A mother and her child survived a terrifying situation in Spring and their dangerous escape was caught on video. They were able to get out of their burning car just before it went up in flames. A firefighter who responded to the scene said they're lucky to be alive. Captain Tim Weiman works with the Spring Fire Department. He said crews responded to the scene on Aldine Westfield Road at about 4 p.m. on Saturday. "I spoke with the driver of the vehicle and her young child both of them were very shaken but thankful that they were OK," he said. Video shows the woman driving about a mile with her car on fire before pulling over. Weiman said she had no idea the car was on fire. "She did not notice the car burning. What made her really stop and notice, she said, she had smoke coming from her air vents," Weiman said.  

VIDEO: The Houston Fire Department responded to a house fire flamed by strong winds Saturday night in northeast Houston. Officials say a couple was inside the home watching TV with a firepit flaming outside at Camden Cove Lane near West Lake Houston Parkway. HFD says the fire started to extend into the home with the help of heavy wind around 9:30 p.m. "Just be careful. Make sure your fire is extinguished when you leave it alone, or when you go to bed," said HFD District Chief Joseph Leggio. "I think in this case, they still had some embers burning in the outdoor fireplace, and it extended through the wind, pushing it toward the house." One firefighter suffered a minor neck injury from debris that fell on his head and the couple suffered no injuries, according to officials.  

Eleven people are displaced and one person is unaccounted for after an apartment building went up in flames on the Northeast Side, according to San Antonio Fire Department. The fire happened Sunday afternoon in the 4800 block of Ray Bon Drive and Village Trail Drive. Heavy fire was seen coming from one apartment before it spread to a common attic area when fire crews arrived. SAFD said that's when they upgraded the response to a second alarm. Crews aggressively attacked the flames from inside but were forced out after the attic collapsed. Firefighters then had to battle the flames from the outside. Twelve apartments were impacted by the fire and 11 people were displaced, according to SAFD. One resident is currently unaccounted for and another was taken to an area hospital for smoke inhalation.  

VIDEO: A fire that started in what was supposed to be a vacant house on the city's West Side Monday morning spread to the home next door, destroying it and displacing two people. San Antonio firefighters arrived before 3 a.m. to flames and smoke coming through the roof of a home at the corner of S. General McMullen and Monterey Street. Before they could put out the fire, it began to spread to the home next door, also setting it on fire. Two people in that second home were able to escape safely. Firefighters say the vacant home where the fire started often is frequented by homeless people. At one point, they had a report that a homeless man might be inside the house. However, they say they searched and did not find anyone there.  

VIDEO: Fire officials are investigating an early morning fire at a North Austin elementary school. But that's not the only fire that crews had to put out overnight. First, firefighters responded to a fire at an abandoned complex of buildings in South Austin. The fire happened just before 10 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, on East St. Elmo Road, near the St. Elmo Brewing Company and Still Austin Whiskey Co. Officials have not said if anyone was hurt in this fire, nor what caused the flames or how much damage was done. However, the fire department did say a building at that complex has caught fire before. Then, a portable at McBee Elementary School on West Braker Lane caught fire just after 3 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 14. Austin Fire Department crews had the fire under control by around 3:30 a.m. Fire officials said no one was hurt or inside the portable.  

PHOTO: Austin and Travis County firefighters battled a brushfire that burned at least two structures and two vehicles between Lago Vista and Jonestown on Sunday afternoon. According to the Austin Fire Department (AFD), the fire northwest of Austin began around 12:20 p.m. at the 19000 block of Tyler Trail near Lake Travis. The AFD said a mobile home caught fire, which spread to the surrounding brush. Travis County ESD 1 told KVUE at least two structures and two vehicles were destroyed by the fire. Over 25 fire units and nearly 100 firefighters responded to the incident, Travis County ESD 1 said. As of 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Travis County ESD 1 said the fire was under control, and crews were mopping up assuring no hot spots exist. Crews were initially looking for a missing man, but said he was not on the scene when the fire started.  

One man was rescued and more than a dozen residents were displaced after a large fire in Jersey City on Friday afternoon. The fire was reported at a three-story residential building around 4 p.m. on 163 Van Horne Street. A Jersey City police officer who was first on the scene ran into the building where the fire originated and rescued one man. Alfred Bowen, 76, suffered third-degree burns and was taken to a local hospital. A battalion chief and a firefighter also suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The Jersey City Fire Department said the fire started in the back of a third-floor apartment where the 76-year-old lived. Leo Balbuena saw the flames. "I ran across the street and started banging on the door," said Balbuena. He saw his longtime neighbor, Bowen inside.  

Frontline workers will once again have a faster path to Workers' Compensation benefits in Minnesota, a presumption in law that a COVID-19 infection happened in the workplace and is a job-related injury. First responders and healthcare workers joined lawmakers at Brooklyn Park's central fire station Friday afternoon, to watch Gov. Tim Walz sign the bill extending that rule until May of 2023. It was the first bill passed by the legislature in the 2022 Session and had strong bipartisan support. "Those people were there. There was no break in there. They responded accordingly," Gov. Walz remarked before signing the bill. "They did all they could at the time, that we knew, but it put people at risk. And the risk continues for them." The workplace presumption is critical to helping first responders get coverage for medical costs and be paid for lost time during their recovery and quarantine.  

A group of amateur radio operators in Caribou have banded together to start Aroostook County's first municipal-based emergency service, hoping to modernize the region's use of technology during disasters. In a rural county where internet, cellphone and other types of communication can be spotty in good weather, storms can easily knock out those modes of communication. The newly formed group of volunteer amateur radio operators calling itself Caribou Emergency Amateur Radio Service will bring to Aroostook the only digital smart technology for amateur radios, known as D-STAR, north of Portland. While General Mobile Radio Service radios are more common for hobbyists, D-STAR allows licensed operators and emergency personnel to send texts, emails and photos through radio. Operators connect D-STAR radio cables to special computers that remain functional during widespread power outages.  

VIDEO: Cleveland firefighters are leading a walk to Nashville starting on February 14th to raise awareness for suicide, something they say frequently impacts their work community. The walk will take place over several days, ending on February 23rd. The firefighters will be accompanied by family members, policy leaders and other community members. The goal is to work toward a change in policy that supports the mental health of firefighters who suffer from hardships they face on duty. Captain Dustin Samples committed suicide in 2020, after serving the Cleveland community for over 22 years. Captain Samples's wife, Jennifer, leads a nonprofit called "The 303 Project" that supports the mental health of first responders and is partnering with the walk to raise awareness. SB1023/HB1356 is a bill supported by firefighters statewide that would make the diagnosis of PTSD for a professional firefighter or EMT presumed to be an injury suffered in the course of their work.  

COVID-19 cases have continued to subside throughout the United States, while deaths have also settled after increasing rapidly amid surges of infections brought on by the Omicron variant. The United States reported a daily average of 178,705 new COVID-19 cases, down 67% over 14 days, according to data gathered by The New York Times, as individual states have begun to loosen masking mandates and other restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus and health officials have indicated the peak of Omicron infections has passed. Every U.S. state and territory has reported a decrease in new cases within the past 14 days led by Oklahoma at 84%, while 22 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have reported declines of 70% or greater, according to the New York Times.