VIDEO/PHOTO: North Richland Hills police are investigating a major crash on Loop 820 on Wednesday morning. According to the North Richland Hills Police Department, the crash occurred in the westbound lanes of Interstate 820 before Highway 377 at approximately 7:30 a.m. One person was taken by air ambulance to a hospital. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known. Police said it involved a fuel tanker and an empty animal waste truck. Pictures and video sent to NBC 5 showed heavy flames and thick, black smoke billowing from the highway. Video from Texas Sky Ranger showed the fire burning several hours after the crash, with emergency crews appearing to allow the wreckage to burn out. By 10 a.m., the flames appeared to be extinguished. At one point the incident had all lanes of the highway closed.  

PHOTO: A fire destroyed eight units of the Patman Switch Apartments on Pecan Street in Hughes Springs early Wednesday morning. The fire erupted at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. When fire crews arrived on the scene, they found that eight apartments had been destroyed by the fire. Seven families were displaced by the fire. No injuries were reported, and the Red Cross was at the scene of the fire.  

A fire in a suburban area of Wichita Falls burned down a shed and singed neighbor's yards before being controlled by the fire department. The fire spread from a burn barrel, which had been placed on the wooden porch of an apartment set apart from the main house on the 100 block of Vickers Ct., according to Deputy Sheriff Melvin Joyner. Joyner said that flame from the burn barrel had spread onto the porch and into the grass before setting at least two sheds alight, as well as the grass in neighboring yards. One of the sheds was completely burned down, while the other sustained inner damage from flames. No estimate on property damage has been released at this time; the porch of the back apartment was burned down, and the fire department was forced to break a few windows on the apartment when fighting the flames.  

The Speegleville Volunteer firefighters, assisted by others from China Spring and Valley Mills, worked to contain a fire that had broken out in one travel trailer and quickly spread to another Monday night. Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Merritt said the call came in at 8:15 p.m. as a report of fire and possible explosions in the 300 block of Rabbit Run. When they arrived, firefighters found two travel trailers near a home fully involved. Firefighters worked to protect the home and two nearby shop buildings. They managed to get the fire knocked down fairly quickly. Merritt said they were told the trailer was being prepared for occupation and that the fire meant that a woman and child would be displaced. They were not present at the time of the fire an no one was injured. Both trailers were considered a total loss.  

Critical fire weather is forecast through Sunday for portions of North and West Texas with Friday holding the most potential for wildfire activity, particularly in the panhandle. Texas A&M Forest Service has prepositioned resources across the area including three single engine air tankers and an air attack platform in Childress, and two large airtankers and an aerial supervision module in Abilene to support suppression efforts as requested. "Wildfire potential increases through the weekend as strong winds, above normal temperatures and low humidity align with dry fuels," said Brad Smith, Texas A&M Forest Service Predictive Services Department Head. "The footprint of critically dry fuels will continue to expand south and east as we experience above normal temperatures and little rainfall."  

In a Tuesday morning house fire in Waco, most of the damage was confined to a ceiling and attic area. Smoke damage was also reported throughout the house. Fire units were called to 2613 South 26th at 5:27 a.m. on a report of smoke filling the house and found all five occupants safely out of the house. Fire was found in the ceiling area in a back bedroom, with firefighters pulling down a ceiling fan and knocking down the fire quickly. Further investigation revealed what was described as significant charring of several structural ceiling joists, with several burned through. The written report indicated the fire was electrical in nature and spread from the area of the ceiling fan. Red Cross was contacted to assist the family.  

PHOTOS: A vacant house has been destroyed in a fire on the south side of Syracuse early Wednesday morning. Emergency crews were dispatched at 3:00 a.m. to the house on Glenwood Avenue near Craddock Street. When firefighters arrived, the fire was already fully involved and it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the house, according to the Syracuse Fire Department. A few minutes into firefighting operations, the structure collapsed, according to fire officials. One neighboring home sustained damage as a result of the fire, the Syracuse Fire Department said. One firefighter required medical attention due to minor burns, fire officials said. The cause and origin of the fire are under investigation.  

When Mat Post asked himself, "What can we do as a community to help the tornado victims?" his fellow volunteer firefighters answered the call with enough donations of turn out gear, hoses and serviceable fire equipment to fill three trailers. Along with the apparatus, the Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Company decided to donate an entire fire truck, Engine 12. Within a couple of days of putting out the word for donations, which came in from area fire companies, a crew of volunteers was ready to set out to Mayfield, Kentucky, to present the Mayfield-Graves County Fire and Rescue with nearly $2 million worth of gear. The fire company in Kentucky lost everything, including their station house, in the recent tornados.  

Atlanta firefighters had to perform a vertical rescue after a grate gave way and let a man fall down an air shaft, officials said. It happened around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at One Coca-Cola Plaza. Atlanta fire Rescue said the person had fallen about 15 to 20 feet into the air shaft from above. Firefighters determined the best way to rescue the man was to pull him up back through the now open-air vent. When firefighters made contact with him in the vent, he was alert, conscious, and breathing. Crews then worked to secure him to a stretcher and then hoist him up the nearly two stories to the surface. About 40 firefighters in all were needed for the complex operation. The man appeared to have suffered a left injury and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.  

KSHB 41 News first obtained a report that details what happened when a Kansas City, Kansas firefighter was injured in an accident on Dec. 12. The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department provided the report. The fire department is still finishing up its own investigation, per a spokesperson. Pumper 17 was heading to a grocery store around 10:45 a.m. that Sunday. According to the report, the truck was turning left onto Shawnee Drive from 47th Street when the front passenger door opened and the occupant fell out, hitting his head on the pavement. The firefighter, who is 48 years-old, sustained a severe head trauma injury and was taken to the hospital. The report indicates the fire truck was sitting at a red light before turning, so the truck could not have been moving very fast when the door came open.  

The dizzying speed of omicron's spread has left Americans questioning much of what they know about Covid-19, especially on the cusp of holiday travel. "This is hitting us at a very inopportune time," said Dr. Katherine Poehling, an infectious disease specialist and vaccinologist at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in North Carolina. Though much remains unknown about omicron, experts are beginning to understand more about the variant and how it affects people who are vaccinated, unvaccinated or who have had a previous Covid infection. For example, people who are exposed to omicron appear to get sick faster and may have symptoms that are different than those of other variants.