Multiple people were rescued from a fire Wednesday at a senior living facility near the University of Houston campus, officials confirmed. Houston firefighters responded at 12:54 p.m. to the Beall Village Apartments at 4463 N. MacGregor Way near Calhoun Road. They arrived to find smoke and fire coming from the second floor. Firefighter were able to extinguish the fire, which was confined to one unit, within an hour. Investigators said one person suffered from burns on their hands and was taken to the hospital. Their injuries aren't lethal, so they're expected to be OK. Twenty people were evacuated in total, but no other injuries were reported. There was some water and smoke damage to the apartment unit. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.  

A Southeast Texas family is mourning the loss of an 11-year-old Vidor Middle School student after a Monday night house fire. Noah Randell, 11, was home with his father when the fire broke out at the home in the 1100 block of Austin St. Investigators tell 12News that the boy's father was badly burned trying to get to his son. It is unclear if he was inside the home when the fire started. He was taken to a Galveston burn unit by medical helicopter Monday night. Neighbors say that Randell's mother and two siblings were not home at the time of the fire. They say they returned home as firefighters were working to put the fire out. Sgt. Joshua Lockett with Orange County Sheriff's Office said various fire departments worked together to put the fire out near Austin Street and Polk. The call about the fire came in just before 6 p.m., but crews were on the scene late into the night putting out the fire and investigating.  

One person is in critical condition after a fire broke out at an abandoned building on Woodward Street, near downtown Fort Worth. Mike Drivdahl with Fort Worth Fire says the flames erupted a little after 11 this morning. "As the firefighters were searching the building they did find an adult male inside the structure," Drivdahl says. "They were able to pull that male out of the building." Fire crews immediately began medical treatment, Drivdahl says. The man was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. As far as the fire goes, Drivdahl says it was relatively small and it didn't take long for crews to get everything under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

Crews from several area fire departments responded early Thursday morning after flames engulfed a house in northern McLennan County. The fire was reported at around 4:30 Thursday morning at 117 Lost Oaks Drive in the Chalk Bluff area. Firefighters from Ross, Bellmead, Lacy Lakeview and Waco responded. Fire officials said that everyone inside the fire made it out. safely. Tanker trucks with more water were brought in and brush trucks were on site as well. Because of the intense flames, residents of neighboring homes were awakened and advised to evacuate. The fire was under control by around 7:15 a.m. No injuries were reported.  

Good news for homeowners in the Beech Grove area. Beech Grove Fire Chief Jamie Gunter has announced that the community has now been recommended for an "8-B" public protection classification from the insurance industry. According to Gunter, the bottom line is homeowners may see lower insurance premiums for their property. However, Gunter said it may take some time before homeowners notice a difference. He said the 8-B rating must first be approved by the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office, followed by an implementation date which, he says, may not occur until mid-2021. Gunter said once the 8-B status is officially implemented, homeowners should notify their insurance carrier of the change. Prior to the creation of the Beech Grove Fire Department, the area was covered by the Jasper Fire Department which is about 7 miles away and resulted in longer response times.  

MedStar and Texas Health Resources are donating state-of-the-art emergency medical services equipment to the city of Toluca in Mexico. Toluca, the fifth-largest city in Mexico and home to 750,000 residents, has a partnership with Fort Worth Sister Cities International. Toluca officials informed Fort Worth Sister Cities International that they were having challenges with reliable ambulance vehicles for their fire department. Fort Worth Sister Cities approached MedStar about the possibility of donating a surplus ambulance to the City of Toluca Fire Department. According to MedStar, the public board agreed to donate a 2016 Chevy Trauma Hawk Type III ambulance to the Municipality of Toluca, which will be added to its current fleet.  

PHOTOS: It's been 21 years since one of the most heartbreaking days in Worcester's history. On Dec. 3, 1999, a blaze at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. claimed the lives of six Worcester firefighters. Each December since, the city has remembered the sacrifices of Lt. Thomas Spencer, Lt. Timothy Jackson Sr., Lt. James Lyons III and Firefighters Jeremiah Lucey, Paul Brotherton and Joseph McGuirk. Firefighters across the city will have a moment of silence to remember the "Worcester 6" on Wednesday. There will be no public memorial event because of the coronavirus pandemic. Flames consumed the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building 21 years ago after two homeless people staying inside knocked over a candle. More than 75 firefighters rushed inside the Franklin Street building. The Worcester 6 never made it out of the 110,000-square-foot building, which had a maze-like structure inside.  

VIDEO: Fire crews were battling a blaze at a large two-story structure in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday evening, officials said. The fire was reported around 6:10 p.m. on the 500 block of East Ninth Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, where a number of fabric stores are located. Firefighters had moved to a defensive operation to battle fire, which was escalated to a "greater alarm" incident. Crews were primarily using ladder pipes to battle the intense heat and flames. The bulk of the fire load was in the second story and attic, officials said. The majority of flames were out around 7:20 p.m., the department said.  

Stefan Hofer's ambulance company, West Trail EMS, in Mayville, North Dakota, has received only one or two calls that weren't related to COVID-19 over the past two months. But he said the case count has ballooned by 20 to 30 percent because of the pandemic. At the same time, the company's expenses have mounted, its revenue has cratered and its workforce is being decimated by the virus. The company — which is private and supported by volunteers, a few employees and four trucks — covers more than 1,500 miles of North Dakota prairie and serves about 10,000 people on the far east side of the state. Private EMS services, both in urban and rural centers across the country, collectively received $350 million in COVID-19 relief funds in April, but those companies said that money ran out within weeks. Months later, the need remains great as they face another coronavirus surge.  

The Essex Fire Department (EFD) is one of 20 fire departments in the country — and the only one in Vermont — to join a Drexel University study investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts the mental health of first responders. The study is run by the Center for Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST Center) at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. The study ran over six months said Stephen Trenholm, Essex Fire Department's safety officer. An anonymous survey was sent out each month from May 2020 to October 2020. EFD was "selected to represent not just their department in Vermont, but departments that look like them who aren't in the study across the United States," said Jennifer Taylor, director of the FIRST Center.  

The family of an FDNY captain, who died decades ago after fighting a major fire in Queens, is demanding his name be added to a memorial wall honoring those who died in the line of duty. Richard Meister says he never knew his grandfather, FDNY Captain Hans Meister, but he's heard plenty of stories about the impact he had on other members of his family. "My dad slept under the coffin for the first two nights of my grandfather lying in state at the family home," Meister said. The FDNY captain died in 1943, five days after battling a massive warehouse fire at the Diesel Electric Company in Long Island City. "The next day, he had a mild cough, the day after it got worse. He said it was like he had something in his lungs that he couldn't clear," Meister said of his grandfather. At the time of his death, Captain Meister's death was not linked to the fire. But, the family is convinced he suffered from acute respiratory distress.