Prior to the pandemic, volunteer firefighters would meet every week at West Valley Fire Department for training. However, due to COVID-19, the majority of their training is done virtually, making it difficult to keep new volunteers interested at a time when they are needed. "Definitely training, now that it's just in front of a computer, it's kind of hard," said Maleyna Moriel, a volunteer at West Valley Fire Department. Moriel has been with the department as a volunteer firefighter training candidate for about three months. "Right now with everything, we need as much help as we can," said Moriel. Moriel has stuck with the training despite it being virtual and now she is learning out in the field. "Well there was one that was kind of a little bit scary with the whole COVID thing; we had a lady that had chest pains but we weren't too sure what it was," she said.  

One person and three pets are dead after a Wednesday house fire. It happened about 9:45 a.m. in the 1400 block of Aars Drive in Longview. KLTV talked with the Longview fire marshal, and the neighbor who spotted the fire and called 911. Mike Maddox says he was heading to his house two doors down from the fire. "And I saw a little fire coming out this end of the house. I started hollering to let the people know. I couldn't hear anybody so I called 911," Maddox said. From there he went to the house closest to the fire. "I knocked on his door because, the fire, I didn't want it to transfer to his house," Maddox said. Maddox said the fire was causing other problems. "Transformer was going off and there was a lot of noise going on; stuff popping in their house and stuff like that," Maddox said.  

The El Paso Fire Department said it discovered a body at a Lower Valley home as firefighters worked to put out a small fire Wednesday morning. It happened at a home near the intersection of Ladera Road and Monterrey Drive, which is a few blocks from El Paso Community College's Valle Verde Campus. A spokesman for the fire department said it's not clear if the person died in the fire, or was already dead before the fire even started. El Paso police investigators were examining the scene. EPFD first received reports of smoke coming out of the house around 7 a.m. No other information was currently available.  

The city of Austin is the fifth-most at risk city in the country when it comes to potential property damages due to a wildfire, according to a study released Oct. 5 by property information company CoreLogic. The four cities with a worse risk level are all in California and are currently being impacted by wildfires that have been active since September. In the Austin area, high-risk homes are concentrated along greenbelts, canyons and rural areas such as Southwest Austin and Dripping Springs, while low-risk structures are located at the center of the city. Oak Hill Fire Chief JJ Wittig—one of more than 300 Austin-area firefighters who has helped fight or mitigate the flames in California this year—said with the amount of development along fire-prone hillsides and vegetation, homes in Southwest Austin could easily be impacted by a future fire. "You have homes that are built right next to these big preserve areas," he said.  

Fire crews from all over the U.S. have pitched in to help with the continuing raging wildfires in California, and some East Texas crews have now returned from helping. Longview crews have spent weeks helping out in what is known as the "Creek" fires in central California. Having completed their mission to help contain the inferno, they have given way to relief units. But they come back with stark images from their experience. "You drive for miles and miles and there was nothing but burned debris. Where there used to be houses, there would a concrete slab or some metal piled up. Uncontrollable fire went through there and destroyed peoples lives and communities,"says captain Ross Dyer of Longview fire station 5. Thousands of acres have been left devastated. "We have wildfires in East Texas. If we burn 20 -30 acres, that's a big fire. In California we're talking 350-thousand acres or so," Dyer says.  

Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd says he's concerned about the increase in COVID-19 cases he's seeing in Collin County. In the city with 100,000 residents, Chief Boyd is asking residents to make sacrifices. He said cases are surging at a rate the suburban city hasn't seen since mid-summer. Collin County reported 111 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total case count to 17,048. The county has also recorded 172 deaths. Chief Boyd is urging residents to avoid large gatherings of friends and families from now through the holidays. He says Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will tempt people to get together for parties and events. Allen has three large shopping centers and the largest high school in North Texas where many students are back in class.  

It was Tuesday, October 21, 1980, and Phillies fans, including New Castle County volunteer firefighters, were anticipating the start of what would be a Game 6 World Series clinching victory. But everything changed around 6:30 p.m. when a massive explosion rocked the Amoco plant off of River Road in New Castle south of Dobbinsville, blowing out windows, and shaking houses and residents for miles around. Ken Sturgis was a 28-year old firefighter with Good Will of New Castle fire company and was on one of their trucks that rushed to the scene. He recounted for WDEL what transpired that night forty years ago. "It looked like the whole plant was involved," said Sturgis. "We had about six fires I'd estimate in the marsh between Dobbinsville and the Amoco plant." Daylight was waning, there was no power, and the plant's internal water suppression system was knocked out, but there was the danger of more, and possibly worse, explosions taking place.  

The results of a workplace assessment recently completed for Tucson's Public Safety Communications Department has caused concern among city leaders who are working to address "fundamental problems in the operation of the department." The department is responsible for dispatching 911 calls for police and fire departments. The third-party review by Traaen & Associates LLC includes interviews with 108 employees and outlines a variety of workplace issues, including staffing levels, recruitment, training, employee morale, instances of harassment and lack of accountability. There are currently 165 budgeted positioned within the department, but not all of them are filled, according to the city manager. "The contents and allegations contained within this report, if true, are simply not acceptable," Mayor Regina Romero said. "First, and most importantly, our 911 call takers and dispatchers are the first line of emergency response for our community," Romero said.  

The lounge could pass for a college dorm, ignoring the vintage fire hats, canvass jackets and 1992 training record board hanging on the walls. Half-empty Gatorade bottles and binders sit on end tables next to plush couches the twenty-somethings who live there found on the side of a road. They've got a PlayStation system and a kitchenette that, admittedly, they don't use often, opting for fast food instead. Inside the bunk room, a strobe light on the ceiling illuminates with a rapid high-pitched beep - but this light isn't a prop for late-night parties. It alerts the volunteer firefighters who live there of a fire call. Within three minutes, live-in volunteers Jake Gallich, 22, Nick Bosga, 25, and Jake Serfass, 19, would be suited up and out the door of Fogelsville Volunteer Fire Co. in Upper Macungie Township.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed the amount of time it would take for someone to be considered a close contact of a person with COVID-19. Previous language defined a close contact as someone who spent at least 15 minutes within 6 feet of a confirmed case. The CDC now defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period. People considered close contacts are supposed to quarantine and get tested for the virus. In a study published Wednesday, the CDC and Vermont health officials found that multiple, short and nonconsecutive exposures to persons confirmed to have COVID-19 led to transmission of the virus. During the contact tracing investigation, it was discovered that the coronavirus was transmitted to a correctional facility employee who interacted with individuals later found to be positive for the coronavirus.  

A Farmington artist has become nationally known for the unique way in which she uses the helmets of firefighters as a canvas on which to honor them for their courage and sacrifice. Miranda DeOrnellis grew up in Womack and has been painting for others since she was 18. "I've always been interested in art. I went to college on a full scholarship to MAC for my art. Jim Wilson was my instructor there." She is the wife of Wolf Creek firefighter Travis DeOrnellis. Her husband's service brought about the inspiration for this niche of Miranda's artwork. "I saw one painted on Facebook and thought I could do that," she said. "I wanted to do one for my husband in honor of his fire service. It took off from there." She displayed a fire helmet with panels painted in different scenes. "I painted this one for my husband a few years ago for Christmas. Every section is just a different depiction or memory from his fire service from the past 21 years. I got my start in painting helmets by painting a different one for him — it just kind of took off from there. I picked up other fire memorabilia stuff that I painted as well."