Meridian Assistant Fire Chief Michael Walker is in an induced coma fighting for his life after contracting COVID-19 and Pneumonia. Walkers wife Rachel who is also a Meridian firefighter told FOX 44 she was getting ready for surgery herself when her husband Michael was immediately rushed to the emergency room. "A disc slipped off to the nerve in my neck and I was having a reaction to the medicine, so he was having to literally feed me, take me to the bathroom," Rachel said. Walker was by her side leading up to the day of surgery until she says he began acting strange. "Everything didn't just get weird until he passed out at the end of the bed, and just wasn't acting right. Looking back on it now, it probably was a lack of oxygen."  

VIDEO: Just days before Christmas, several families have been displaced after a major fire at an apartment complex in east Houston, firefighters say. It happened Friday at the Pines of Woodforest Northshore apartments located at 90 Uvalde Road at around 3 a.m. According to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Harris County sheriff's deputies and North Channel Fire Department units responded to reports of the fire. When they arrived at the scene, they found one unit engulfed in flames. All residents were safely evacuated, Gonzalez said. The fire is being ruled an accident. Investigators said a grandmother was smoking before she went to bed and put the bud in an aluminum Coke can, which caught fire. Resident Faith Daniels said she was awake and heard a loud "boom."  

VIDEO: The City of Plainview Fire Department brought in a new fire engine with a 200-year-old tradition called a Push-In Ceremony on Thursday. The tradition dates back to the 1800s, when fire stations used horses before returning their fire equipment to the station. Firefighters would disconnect the horses from the carriage and push the fire equipment back into the bays. Continuing this tradition, the new fire engine was pushed into its bay. This event will be the first for the fire department in at least 35 years, after it was brought back by Fire Chief Bobby Gipson. "I am happy to begin this tradition here at the City of Plainview Fire and EMS Department," Chief Gipson said.  

A place thousands of students once came to learn in Silsbee is now just an empty field. But for the city's volunteer firefighters, this spot offers plenty of promise. They said it's the perfect place for their new firehouse, but it's not just about location. It's about need. The Silsbee Fire Department is growing. More than 30 volunteers make up a staff, and soon they'll have a brand-new place to call home. Since 2003, Silsbee Fire and Rescue has occupied this building at the corner of Payne Road and North 11th Street. "This building is still a nice building and everything but we're growing," Chief Robin Jones said. Jones has watched his crew of more than 30 volunteers take on a bigger workload in the last two years. They've gone from making 432 runs in 2020 to 537 so far this year. "We have actually outgrown this," Jones said.  

Crews responded to a fuel tank at an oilfield in McCook that caught on fire Thursday afternoon. No injuries were reported in the area northwest of the city of La Joya. The tank was part of an oil drilling operation and the cause of the explosion right now is suspected to be static electricity, according to La Joya fire Chief Frankie Salinas. The tank was an overflow tank that contained a mix of oil and water, and the fire was contained before it spread to the other tanks that each contained 100 barrels of oil.  

VIDEO: On Thursday, firefighters from Zacatecas, Mexico traveled far to make a visit to Waco. The Waco Fire Department was able to give the fighters a tour of their station. The Zacatecas Firefighter Chief and council leaders were shown Waco's fire trucks and all of the different equipment they use. The Zacatecas Firefighters were grateful for the Waco Fire Department opening up their doors to them and showing them around. As a token of their appreciation, the Zacatecas Firefighters presented Waco Firefighters with a plaque symbolizing their brotherhood bond. "We're very fortunate to have a city that funds us fully, and here they have a city deal layer of 68,000," says Waco Firefighter. "They're asking for donations. That really brings home how fortunate we are in Waco."  

Thick, black smoke from an eight-alarm fire coated a Boston neighborhood Friday morning, significantly cutting down visibility, and forcing firefighters to enlist the help of a drone to spot flames spreading inside the building. The fire began early Friday at 185 Corey Road in Boston, just north of Brookline's Washington Square, the Boston Fire Department said. But throughout the morning, as fire crews were ordered out of the building, and as heavy smoke clouded the surrounding area, firefighters deployed a drone to help direct water toward flames inside the building. The drone provided an overhead view for officials to spot areas still burning within the building. Even when smoke covered the view, the drone's heat-sensitive camera allowed firefighters to peer past the plumes and find flames that hadn't been extinguished.  

The City of Seattle announced Thursday that it will expand a unique program that pairs firefighters with social workers. Mayor Jenny Durkan says it will play an important role in the fight against homelessness. Seattle Firefighter Roger Webber has decades of experience on a ladder truck but the Health One mobile unit he is assigned to is far from a typical fire engine. "We have diapers, feminine hygiene products," Webber said. Many would not sign up for Webber's job, but he says he is craving the challenge of solving Seattle's homelessness crisis. "This is the hardest job I've ever done emotionally," Webber said. He can share those emotions and the responsibilities that come with the job with social workers like Riley De Hoog. "We do a trauma-informed approach to our care we try to meet them where they are at," De Hoog said.  

Only four percent of the firefighters in our country are women, according to the Women in Fire organization. The town of Fairfield has hired its first female firefighter in a quarter-century. The woman at the center of this story is no stranger to breaking glass ceilings. It was a simple swearing-in full of smiles and a daughter pinning her mother, newly sworn-in firefighter Caitlin Clarkson Pereira. "It feels incredible to put on this uniform," Clarkson Pereira said. 67 recruits at the State Fire Academy graduated last week in Bloomfield, including Clarkson Pereira. All of them completed months of training and there were only a few women in the newest class of firefighters, but they excelled. There are 90 men on shift. Clarkson Pereira is the first woman hired in nearly 30 years. "I will be the first woman on. It feels like a big responsibility, but I'm excited and humbled to be able to do it," Clarkson Pereira said.  

The Pennington County Sheriff's Office is, yet again, reporting an increase in drug related crime throughout the county. Although drug arrests fell slightly last year, the Sheriff's Office says things are once again on the rise. They say a huge part of the problem is the addiction and repeat offenders of those who abuse methamphetamine, making up 70-percent of arrests in 2019. In response to the increase in drugs flooding the area, the Rapid City Fire Department set up a mock car accident where a drug dealer fled the scene, leaving behind dangerous chemicals. The training is necessary, because Jordan Johnson, Journeyman Firefighter and Paramedic, says when drugs are involved, potential fire hazards increase with the possibility of injuries.  

A National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday says a failure to properly disconnect and secure vehicle batteries led to the 2020 fire aboard vehicle carrier Höegh Xiamen in Blount Island. The June 4th fire resulted in $40 million worth of damages and sent nine Jacksonville firefighters to the hospital. No one died in the explosion but some fighters were severely injured. None of the vessel's 21 crew members were injured during the incident. It took firefighters more than a week to officially put the subsequent fire out. The NTSB issued eight safety recommendations to federal regulators and the companies involved in the accident as a result of the investigation. According to the report, the explosion happened because of a spark from a car battery on the ship. Additionally, the car batteries had not been disconnected and secured before the cargo ship left the dock.