A Dallas firefighter at a girls high school basketball game as a spectator became a lifesaver when one of the players went into cardiac arrest. The student-athlete was a player on the team where Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain Kenneth Zacharie's wife is the girls varsity basketball coach. Captain Zacharie's life is built around family and teamwork. "My whole life is playing sports, I was fortunate to come to this job," Capt. Zacharie said. As captain of the Rapid Intervention Team, his unit goes in when other firefighters and paramedics are in trouble. The team theme runs through his family. "Me and my wife, she's a coach, and we have three boys: 11, 10 and two years old," he explained. On November 3, Zacharie was off duty and in the stands as the Irving Nimitz girls prepared to play Arlington Lamar.  

Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with family and friends, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Dallas Cowboys football, and, of course, the delicious food. With so much going on, it can be easy for the chef to get distracted. "People leave the house, they'll run to the store real quick, and then by the time they get back, a lot of times they'll find the fire department there at their house," said Nick Wilson, the deputy chief of Lubbock Fire Rescue (LFR). According to the National Fire Protection Association, there are more home fires on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year. "The biggest thing we want people to do is just make sure that they pay attention and they're present when they're cooking," Wilson said. "Unattended cooking fires account for the majority of all the cooking fires."  

The Austin Fire Department extinguished a fire at a vacant house in north Austin Wednesday morning. Crews responded to 709 Delmar Ave. just before 8 a.m. That is just west of I-35 and south of US 183. After extinguishing the flames, firefighters searched the interior of the house. They were able to confirm that no one was inside at the time. There is no word yet on a cause. AFD said there may be traffic in the area as crews continue to work.  

Move over Rudolph, Santa has a fire truck. Beginning on Dec. 8 and extending for approximately 15 days, Santa Claus will cruise atop a Murphy fire engine, adorned with flashing lights, a ringing bell and the occasional siren blast. "We are, of course, thrilled to accommodate Santa Claus on his yearly trip to Murphy," said Murphy Fire Chief Del Albright in an official statement. "He wants to make sure that he is completely familiar with the places he hasn't visited around town and remind himself of those places that he's already aware of. We're happy to provide the vehicle." The festive Santa rides will visit every street in Murphy, excluding cul-de-sacs. Santa will embark on the fire engine promptly at 6:30 p.m. each evening, concluding his route at 8:30 p.m.  

The Tri-State Tollway was mired in a traffic nightmare during the evening rush Tuesday, after a semi-trailer truck hauling cars sparked a huge fire on the Tri-State Tollway in southwest suburban Willow Springs. As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, traffic was very slow through the night along northbound I-294 near the scene. Illinois State Police said by 8:30 p.m., all lanes on I-294 had reopened following hours of cleanup. But late in the afternoon, the fiery crash caused some intense moments for those involved – and for drivers caught in the middle. Fortunately, nobody was injured. The thick black smoke from the wreck was visible from miles away. As she got closer, Jessica Selim said she felt the heat of the intense flames. "You hear the car physically shaking, and it's hot," Selim said. "We heard the booms. We heard the explosions."  

VIDEO: Fayetteville Tech Community College opened a state-of-the-art swift water rescue training facility. Officials said the facility will help expand job opportunities in the area. The new facility on Tom Starling Road is the only swift water rescue training facility on the East Coast. It will help teach countless trainees how to save lives. "It really sets Cumberland County and Fayetteville Tech up as a premier trainer in the public service space--not only in our state, but also all across the United States," said FTCC President Dr. Mark Sorrells. At the facility, first responders will train to rescue people in extreme weather events like hurricanes, major flooding or large bodies of water. It sits on a plot of about 30 acres of land that Cumberland County donated to Fayetteville Tech to build its entire fire and rescue complex.  

VIDEO: On Nov. 11, firefighters in Benton County discovered a Dodge brush fire truck from inside the firehouse on E. Highway 94 in Monte Ne had been stolen. Later that morning, the Benton County Sheriff's Office found the truck in Springdale outside the home of the man who allegedly stole it and drove home the night before. According to the arrest affidavit, the man made a stop to fill up at a gas station in Rogers on his way, where he "accidentally turned on the emergency lights." Detectives said the Dodge truck was parked inside the fire department in Monte Ne overnight on Nov. 10. Since the fire department doesn't have full-time staff who stay and sleep at the firehouse, no one was there when the truck was stolen. The firehouse did, however, have video surveillance of the theft, officials said.  

VIDEO: The City of Coronado is testing out a new emergency alert system. Coronado already has sirens positioned around the island, but the technology on the sirens is old. They're unable to broadcast messages to go along with the siren. On Tuesday, the Coronado Fire Department tested out a new system, which has the capability of doing both. "Sirens are sirens and when you activate one, you don't know why the siren is being activated. So, with this technology the nice thing about it is we can pre-record a message into the system and we can actually broadcast that message across the community," said Coronado Fire Chief Jayson Summers. Summers told CBS 8 the department is trying to find new ways to better communicate with the community and keep people safe. Messages on a new system can range from information about an event to evacuation orders.