Sugar Land has named a new assistant fire chief to replace the recently-retired Javier Crespo, the city announced Wednesday. Mark Campise, a longtime firefighter with the La Porte and Pearland fire departments, has been named the new assistant fire chief, according to a city news release. He started Monday. Campise started as a volunteer firefighter for the La Porte Fire Department in 1998 before graduating from Sam Houston State University in 2002, the city said. He has most recently served with the Pearland Fire Department since 2007 as a battalion chief, shift commander and assistant chief before taking the job in Sugar Land. During his 15-year career with PFD, Campise was responsible for all hazards response, budget management, leadership development, crew performance and more, according to the city.  

A string of fires on the city's south side has investigators looking for a possible arsonist. The latest happened early Wednesday morning at a vacant restaurant located at Southwest Military Drive and I-35. Just before 1 a.m. firefighters responded to the scene at what was once a Long John Silvers location, but is now vacant. Crews worked to knock it down quickly and it mainly burned the outside of the building. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Investigators said they believe someone was on the roof and somehow lit the fire and got down before crews arrived. First responders said no power was hooked up to the building, which makes it suspicious. At least eight fires this month alone are under investigation. They include a fire at the Zaramora Auto Shop that happened during the day, the Military Tax building fire, a house fire on Zarzamora Road and the house fire on Brazos Street from early Tuesday morning.  

Bo Allen, chief of the May Vounteer Fire Department, was recognized as First Responder of the Quarter during Monday's meeting of the Brown County Commissioners Court. Allen, who has been with the May fire department for 15 years, was accompanied by his wife, Karla, as Brown County Judge Paul Lilly presented the award. "We couldn't do, as first responders what we do without everybody in this room, including the commissioners court," Allen said. "I'm accepting this, not as an individual. It's about our department, about our county, about our commissioners. "I think you all do a great job. I'm just a small part of it. I humbly accept this recognition and thank you so much."" Representatives of North Lake Community Church presented Allen with a gift card from United Supermarkets.  

The Highland Village Fire Department is expected to see its rating for fire protection service drop one level after an outside review indicated more firefighters are needed. The rating comes from the national Insurance Services Office. Its ratings may be used to help set property insurance rates for homes and businesses. Cities may also use their ratings as an economic development tool to attract new businesses. Fire Chief Michael Thomson told City Council on Sept. 14 that ISO personnel evaluated his department in May. The independent review provides a rating from 1 to 10, with 1 being the highest. The rating reflects "a community's overall capability to prevent and suppress structure fires," according to the company's website. When Highland Village was last reviewed in 2005, it received an ISO score of 2.  

Dallas Fire-Rescue says the three firefighters who remain hospitalized after an apartment explosion last month are in stable, but serious condition as they recover from burn injuries. The department said Wednesday that all four firefighters who were injured when an explosion occurred at the Highland Hills Apartments agreed to release their identities and conditions to the public. The injured firefighters were identified as Capt. Christopher Gadomski, Engineer Ronald Hall, Officer Pauline Perez, and Officer Andrew Curtis. All four were hurt while they investigated a reported gas leak at the Highland Hills Apartments in southeastern Dallas on Sept. 29. At some point during the investigation, an explosion occurred that partially collapsed part of one of the two-story apartment buildings.  

Two people in far North Bexar County had to be rescued when their sport utility vehicle got swept away by high water early Thursday morning. The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Blanco Road near Dietz-Elkhorn Road, just west of Bulverde. According to the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department, they received a call about three people trapped inside a vehicle. The fire department said when they arrived, they realized only two people needed rescuing. A third person, a relative, was on dry land, having never been in the water. The man directed firefighters to the vehicle seeking help, fire officials said. With the help of Spring Branch firefighters, emergency crews used a boat and were able to retrieve them. Both people were not hurt.  

VIDEO: A man was taken into custody in connection with a fire at a Wilmington train yard Wednesday that sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air over the South Bay and Long Beach area. The blaze was first reported just after 2:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of North Alameda Street. Aerial footage from AIR7 HD showed an outdoor yard with tires, machinery and commercial rubbish on fire. Black smoke filled the skies. Firefighters say loud noises were heard during the fire so a hazardous materials team was dispatched as a precaution. Firefighters later determined the sounds were tires exploding and not toxic materials. The Los Angeles Fire Department, with help from county fire, deployed 88 firefighters, using ladder pipes and large hand lines to battle the flames.  

Fire trucks are iconically red, but two of Rochester's newest fire apparatuses are helping the city go green. The Rochester Fire Department recently retired two vehicles and replaced them with truck 42 and engine 5. These vehicles have new technology to be more environmentally friendly. "We get on a scene whether on a highway or at a house. We're double-parked. We're a traffic hazard," explains Fire Chief Eric Kerska. "We leave the lights on. We're required by law to have the emergency lights on. They take a lot of battery power." An analysis found RFD's average call lasts roughly 20 minutes. During the majority of that call, the apparatuses sit idling, wasting fuel. Conventional batteries don't solve the problem, because they don't allow emergency lights and climate control to stay on. RFD emergency vehicle technician Jeremy Leisenheimer looked a the problem and brainstormed a new concept.  

The city is demanding that EMS workers repay the combined $3.5 million they were accidentally overpaid, the Daily News reported. Some workers saw an increase of a few hundred dollars in their paychecks, but there were a handful of employees who received as much as $10,000 – all dependent on the amount of overtime they worked between March and August, according to the report. Only the 20 EMTs, paramedics and officers who volunteer for the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD), were supposed to receive monetary bonuses, but a clerical error in the payroll department led to all 3,590 employees getting paid, the report said. The bonuses were an incentive for employees to join the program, according to the report. The mistake was discovered over the summer and immediately stopped.  

Retired firefighter Chuck Roberts, from Eagle, participated in the American Lung Association in Milwaukee's Fight For Air Climb a dozen times and in total raised $53,769. Now, the local firefighter is being honored for his amazing efforts to help end lung disease. The Lung Association launched its 2022 Fight For Air Climb Firefighter Calendar to honor local heroes and support its vision of a world free of lung disease. This is the second annual calendar recognizing the Fight For Air Climbs' top supporters who participate in a yearly event held in more than 40 cities across the country. "I continue to participate in the Lung Association's Fight For Air Climb to raise awareness and money to get rid of this terrible disease, which many firefighters suffer from after increased exposure to gases, chemicals and smoke while on duty," Roberts said.  

Community transmission of COVID remains high in 89.2% of American counties, according to current data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite that, the latest wave, driven by the highly contagious and completely dominant Delta variant, appears to have crested, with new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to the virus all in decline from levels two weeks ago. (It's estimated that the Delta variant accounts for 99.9% of U.S. cases.) Cases and hospitalizations have decreased by roughly 20% in that period, while deaths due to the virus are down 4%, according to New York Times data from Oct. 12. States hit hardest by the Delta variant—especially those with lower vaccination rates in the South—continued to see large decreases in new cases, led by Alabama with a 61.9% decline from two weeks ago. Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and South Dakota all saw a greater than 40% decline in new coronavirus cases in that period.