As people evacuate to escape the storm, others are heading toward it. The Longview Fire Department's Swift Water Rescue Team is ready to respond at a moment's notice. Right now, the team is awaiting a call from state officials to find where they might go. One member of this special team has already deployed to help in the evacuation effort. They have boats at the facility filled with life jackets, ropes, and other tools to aid people during a flood. The Texas Department of Emergency Management decides when to use the rescue team. Usually it's needed to pull people from flooded homes or vehicles or who are struggling to stay afloat in risky, raging waters. The department says they're prepared to protect anyone in danger.  

Fire season is here and many volunteer fire departments are reminding the public the importance of following burn bans especially with dry conditions and large open areas. "We had a large grass fire last week where we had Midland County, Glasscock County, Martin County, and the majority of the firefighters out there were all volunteers. We bring a lot of man-power and we bring a lot of equipment and we are able to assist the city fire departments and get the job done," said Zach Czelada, the Assistant Chief at the Northeast Volunteer Fire Department. Outside of city limits, there are no fire hydrants, making volunteer fire departments even more important as many rural areas depend on volunteer stations to respond to calls. The Assistant Chief says training is three months long and they do simulation training to learn how to respond to different fires.  

Four Lubbock firefighters are now in California, helping battle wildfires in the SCU lightning complex, just outside of San Jose. Lubbock Fire Rescue said as of Tuesday, the fire has been burning for seven days, scorching 365,000 acres across five counties, and is only about 20 percent contained. "We had four personnel deployed last week to the SCU lightning complex fire in California, which is just west of San Jose, California," said Lieutenant Phillip Grandon, the Public Information Officer for Lubbock Fire Rescue. The group was deployed along with a specialized truck. "We have a special truck that is for wildland firefighting. It's part of the Texas Interstate Fire Mutual Aid System. We call it the TIFMAS truck," Grandon said. "It's a brush truck that is made for deploying and going out on these wildfires."  

A fire Tuesday afternoon near Hospital Road at Dyess Air Force Base burned about 41 acres, the Texas A&M Forest Service reported. At about 2:16 p.m., the Dyess Fire Department responded to a brush fire northwest of the Outdoor Recreation Center, prompting an evacuation of the facility as a precaution, according to a Dyess news release. "The affected area was heavily wooded, so it limited access to the fire," the release said. Abilene Fire Department crews were dispatched at about 2:38 p.m. to provide mutual aid, according to scanner traffic. Fire crews staged on Hospital Road. The Tye Volunteer Fire Department and members of the 7th Civil Engineering Squadron at the base also responded, the release said. Heavy equipment was brought to the scene to help create fire breaks and improve accessibility.  

During Monday's regular Bastrop County Commissioners Court meeting, emergency deputy director Christine Files gave an update on the Office of Emergency Management's recent activity, including the county's response to fires. "Over this last month, we have seen a serious uptick in the number of brush fires due to extremely dry conditions," Files said. A total of 12 fires in the past month have necessitated mutual aid, with seven requiring state resources and two needing air support. During two of the fires, 11 agencies responded and worked together. The seven major fires burned a total of nearly 92 acres, and the others burned an additional 22 acres. One of the fires, the Regen Hill fire on August 14, caused approximately 20 residents to evacuate from their homes in the area of Cottletown Road and Park Road 1C.  

Firefighters in northern California say they are gaining control over historic, deadly wildfires that have burned more than one million acres. However, researchers and former firefighters working on a new study fear the responders battling the blazes are in danger of suffering unprecedented long-term damage, as the wildfires destroy over 1,400 homes and businesses. "Something has to be done about it now," retired Captain Tony Stefani told CBS News' Carter Evans. Stefani, a 28-year veteran of the San Francisco Fire Department, started the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation after he himself was diagnosed with kidney cancer. The group funds research to study the link between firefighters' exposure to toxins and cancer. "We can't wait for that latency period for five to 10, 20 years down the line to see if these men and women will contract various forms of this insidious disease," Stefani said.  

VIDEO: Hotel directors tried to pay extortionists the $3 million they wanted to keep a 1,000-pound homemade bomb from exploding in the building, but it went off anyway when experts tried to defuse it. Harvey's Resort Hotel and all the surrounding businesses had been evacuated the day before the blast and no one was hurt or killed. Neighboring resorts opened for business within hours after the explosion. Spectators watched as specialists spent hours working to defuse the device. One man sold T-shirts emblazoned with "I survived the blast at Harvey's." Fifteen minutes before the explosion, county sheriff's deputies warned people to take cover. Tourists ducked behind cars. The explosion sent chunks of concrete flying. Dust and ash plumed out of the casino as people rushed to catch a glimpse of the three-story hole in the building's side.  

VIDEO: Arson is suspected as the cause of a July 12 fire that left extensive damage to the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard docked off San Diego, and a U.S. Navy sailor was being questioned as a potential suspect, a senior defense official said Wednesday. The sailor was being questioned as part of the investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the official said, adding that defense department leaders were notified of the development. The official, with knowledge of the investigation, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public. The sailor was not detained. The amphibious assault ship burned for more than four days and was the Navy's worst U.S. warship fire outside of combat in recent memory. The ship was left with extensive structural, electrical and mechanical damage and its future remains uncertain.  

PHOTOS: Half a dozen fire departments were at the scene of a large fire Thursday morning at the former CharlesTown Mall in Frankfort. Firefighters were called to the scene at about 1:28 a.m. Thursday, according to Frankfort Center Assistant Fire Chief Fred Distefano. The rear section of the building, stretching back to where it ends at Turner Street, was fully involved when firefighters arrived, he said. The Route 5S eastbound off ramp to Turner Street is temporary closed to traffic due to the fire, the New York State Department of Transportation announced Thursday morning. Along with Frankfort Center, Utica, Schuyler, Frankfort Hill, Frankfort and Whitesboro fire departments also responded, Distefano said. He anticipates firefighters will be at the scene for around the next two days. "Now we've got the weather coming in that we're going to have to deal with it this afternoon," he said, noting that potential high winds could keep firefighters off the ladders to reach the large structure.  

As the coronavirus pandemic has taken over headlines and dominated conversations on public health, another crisis has seemingly been swept under the rug. The opioid epidemic. Snohomish County health officials said it their weekly media briefing that opioid use numbers are up since last year. First Lady Melania Trump used some of her time at the Republican National Convention Tuesday to address the national epidemic. "This disease is one that affects everybody. It pays no attention to race, age, or socioeconomic status. Addiction has touched every part of our society in some way," she said. In Snohomish County last year, more than 153 people died from opioid overdoses in Snohomish County. In just the first quarter of 2020, there were 49 overdose deaths. Uses of naloxone by first responders to stop overdoses are up too. In 2019, 642 people were saved from overdoses using naloxone. In the first half of 2020, there were over 413 people saved by the medication.