The Mabank Fire Department lost a beloved member of its department and clown crew, Mat Ewaskiw, who unexpectedly passed away Sept. 19 peacefully at home. According to MFD Assistant Chief Kyle McAfee, Ewaskiw enjoyed working with the children and was the reason for the clown program's success. He was also very committed to the fire prevention program. In a moving tribute, McAfee stated: "The Higbee notch is a mark or cut in the couplings of a fire hose that helps firefighters rapidly connect two hoses together. It's an essential guide in the fire operations. Mat's clown name was Higbee and what a perfect name. Mat was a perfect guide in making things connect and making it work. ... You will always be my Higbee in life, and couldn't thank you more for the fun ride over the past 20 years. I'm very grateful for all the times and miles we had together. You can rest easy, my friend; we will take it from here. Love you, bud!"  

The little girl who was rescued from a burning apartment earlier this week has died. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner confirmed 3-year-old Aaliyah Anderson died Wednesday morning. She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition Monday morning with smoke-related injuries. Firefighters said the fire at her apartment complex near Interstate 30 and Las Vegas Trail in west Fort Worth left her trapped because of heavy smoke and flames. Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire, which only damaged one apartment. One other person suffered minor injuries in the fire.  

Duana "DJ" Couch has officially been selected as the county's new fire marshal, making her the first woman in the county's history to hold that position. Couch, who was serving in an interim role, was named fire marshal on Thursday, following a two-day special-called meeting of the Harrison County Commissioners Court in which four candidates were interviewed for the role. "We had over eight candidates and we narrowed it down to four," said County Judge Chad Sims. Three of the candidates were interviewed, on Wednesday. The final candidate was interviewed on Thursday. "We came out of the interview process and voted to appoint Ms. Couch as our permanent fire marshal," said Sims. "I'm very pleased with how Ms. Couch has been running the office and believe she'll continue to do an excellent job, and look forward to having her as our permanent fire marshal," the county judge said.  

Firefighters from Sherman, Denison and Melissa practiced what to do when fellow firefighters find themselves as the ones needing to be rescued. "If a rescuer is trapped, or injured or having a medical emergency during a rescue, which happens occasionally, we have to go get him too," said Fire Department International owner, Jeff Clifton. Training start off with the basics. Firefighters learning how to tie knots with the ropes but it quickly moves to building lowering systems with pulleys to practice for situations they could encounter in "the real world." It's called high angle rope rescue training. Clifton said the department doesn't practice it very often, but the training they do have are "very technical, very specific and we need to be really on our game."  

Brownsville firefighters and city officials gathered outside Central Station in downtown Brownsville on Thursday to unveil a new, custom-built firetruck the department has been working to obtain for the past two years. The engine will serve the entire city, but is stationed in the downtown area on Adams Street and is designed specifically with an independent suspension that will allow personnel to make tighter turns on the neighborhood's narrow streets. As Deputy Fire Chief Cesar Pedraza explained, the engine carries more water and more equipment, all in a smaller vehicle. The engine is complete with electric and battery-powered equipment, making it easier and more efficient to deploy when needed. And leadership designed the engine with the department's history in mind. The engine is painted bright red — brighter than other engines in town, and has other classic details like nickel plating around the wheel hubs.  

The South Coleman County Volunteer Fire Department just put the finishing touches on a new 12-ton, 40-foot water truck. Now they only need a place to put it. The truck was granted to the volunteer fire department last year by the Texas Forest Service and has taken the time to refit and refabricate it from the 1987 jet fuel tanker it once was. "It's been in the process of being built and it's just now filled with water and it's ready to go," SCCVFD Chief Rick Jennings said. The tanker truck was on the fire chief's wish list for years and has been a process to get for the department. "I put in a grant years and years ago about a truck that would haul water, and it had been so long ago, I had pretty much forgotten about it. The coordinator for the Texas Forestry Service got a hold of me and asked me if I still wanted one, and I said, ‘Lord yes,' and that's how we ended up the truck," he said.  

PHOTOS: On Thursday September 24, 2020 at 2:50 pm the Bath Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched for a working structure fire at T&R Environmental Services Haz Mat building located next door to T&R Towing on Route 415 North of the Village of Bath. Large plumes of heavy black smoke could be seen for miles. Assistant Chief Sean Walruth was first on scene and immediately started calling for mutual aid tankers for water and manpower. In all 16 department were called to aid in our effort to bring the massive fire under control. Originally T&R's Haz Mat building was fully involved in intense flame and heavy black smoke. There were several large fireballs that went high into the sky from the barrels of oil that were exploding. Crews were set up to try to protect the T&R office and dispatch center and the Fred Roberts Auto Parts buildings located on each side of the Haz Mat building.  

VIDEO: Tamara Thacher is believed to have died from her job as a firefighter, years after running into burning buildings. Her memorial last December was a time of reflection, not just of her life and service but the illness that cut her life short. The Sacramento Fire Department said her cancer is presumed to be the result of exposure to toxic chemicals firefighters potentially encounter every day. "My goal is never to have another firefighter like Tami Thacher lose their life because of contracting cancer," Chief Gary Loesch explained. The department introduced two engines called Clean Cab Apparatus to help keep firefighters safe. The department estimates the Clean Cab Apparatus costs about $35,000 more than a truck without clean air modifications. The engines include hoses to rinse firefighters off and ventilated compartments to store contaminated equipment outside of the truck.  

The first study to analyze the structure of the novel coronavirus from two waves of infection in a major city found that a more contagious strain dominates recent samples, researchers from Houston Methodist Hospital said on Wednesday. They examined more than 5,000 genomes from viruses recovered in the earliest phase of the pandemic in Houston, an ethnically diverse city of 7 million, and from an ongoing more recent wave of infections. The study, which has not yet been reviewed by outside experts, found that nearly all strains in the second wave had a mutation, known as D614G, which has been shown to increase the number of "spikes" on the crown-shaped virus. The spikes are what allow the virus to bind to and infect cells, increasing the ability of the mutated virus to infect cells. The Houston researchers said patients infected with the variant strain had significantly higher amounts of the virus on initial diagnosis.  

Most people don't start a full-time career in their 60s. Lyle See isn't most people. At 80 years old, he's been an EMT for decades alongside a career in human resources and working as a firefighter. His first run was in 1962, shortly after he graduated from Olivet College, responding to the call of a woman with a heart issue. At that time, he didn't have equipment on the ambulance to save her life in time. "We had none of the technology," See said. That's changed over the intervening 58 years. "I have [the ability] now to have certainly gotten her to the hospital," he said. It's also become more in demand. Before the pandemic, it wasn't unusual for See to work 60 hours a week as he and his colleagues responded to increasing numbers of calls. See jokes that while he's working fewer hours during the COVID-19 pandemic, his wife, Judy, would "just as soon I wasn't doing any of this."