An explosion from a home at 9013 Elroy Rd. in Del Valle was reported at approximately 11 p.m. on Friday. Travis County Fire Rescue, the Austin Fire Department, and Austin Travis County EMS responded to the incident. There was an occupant of the home inside the home when the fire started, although this was unknown at the time. The occupant was reportedly able to escape the home prior to the fire department's arrival. Upon the arrival of emergency personnel, the fire was contained to the area in which it originated. Austin Travis County EMS reported that the occupant was transferred to Dell Seton by STAR Flight with potentially life-threatening injuries after being declared as a trauma alert. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Travis County Fire Marshal's Office and Travis County Fire Rescue.  

The Texas A&M Forest Service has elevated the state's Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to 2 in response to extended hot and dry conditions expected to increase wildfire activity. This move brings additional firefighting resources to key areas to prepare for heightened risks. The Texas A&M Forest Service oversees the state's wildfire response, using a five-level preparedness system to ensure resources are ready to be deployed where needed. At Level 2, elevated fire danger is observed in some regions, and aircraft are positioned in the state for quick response to emerging fires. The preparedness levels are dictated by factors such as weather, wildfire activity, and the availability of fire suppression resources.  

VIDEO: Monday starts Fire Prevention Week and an East Texas volunteer fire department held an open house to welcome new equipment, supporters, and to promote individual fire safety. Demonstrating fire alarms from years past, the Holly Lake VFD in Wood County opened its doors to the community as a way to recognized their support. "We've had a great year as far as support from our community so we'd like to show a little bit of our appreciation," says Holly Lake VFD Chief Joe Taylor. "Having my house burned some years back, basically the volunteers, they are part of the community," said visitor Lafane Battles. The event was filled with food, games for the kids, and safety demonstrations. "We've got some smoke detectors, some fire extinguishers, a lot of other information. The smoke detector is probably the most important thing you can have in your house to protect yourself in case of fire," Taylor said.  

PHOTOS: Officials with the Spearman Volunteer Fire Department released information regarding a mobile home fire that happened Saturday morning. According to SVFD, firefighters responded to a mobile home in the north part of town and on arrival discovered a mobile home fully engulfed in flames. Officials said the heat from the mobile home fire then traveled to a home next to it starting another fire there. SVFD said all residents of the home were able to escape though a window without suffering any injuries, after being alerted by the noise of their dog and the fire. Officials reminds the public of the importance of a smoke detector and having an alternate escape route out of their home. The department was joined by Hansford County Hospital District EMS, Gruver FD, Hansford County Sheriff Dispatchers, Xcel and Spearman Public Works during the effort.  

VIDEO: Flames and smoke were seen coming from a plane that made a hard landing at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon. Frontier Flight 1326 landed in Las Vegas around 3:40 p.m. after "The pilots detected smoke and declared an emergency," a spokesperson for Frontier Airlines confirmed to CBS News. The aircraft landed safely and all passengers and crew were evacuated. No injuries were reported and the passengers were bussed to the terminal. The flight left San Diego at 1:51 p.m. and landed in Las Vegas at 3:37 p.m., according to Flight Aware. Video posted to social media showed flames and smoke billowing from underneath the plane as it landed at Reid Internation Airport. Fire crews were seen on the runway fighting the fire as smoke continued to fill the surrounding area.  

VIDEOS: The Elk River overflowed due to heavy rain from Hurricane Helene, leading to significant flooding that swept away the Elk Mills Poga Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) station and one of its fire trucks. Fire Chief Michael Walsh said members of the VFD were already responding to emergency calls when the station started flooding. "They were actually out on a few tree calls and different things, and then it just kept getting worse and worse," Walsh said. "And then they got back and they tried to get all the trucks out and take them over to the store where it's a little higher ground. And they actually got them all out but one. And that's when it took the fire department away, when it took the last truck." Walsh said gear was also lost in the flood, but the other four fire trucks only received a little water damage.  

VIDEO: The New Orleans Fire Department is being troubled with what officials are calling an "epidemic" of thefts involving Fire Department Connections, or FDCs, located on commercial buildings in and around the Central Business District and French Quarter. According to the NOFD, the FDCs allow response crews to connect to the standpipe and sprinkler systems in high-rise buildings and other commercial structures. The NOFD says the missing connections, which are made of brass and presumably sold for scrap, could "possibly delay" or "completely prohibit" crews from supplementing water pressure to a building in the event of a fire-related emergency. Officials are asking all commercial building managers and maintenance engineers to inspect their buildings' FDCs for missing caps and fittings.  

PHOTOS: A firefighter from Aurora who had previously set the state record for the heaviest pumpkin has beat that record with another pumpkin weighing over one ton. Brad Bledsoe, a fire medic with Aurora Fire Rescue, broke the state record with a pumpkin that weighed 1,955 pounds late last month. The next weekend, another grower presented a pumpkin that was 21 pounds heavier. But on Saturday, one of his home-grown pumpkins, named Winifred Sanderson (a nod to the popular Halloween film "Hocus Pocus"), became the first in Colorado history to weigh over one ton. The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth weighed the pumpkin at 2,083 pounds at a Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Nick's Garden Center and Farm Market in Aurora. "I really wanted to be the first person in Colorado to grow a one-ton pumpkin," said Bledsoe.  

VIDEO: Life-threatening storm surges are expected to hit Florida's Gulf Coast this week with the arrival of Hurricane Milton, which was upgraded Monday afternoon into a Category 5 hurricane over the southern Gulf of Mexico. The storm first strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane by 7 a.m. and by 9 a.m. ET rapidly intensified into a Category 4, the National Hurricane Center said. The NHC said in a 12 p.m. ET update data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated Milton strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds at an estimated 160 mph with higher gusts. A Category 5 hurricane has winds of 157 mph winds or higher. The storm is forecast to make landfall Wednesday evening in Florida, which along with the wider southeastern United States continues to recover from the impact of Hurricane Helene. Widespread evacuation orders are likely across Florida.