Firefighters found a body after a massive house fire early Saturday morning that struck a power line. Firefighters arrived to a home in the 5300 block of Howard Street at about 12:45 a.m. for a fully involved house fire. Officials initially believed no one was home at the time of the fire, but later found a body after the fire was knocked down. A spokespersons said crews were doing overhaul work when they found the body inside the home. The victim has not been identified. Flames spread to the attic and power lines, causing emergency crews to deploy 12 firefighters units to battle the flames, which caused about $75,000 in damages. Arson investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire.  

A local first responder was laid to rest in Iraan on Saturday. Hundreds filled the pews and additional standing room only, including classmates, friends and family, to remember 20-year-old Albert Raymond Willock. Willock was a 2018 Iraan High School graduate and an Iraan firefighter. His service was held at the First Baptist Church in Iraan. He was then buried at the Iraan Restland Cemetery. Several area first responders attended and assisted with the funeral services and procession.  

Potter County Fire and Rescue personnel will soon have upgraded computers and routers for installation in rescue vehicles. "We've opted to replace the tablets that go in the fire apparatus with a different tablet that has a higher security feature and we're working with our IT department to avoid people logging into computers while they are going to calls," said Potter County Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Lake. "The old equipment will go up for auction." The Potter County Commissioners Court approved the purchase of the following items: 28 Panasonic Toughbook computers with accessories for $153,115.47; 24 NetCloud MA50-09000 mobile routers with antennas for $31,069.80; and installation of all the equipment into 24 fire rescue vehicles for $4,800. "I feel it is better to do this than to keep going with maintenance contracts," Lake said.  

A suspected drunken driver was arrested early Saturday after hitting a Fire-Rescue ambulance that was transporting a pregnant patient, police say. The ambulance was heading east about 3 a.m. on Bruton Road at North Masters Drive with its emergency lights on. As the ambulance attempted to turn left at a red light, a Chrysler 200 traveling south at a high rate of speed on Masters Drive swiped the front of the ambulance, police said. The paramedics were not seriously injured, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Jason Evans. The patient they were carrying, who is pregnant, was taken to the hospital in another ambulance. The driver, 22-year-old Demarco Gonzalez, was transported to a local hospital for hip pain. He was found to be intoxicated with alcohol and faces a charge of DWI, police said.  

The sound of a siren - a sound signaling distress or one that gives hope. For Bryan Fire Chief Randy McGregor and Assistant Chief Ricky Van, it's a sound that has represented a job for more than three decades. For the two firefighters, it's also a sound that signaled one of the biggest tragedies of their career. "When the pager went off, I was just in total disbelief. I was like, "What?" remembered Van. "It just said the Bonfire stack had collapsed, and 30-something were injured or trapped, and I just remember my wife saying oh my god," said McGregor. A scene burned into the memory of these first responders. "We had been around the Bonfire every year in this community, every year for as long as we can remember, and it was a big part of this community, and to get there and just to see it, you know just collapsed and just chaos all around it, it was literally like we were in a bad dream.  

The District Nine Volunteer Fire Department just received its very first trucks as a newly formed fire department in Donley County. The five total vehicles they have now are passed down from other fire departments. "We acquired the first one from the Lefors Fire Department along with a rescue vehicle, an old ambulance that we're working on. The next truck we got was the 1978 pumper from the City of White Deer and the White Deer Volunteer Fire Department," said District Nine VFD Assistant Fire Chief Coy Cooper. "The third truck we received was from Cactus Fire Department which is an F700. And then we also received a two-and-a-half ton military truck from the Darrouzett Volunteer Fire Department." The volunteer fire department is based near Howardwick and they say the trucks are just what they need for their response area.  

VIDEO: The Fairbanks International Airport Police and Fire Department is unique in that their employees are 'cross trained' -- meaning every police officer is a firefighter, and every firefighter is a police officer. "We are both a police and fire department, along as EMS as well. So we are a true public safety, kind of all hazards approach," Chief Aaron Danielson said. The officers have to perform different duties on different days. "Even though an officer is assigned to a fire engine on Monday, on Tuesday he could be out doing drug and alcohol interventions on the East Ramp, or DUI patrol on Wednesday, and Thursday he could be back on a fire engine responding to aircraft emergencies and medical emergencies," said Deputy Chief Roger Stevener. "If the situation evolved fast enough and to a great enough degree, he could even do both things in the same day." Because the station has to have officers doing both jobs every day, they have equipment that allows them to fight fires with minimal staff.  

The City of Cleveland Fire Department has been charged with discrimination by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after an investigation uncovered evidence that it discriminated against black, Hispanic and female applicants, violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The U.S. EEOC determined that since at least 2009, the Cleveland Fire Department has displayed a pattern of failing or refusing to hire and promote black, Hispanic and female applicants through the use of discriminatory hiring tests and procedures. The EECO found that the majority of Cleveland's firehouses do not have female restrooms, locker and shower room facilities, a Title VII violation. The Cleveland Fire Department denied the allegations, according to the EEOC.  

VIDEO: The victim of a car fire punched two firefighters because he thought they were taking too long to put out the fire. The incident happened near the intersection of Shreve and Natural Bridge Friday evening. Firefighters said they were trying to put the fire out when the car's owner thought they were working too slowly, so he started punching two of them. Firefighters said the man had crashed his car into another. A video shot by a witness captured part of the incident and showed firefighters holding down the man before letting go. He then lunged toward one of the firefighters. The video also shows the man punch one firefighter and that firefighter defends himself, dodges the punch and drops the attacker to the ground.  

The local fire union wants to know why a multi-million dollar surplus, found by Metro government from last year's budget, can't be used to reverse cuts made this year. The city found an extra $4 million in an audit of the last fiscal year, which ended this past June. Now, it's up to Metro Council to decide where that money will go. "We're cut to the bones and we're sawing through bone and we're starting to lose limbs and if we don't have those to function, we can't provide the service that the community deserves," International Association of Fire Fighters 345 President Brian O'Neill said. Just four days after an entire LFD Engine Company was shut down, O'Neill says there was a deadly fire within their alarm district. "Rather than having eight firefighters on two pieces of equipment, you now only have four firefighters on one piece of equipment that is much slower, much less maneuverable, so it arrived on the scene much later in the game," O'Neill said.  

VIDEO: Roanoke's Fire Station 7 was recently demolished after nearly a century of serving Grandin Village, but people got to take a piece of its history home for free this weekend. Roanoke Fire EMS gave away more than 1,000 bricks salvaged from the historic structure, which had stood since 1922. The fire department tore down the firehouse to make way for a new, larger fire station on the same site. Many people sought after the free bricks to complement their own memories and experiences of the "Old No. 7." John Hall, who was among the first to receive a brick, had spent more than 20 years serving as a firefighter out of Fire Station 7 after returning to Roanoke from his Army service in Vietnam. Roanoke resident Mary Beth Crowgey picked up a brick because of how important she believed the building was to Grandin Village.