As a rookie firefighter in 1999, Jason Mays first had thoughts about being the chief of a fire department when he saw his name, one of the numerous names below the chief's name and signature, on the eligibility register list. "You see the city manager's name, the HR director's name and you see the fire chief's name and you see their signature, indicating it's a valid eligibility register," Mays said. "... I saw the chief's name up there. Underneath it, I saw my name, way down there on the list. I remember having that thought, ‘I wonder what it would take or if one day I could be eligible to be the fire chief.' " Twenty-one years later, Mays has now fulfilled that dream. Mays was announced as the 10th fire chief in the history of the Amarillo Fire Department on April 1, succeeding Fire Chief Jeff Greenlee after he announced his retirement in January.  

A reported ammonia leak force the evacuation of a Lubbock warehouse Saturday afternoon. The incident was reported just before 3:00 p.m. in the 5800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Llano Logistics Inc. According to emergency radio traffic, employees had evacuated the warehouse. Lubbock Fire Rescue crews were called to the scene and began a HAZMAT response. LFR crews was able to contain and seal the leak just after 3:30 p.m., according to emergency radio traffic. Llano Logistics Inc. is a part of The United Family. A spokesperson for The United Family provided the following statement to EverythingLubbock.com late Saturday afternoon: At about 2:40 this afternoon, the alarm on monitoring systems at Llano Logistics alerted management to an ammonia leak in an isolated refrigeration room at the facility.  

More than 20 units responded to a two-alarm fire in the 100 block of Grasmere Court Saturday afternoon. The call for a fire at the northeast side-home came in just before 1 p.m. Neighbors initially believed that a family was stuck inside the home, but once firefighters made entry they determined that no one was inside. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is unknown.  

Laredo police are investigating a batch of faulty COVID-19 tests kits that were meant for a public mobile drive-thru testing facility in this South Texas community that is struggling to combat the deadly disease. Laredo city officials late Thursday announced that 2,500 unusable COVID-19 rapid test kits were sent to the city and Webb County, where there is an urgent need to identify and isolate patients with the virus. Already, five people in Laredo have died from COVID-19, making them the only deaths in South Texas to date. On Friday, officials reported seven more cases bringing the total to 73, including 11 healthcare professionals. Only seven people have recovered from the illness there, so far; 11 people currently are hospitalized and three people are in intensive care, Laredo Health Director Dr. Hector Gonzalez said in a video conference call on Friday afternoon with media.  

Firefighters from multiple departments battled an overnight fire in Smith County just a few hours ago. firefighters responded around 3:15 a.m. for a report of a structure fire on the 16 thousand block of Paluxy drive in Whitehouse. Upon arrival, fire crews saw a detached carport that was covered in flames, according to fire officials. Batallion Chief Adam Melson with the Smith County ESD2 says fire crews extinguished the fire and were able to keep it from spreading to the home. Investigators say an electrical malfunction in a freezer started the fire. No injuries were reported. Units from Whitehouse, Flint-Gresham, and Smith County ESD-2 Fire Departments responded to the fire.  

The Port Neches City Council approved an amendment to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act providing paid job-protected leave to full-time and part-time first responder employees. The employees may be unable to work should a child, stepchild, spouse or immediate family member contract the coronavirus or symptoms thereof. The vote passed unanimously Thursday night with the inclusion of a clause for discontinuation should the needs of the city change. City Manager Andre Wimer said the decision was weighed on two concerns — public safety and essential services. "What we've attempted to do here is balance the needs of our employees relative to the federal legislation that was passed, and at the same time, the needs of the public," he said.  

The virus did not creep toward San Jose firefighters. It lurked among them. It was March 6, a week after the country's first community-transmitted COVID-19 case at a Vacaville hospital. Exposure to the virus remained largely linked to overseas travel. California's case count had just scraped triple-digits. Quietly and without realizing it, a busy San Jose firefighter had carried coronavirus to his fire station. He covered a shift for a buddy at another firehouse, exposing colleagues there. He attended a career development course at the department's training center — and the disease spread further. Within the week, about 10 percent of the workforce had been exposed. Fifteen San Jose firefighters tested positive — the largest known cluster among Bay Area first responders and a wake-up call, even for those who thought they'd seen it all.  

New York City paramedics and emergency medical technicians must wear medical-grade face masks while treating any patient during the coronavirus outbreak, FDNY honchos have announced. The FDNY last month said first responders should only wear N95 respirator masks while performing up-close "aerosol-generating" procedures like CPR, but remain unmasked during less critical jobs. Now the front line workers must wear surgical masks during every call, and strap on a more protective N95 for close-up "proximity work." "We must now consider all patients, (including trauma call types) to be infected and all persons (even coworkers and family members) to have been exposed due to community spread," said a Saturday memo distributed to FDNY EMS staff.  

As the coronavirus continues to spread and send many patients to the hospital, ambulance crews are balancing a thorough disinfection process with getting back on the road as quickly as possible. It's a situation that has led to an uptick in business for cleaning and restoration companies that have a specialized disinfection process in their repertoire, such as Pittsburgh-based G.S. Jones Restoration and Consulting. The cleaner, called SteraMist, can get the disinfection process done within 30 minutes. "That's the key," said Lloyd Lane, director of business development for G.S. Jones. The process was developed by the U.S. Defense Department in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to possible anthrax attacks. Lane explained the process: A handheld spray unit ionizes a solution of hydrogen peroxide into a mist, and the ionized hydrogen peroxide activates when it lands.  

Starting next week, city workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic in Carmel, Indiana will be tested weekly for the virus. In the first week, the city of about 100,000 people just north of Indianapolis expects to test about 350 police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, as well as city staffers who still have to physically show up to work, like those in charge of code enforcement on construction sites and sewer utility workers. "Having the ability to regularly test our frontline employees will be very helpful," said Mayor Jim Brainard. "The U.S. should have been flattening the curve eight weeks ago, but we're now doing what we can locally to prevent our resources from being overburdened. This will help us slow the rate of infection and keep people alive."  

VIDEO: A fire that spread across 15 acres destroyed more than 3,500 rental cars at the rental car overflow area of Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) on Friday, Lee County Port Authority said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It drew a response from every Lee County fire department with assistance from aviation and fire departments in neighboring Collier and Charlotte counties. Multiple law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida were also on scene to assist and manage the roads. The fire was fully contained and extinguished Saturday as crews worked through the night Friday, putting out the flames to ensure it did not continue to spread or cause further damage. More than 3,800 rental cars, belonging to the various rental car agencies that serve the airport, were undamaged and relocated.