the building formerly known as the Tyson Hotel. Fire Marshal Paul Findley says there were occupants inside the building who were not supposed to be in there, but officials were able to get them out. One of the people inside the building was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Officials say a few firefighters fell down an elevator shaft, but they were uninjured and back to work. Firefighters believe the fire began on the second floor, however, the cause is unknown at this time.  

Longview firefighters have been called to West Texas in anticipation of wildfires. KLTV's Jamey Boyum talks with Longview Fire Marshal Kevin May about the deployment. Four Longview firefighters headed out this morning to meet in Lubbock with the Longview-based Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System Truck, which is specially designed for wildfires. Firefighters who are part of the program must be ready to deploy within 12 hours at any time. There are a few wildfires in West Texas now, but they are under control at this point. "They were deployed along with members from other fire departments, Nacogdoches, Athens, Texarkana, Mount Pleasant. And they are going to Lubbock to basically be in a staging pattern for some potential fire dangers that they are anticipating this week," said Longview Fire Marshall Kevin May.  

On Tuesday, Dec. 14, just after midnight the Victoria County Fire Marshal's Office worked a fire located in the 3500 block of Brayer road. Firefighters put down the blaze in just one hour. Officials reported the family was inside the home at the time the fire began, but everyone got out safely. Lieutenant Marshall Frazier investigated the cause, finding out it was a tin can used to put out cigarettes. The family's pet was missing for a time, but three hours later the dog appeared without any injuries. Lt. Frazier said firefighters had to enter the home from the outside to put out the fire. "When the City of Victoria first got there, they went offensive to try to get into the home and put it out, but it had already… part of the roof had already collapsed or was in the process of collapsing. They pulled back and went offensive on it, so that means they had to attack the fire from the outside," he said.  

A San Antonio family said their restaurant was torched back-to-back in two days. Now, they want to catch the alleged arsonist. They said whoever did it left gas cans behind. PAPIS Mexican Restaurant is located on East Houston Street just down the road from the AT&T Center. The family said the first incident happened on Sunday and the following early Tuesday morning. They said both fires happened at the back of the building. Much of the building is untouched, most of it is made of concrete which is why they said the damage isn't much worse. Laura Rodriguez said it has always been her mother's dream to have her own place. She said the family doesn't understand who would want to set it on fire. Rodriguez described to KENS 5 the first fire. "It didn't hurt anything inside," she said. "Thank God. Everything pretty much is concrete.  

Two teens in Williamson County were rewarded for their quick response in performing CPR to save their grandfather's life. Riley and Faith Cox both received a Lifesaving Award and challenge coins from Williamson County EMS. In late November, their grandfather and former Williamson County Precinct 4 Commissioner Larry Madsen went into cardiac arrest. Faith called 911, and Riley performed chest compressions until paramedics arrived. Williamson County EMS offers classes for anyone to get CPR certified and learn other emergency measures.  

Sky 25 captured a heart-stopping scene in Haverhill on Tuesday after a fire broke out at an oil company. It happened on Hale Street in Haverhill. Two workers had to race to pull away a tube that appeared to have been feeding the burning truck. The men raced up the stairs of the rig beside the tanker, and one of them climbed on board the burning tanker to free the tube and then stomped on an open hatch to make sure it was closed. The men were then able to get down off the rig as fire crews continued to pour water on the tanker. "I heard first an explosion that shook my whole house and then there were multiple explosions after I come out, and there are flames like 10 to 20 feet. It burned for about an hour and they were not getting it under control," said Richard Robinson, who lives nearby. Firefighters agree there was a risk of a major explosion.  

VIDEO: When deadly weather moves into the area, speed saves lives. That's why Tampa Fire Rescue just installed five brand new, state-of-the-art weather stations, scattered throughout the city. The department says the information gathered by the WeatherSTEM system will help protect first responders and the public by relaying potentially life-saving information about storms, changing weather patterns and dangerous lightning in our region – right down to the neighborhood level. "Now that we had these weather stations embedded at each of our fire districts, it's going to make us make better decisions," said Tampa Fire Rescue's John Antapasis. Tampa decided to look into the WeatherSTEM system after hurricane Irma. The storm taught city officials they needed a more localized way to monitor weather conditions so they could let first responder crews know when it was safe to go out and help people — and when they needed to get back inside to protect themselves.  

What started out as a team-building exercise landed the Tahlequah Fire Department in a TV commercial for the national company Ragú. Firefighter Anthony Margarit posted a video to his personal TikTok account, after he and his co-workers filmed a "commercial" wherein Margarit was cooking at Station 1 using Ragú sauce. Ragú's recent blurbs have shown people cooking with its sauces and saying, "Cook like a mother!" Margarit boasted in the video that he is, in fact, cooking like a mother. "Ours doesn't follow the Ragú commercial exactly; we just took bits and pieces we thought were fun, and we wanted everybody to be included in it," said TFD Capt. Jody Enlow. Enlow came up with the idea as a team-building exercise for his shift. His brother-in-law emailed the TikTok video to Ragú, and a company representative contacted Margarit directly on the social media app.  

PHOTOS: A male worker that was reported unconscious within a chemical transport tank was rescued Tuesday afternoon. According to a tweet from Salt Lake City Fire Department, heavy rescue and hazmat teams arrived on scene for rescue efforts. SLC Fire Captain Anthony Burton said they responded to a situation around 2 p.m. when they became aware of a worker that had entered a transport tank to service it. Although he was following most their safety procedures, the man ended up unconscious and became trapped. Hazmat arrived on scene first and monitored the atmosphere in the tank, finding dangerous factors including the size of the space, and the presence of unknown substances that could cause harm to victims and rescuers in addition to low oxygen levels. Then heavy rescue arrived with firefighters and performed a "confined space rescue." Captain Burton said the tank typically hauls methane and they often purge those tanks with nitrogen.  

COVID-19 hospitalizations are once again ticking upward after a lull in October and early November, with tens of thousands more Americans filling hospital beds across the country in the past four weeks. The increase is particularly noticeable in the Rust Belt and the Southwest. As of Wednesday, Michigan's population-adjusted rate is highest in the nation, followed by Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. States along the East Coast, from Massachusetts to North Carolina, are seeing the greatest percentage increase in hospitalizations in the past two weeks. More than 600 people are hospitalized with COVID in Connecticut as of Wednesday; that's up from 374 people two weeks ago, an 82 percent increase and highest in the nation.