PHOTO: Houston firefighters battled a blaze for hours at a massive River Oaks home on Tuesday night. The 2-alarm fire was reported around 10:30 p.m. in the 3400 block of Inwood. The fire department says the house – estimated to be between 8,000 to 10,000 sq. ft. – was unoccupied and under construction. Officials say firefighters tried to make entry but construction and dirt piles in the yard prevented access. Firefighters had to cut down trees to go around the house to try to prevent the fire from spreading to neighboring homes, the fire department says. Officials say weather and a lot of moisture in the air also prevented the smoke from rising, which created zero visibility for firefighters. No injuries were reported. One firefighter had some chest pain but was check out and cleared. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

VIDEO: The Amarillo Fire Department put updated equipment to the test, comparing rescue tools used in accidents. At T Miller Wrecker Service, AFD completed extrication training comparing gas-powered rescue tools to electronic-powered tools. Training on the new generation 3 electronic extrication tools, helps AFD with rapid deployment and ease of use to provide the best service possible. AFD uses a spreader, cutter and ram to rip and strip a car during emergency calls. Using gas-powered hydraulic rescue tools, it took eight minutes to remove both doors on one side of the car. With the electronic rescue tools, it took five and a half minutes. "Two and a half minutes can be all the difference with a critical patient, we need to get a paramedic's hands on them as quickly as possible and two and a half minutes can mean the difference between somebody being stable or somebody no longer being stable," said Captain Billy Greeson, Amarillo Fire Department.  

This month, Firefighter Associations are raising awareness of one of the leading causes of death of firefighters. Experts said there are long-term effects of putting out fires which could lead to Occupational Cancer. Wichita Falls Professional Firefighters Association said they are taking the best practices to keep their crews healthy. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, 72 percent of line-of-duty deaths in the firefighter community are due to Occupational Cancer. President of Wichita Falls Association of Firefighters Al Vitolo said to keep fire crews healthy, it's important to change the culture and educate them about the dangers of having carcinogens on their uniforms.  

A man is dead following a house fire on the city's North Side early Wednesday morning, according to the San Antonio Fire Department. Firefighters were called around 4:30 a.m. to a home in the 1600 block of San Angelo Boulevard, not far from Basse Road and Interstate 10. Firefighters said when they arrived, they found flames showing on the backside of the house. They are still putting out hot spots, but the majority of the fire was put out quickly. Fire officials say they pulled a man from the burning home after he was found in a back bathroom. He was rushed to an area hospital, but he later died. The man killed has not been identified. The other people inside the home did make it safely out. The cause of the fire is not currently known. A fire investigation team is working to determine the exact cause.  

A man died after he ran back inside a burning home in Mission Hills early Wednesday morning. The fire started inside a one-story duplex located at 10803 N. Noble Ave. and Chatsworth Street, near the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway, around 3 a.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. All four residents made it out of the burning home safely, before a man in his 70s ran back inside to try and grab some of his personal belongings. Authorities said the flames grew quickly and he never made it back out. Firefighters found the victim inside and he was pronounced dead at the scene. "It appears that there were no working fire alarms inside the home," said David Ortiz, LAFD. It took 32 firefighters 22 minutes to put out the flames. Three occupants of the home were not injured in the fire.  

VIDEO: Some of the top authorities on firefighting and emergency care in the U.S. appeared in Chicago on Tuesday. With more than 150 people already killed in fires in the U.S. this year — a rate on track to top 2023 fire deaths in the country — fire prevention safety measures were a big focus in a wide-ranging press conference at the firehouse in North Lawndale on the city's Southwest Side. Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt joined Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials and U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrrell on the Chicago leg of a three-city tour to promote FEMA's #WinterReady Campaign. "The winter-time brings increased fire risk, because we're worried about heated security," Moore-Merrell explained.  

VIDEO: In collaboration with the Salt Lake City International Airport, the Salt Lake City Fire Department is rolling out a new team to respond to emergencies. The airport now has a two-person e-bike squad that responds to medical calls in the terminal six days a week. "They've got all of their basic life support equipment," said Capt. Shaun Mumedy, public information officer for the department. "They do have some advanced equipment with their AEDs, they have all the standard equipment we would use for trauma care." He said the new mobile response team was created to better accommodate larger crowds coming through the growing airport and state. It was modeled after the department's mobile response teams located in some of the city's neighborhoods.