VIDEO: A huge fire burned at a recycling facility in northeast Houston. It's mostly out but firefighters said the flames were 50 feet tall when they first arrived at the scene. Firefighters said two football fields worth of rubber and trash caught on fire. The fire first broke out at the Derichebourg recycling facility on Wallisville Road just west of Wayside Drive around 11 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters said they had to get the flames under control first. Then they had to bring in heavy machinery to flatten and turn the piles of burning rubber over. The Houston Fire Department said they had no idea what sparked this fire but they had been to this facility before. "We've been out here a couple of times before. It's a recycling plant. It's mostly rubberized materials. Car parts. They recycle all kinds of things," Jimmy Campbell with HFD said.  

The Community Foundation of Abilene (CFA) awarded over $200K in grants to 19 area volunteer fire departments Tuesday. The grants will help the fire departments buy safety equipment to protect their communities. The fire departments submitted requests for funding for items such as gear, fire hoses, radios, and breathing equipment. CFA rural grants manager, Meagan Harris, said the average cost for a firefighter's gear is $22,000. The CFA grant cycle for volunteer fire departments opens at the beginning of each year. CFA's president, Katie Alford, aknowledged the importance of the grant cycle. "This grant cycle is important to our rural communities. We're honored to partner with our donors to provide this funding opportunity for our volunteer fire departments."  

Corey Claytor, a firefighter/paramedic for Denton County ESD No. 1 (formerly Argyle Fire District), has been transferred to a long-term acute care facility as he continues to recover from a serious motorcycle accident. Claytor suffered multiple serious injuries in an off-duty collision on March 22, and for the next three weeks he received care at Medical City Denton. Claytor started out as a volunteer firefighter with the ESD in January 2020, and became a part-time firefighter three months later. He has been full-time since April 2021 and is assigned to Station 511 in Argyle. He was the fire department's Rookie of the Year in 2021 and received a Life Saving Award in 2020. He is also an avid photographer who takes a lot of the district's photos.  

PHOTOS: Twelve condominium units in Brookfield were completely destroyed by an overnight fire, the town's fire chief confirmed to Channel 3. According to Brookfield's Volunteer Fire Company, crews from numerous communities responded to help battle the fire at the Ledgewood Complex on Boxwood Drive. The call came in around 1:20 a.m. on Thursday. Two injuries were reported. The people suffered smoke inhalation, but were not seriously hurt, according to Brookfield Fire Chief Andrew Ellis. The fire reached a third alarm before crews were able to extinguish it. There's no word on a cause.  

The newest generation of firefighters in central Pennsylvania will be partaking in serious training earlier than ever after 21 fire companies in the area banded together to launch an initiative that will train and develop firefighters with live-burn training starting at 17. The coalition of fire companies, named the Capital Region Council of Governments (CapCOG), held a press conference on Wednesday at HACC announcing the "100-Teens-to-Lifesavers Challenge," which will allow local fire departments to prepare 17-year-olds with previously restricted live-burn training. Live-burn and interior firefighting training for volunteer firefighters under 18 was prohibited until Act 155 was signed into law in January 2023. Now, 17-year-old junior firefighters will need the permission of their parents and fire chief before participating in any live-burn training.  

PHOTOS: Dale Bash couldn't believe what he was seeing. Bash, chairman of the Antique Toy & Fire Museum, a volunteer non-profit organization with a keen eye for history and education, was at the museum's new facility on Sunday, April 21 in downtown Bay City to open its doors for its first exhibit: a 1918 Republic Fire Truck. Joined by fellow museum volunteers Mike, Nick and Justin Ruegsegger, Bash was struck by how many people stopped to take pictures of the fire truck as they backed it into the newly restored Victorian fire station. "It was amazing," Bash said. "There were even people that came out of the Washington Street Pub to take pictures. It was really a heartwarming sight."  

PHOTOS: A pair of osprey have returned to nest atop the Rehoboth Beach Fire Company siren. Osprey have been nesting atop the siren for the past several years. Osprey are migratory raptors that go south during the winter and live along our coast during the warmer months. Osprey also are known to mate for life, so it is likely the current pair is the same pair that have nested on the siren in previous years. Recently, deterrents had been placed atop the siren and a nearby tower to keep the osprey away. A traffic cone had been placed atop the siren while fake owls had been placed in several spots on the nearby tower. Looking beneath the nest, large piles of debris can be seen on a patio behind the fire company.