A woman is dead after a single-story residence went up in flames in Haltom City on Thursday, January 27. At about 9:35 a.m., the Haltom City Fire Department and neighboring fire departments were dispatched to a structure fire on the 5900 block of Cimarron Trail upon arrival, the firefighters saw smoke and fire coming from a single-story residence. The firefighters made entry and began searching for people. An adult woman was found deceased in the living room. The Haltom City Fire Department said it is continuing to investigate the fire and will work closely with other agencies to determine the cause of the fire.  

VIDEO: If you live in the Lawndale area or near Grandview Avenue, you might hear the sound of construction going on. That is all because progress is being made on two new fire stations in Odessa. NewsWest 9 spoke with John Alvarez, Fire Chief for the City of Odessa Fire Rescue. He said the city is growing and therefore public services have to as well. "If you look at our stats from last year, we had over 20,800 runs within this department," said Alvarez. "When I started almost 30 years ago, we were making 10 to 11,000 runs a year. Since I have been here the amount of incidents is much higher and has practically doubled." Alvarez said public services always have to be kept in mind when any city expands. "This city has grown in square mileage in the city limits," said Alvarez.  

A rescue truck belonging to Scenic Loop Fire and Rescue that was stolen Thursday by an unknown person has been located in another county. Scenic Loop firefighters say sometime around noon Thursday, someone went into the fire station via the back door. They stole the truck, which is a 1996 Ford Super Duty light rescue truck with a rescue service bed on it. They received a call from the Dayton Texas Police Department at around 4 p.m. on Thursday that a railroad worker had spotted the truck. It appears to be abandoned and all the equipment is out of it and in a ditch, they said. Liberty County Sheriffs Office was en route to the Scene, as were members of the Scenic Loop VFD.  

Burnet City Council's recently approved pay increase for first responders is leaders' latest strategy in an attempt to attract more emergency personnel to the Hill Country. "It has just been unbelievable, the amount of growth in this area," City Manager David Vaughn said. "We really have to be able to compete to get the best." The $300,000 increase in annual salary funds for police officers, firefighters and paramedics comes thanks to unanimous approval from city council members on Tuesday. "It came out of several conversations we had over time about what we could do to recruit and retain quality employees," Burnet Police Chief Brian Lee said. Part of the pay scale development for Lee, along with Burnet Fire Department Chief Mark Ingram, was conducting a region survey of what other area agencies were offering their recruits and current employees.  

Seven people trapped inside a burning home Thursday are expected to be OK after being rescued by Fort Worth firefighters early Thursday morning. The department said firefighters were dispatched to a house fire on the 2600 block of Rodeo Street and arrived about three minutes later to find heavy fire at the front of the residence. A 911 operator was told there were several people trapped in the back part of the house, unable to get out. Firefighters soon began searching the home from the outside and located a group of people trapped near the rear of the residence. The fire department said firefighters then used tools to create a path out of the home and that seven people were rescued. Some of the trapped residents suffered injuries but all of those injuries are believed to be minor.  

The city of Taylor's fire chief is sounding the alarm: He says they're not staffed to handle the fire risks new industries — including Samsung — will bring to the city. Thursday night, Taylor City Council members approved a $68,109 contract with a company, CityGate Associates, to create a master plan for the city's fire services. According to a presentation prepared by the chief for the city council, Samsung would front the money and the city would pay the company back. In his presentation, Chief Daniel Baum also stated the department's staffing and deployment strategy, which hasn't changed in over 20 years, is "reaching its limits" with the spurt of new growth the city has experienced. "The coming of Samsung and other heavy industrial uses brings new hazards to the community that the Taylor Fire Department is not currently staffed or equipped to handle," Baum added.  

VIDEO: The Asheville Fire Department (AFD) has a new tool to help with investigations. Through FEMA's Fire Safety and Prevention grant, AFD received a Matterport 3D imaging camera. "It allows us to essentially paint a picture of the entire incident," Bill States, senior deputy fire marshal, said. The technology lets AFD go inside a fire scene long after the initial investigation has ended. States said the technology has been a gamechanger, creating a new tool to document fire scenes. "Normally a 360 camera, that's all you'd be able to see, but this technology splices together all of our scans," he said. States used the 3D capture of the Sly Grog Lounge fire late last year as an example to show the power of this technology. It shows the extensive damage of the fire and also how investigators determined the origin.  

The Northwest Fire District put out nearly 100 car fires in 2021, but it's often unclear whether those fires are mechanical malfunctions or arson. This week, the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) held the first training of its kind in Southern Arizona, drawing fire investigators from several states and throughout Arizona. The training took place at Northwest Fire's Training Center just outside of Tucson. On Thursday, the course's students viewed live car burns and investigated previously burned cars for clues. Fires not only destroy evidence; they also create it. "You think of this as a puzzle and you're putting pieces of the puzzle together working back to that original location where the fire originated," IAAI Training and Education Chair Trace Lawless said.  

PHOTOS: It was a seemingly inconsequential homework assignment that saved Charles Lyman III's life on a frigid night in January 1922. Then a 14-year-old prep school student, Lyman was visiting family in Washington, D.C. when a major storm buried the city under almost two and a half feet of snow. On Saturday, January 28—the second day of the blizzard—Lyman's cousin David suggested spending a cozy evening watching a movie at the Knickerbocker Theatre in nearby Lanier Heights (now known as Adams Morgan). Lyman told him to go ahead with a friend, Kirkland Duke, and promised to join the pair after finishing his schoolwork. Trudging through the snow about a half block away from the theater, Lyman heard a sudden boom followed by a chorus of terrified screams. The Knickerbocker's roof had come crashing down, overwhelmed by the weight of the record-breaking snowfall.  

Interfering with a fire or medical first responder could soon become illegal if a bill being considered in the Washington State Legislature passes this session. A proposed House bill would create a gross misdemeanor for anyone who knowingly interferes with the actions of a firefighter or emergency medical services provider. Individuals convicted would face up to 364 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000. Washington has laws against driving over unprotected fire hoses, disobeying traffic orders from first responders and obstructing a law enforcement officer. But there is nothing explicitly against interfering in fire and medical personnel attempting to do their jobs. Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said assaults on firefighters and paramedics can be prosecuted, but there is no recourse for preventing access to a patient, verbally threatening a first responder or otherwise getting in the way.  

VIDEO: The Arlington, Virginia, fire department is turning to telehealth to help ease the strain on ambulance crews and hospitals. Starting this month, if paramedics or EMTs in Arlington find that a patient meets certain criteria, the emergency workers will ask whether the patient would like to bring in a medical provider via an iPad. On the other end is a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner. "I can say to them, ‘Can you show me this wound? Move the ankle this way. Push on their belly'," said Dr. E. Reed Smith, the operational medical director for Arlington County's fire and police departments. The telehealth visits are an alternative to a costly and time-consuming ambulance ride to the emergency room.