One person was sent to the hospital following a structure fire Monday night in Tyler. According to the Tyler Fire Department, around 10:40 p.m., crews responded to a structure fire in the 1300 block of Bellaire Drive. Arriving units reported heavy fire and smoke coming from the back of the residential. One occupant was already out of the residence upon crew arrival and was transported to a local hospital for minor burns. Investigators with the Tyler Fire Marshal's Office determined that the occupant was filling a portable generator with gasoline inside the home. While starting the generator, the fire flashed and ignited the room. The fire quickly grew out of control and spread throughout the residence. The American Red Cross was notified for assistance to the occupant.  

Daniel Cavazos, Jr., 88, of Galveston, passed away Friday, June 5, 2020. He was born November 4, 1931, in Corpus Christi, TX, but grew up on the island. Born during the Depression, Daniel shined shoes on Market Street as a young boy to help provide for his family. He served as an Altar Boy at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church and graduated from Kirwin High School. Daniel then volunteered with the US Navy and fought in the Korean War. Upon his return to Galveston, he became a firefighter and served 36 years, retiring as a Captain of the Galveston Fire Department. Daniel was a big fan of the Houston Oilers and the Houston Texans, but more than anything loved watching Tiger Woods play on Sundays. Daniel lived a full life and loved friends and family more than anything.  

VIDEO: Dallas firefighters battled intense flames and the heat as they fought a three-alarm house fire in North Dallas Tuesday afternoon. Heavy flames and smoke were shooting from the roof as crews first arrived on scene in the 17000 block of Woods Edge Drive near Misty Lake Crossing just after noon. No reports of injuries, but DFR did call for extra crews because of the flames and the heat. No word yet what might have caused the fire. An elderly couple inside escaped uninjured with their two dogs after noticing the fire in the back of the home which is valued at $1.5 million. Firefighters worked to keep flames from spreading to adjacent homes in the gated community.  

On Thursday, Longview City Council will consider approval of an agreement between Tyler Junior College and the Longview Fire Department. Under that agreement, TJC students would be able to earn clinical hours onboard fire department ambulances. "The city of Longview fire department and Tyler Junior College will be entering into an agreement with each other to allow students from the emergency medical services program at Tyler Junior College to come over and ride on the fire department ambulances," said Kevin May, Longview Fire Marshal. "We have an affiliation agreement, and that's what has to be approved going forward," said Rory Prue, the department chair of emergency medical services profession and fire science technology for TJC. "I've never had even a municipality who took that agreement before a city council before."  

Several local, county and state agencies responded Tuesday to a wildfire near the airport southeast of town that has burned several structures, according to the Shackleford County Sheriff's Office. The fire was east of State Highway 6 and near FM 601 just south of the Albany Municipal Airport, according to the Texas A&M Forestry Service website. Responding fire crews came from Albany, Breckenridge, Caddo, Eastland County, Hamby, Hubbard Creek, Moran, Shackleford County and Wayland, according to social media updates. The Buffalo Fire, as named by the Forestry Service, was reported at about 12:15 p.m. as being 150 acres and 75 percent contained. By about 5 p.m., the forest service reported the fire had covered 254 acres and was about 90 percent contained. At least two homes were lost early in the fire, according to information from the Breckenridge Fire Department.  

Wildfires kicking up all over the High Plains is nothing new for people in the Texas Panhandle, but it's not very common this late in the calendar. Michael Gittinger, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service said, "Typically our fire season is in the winter and it peaks in February or March, and then we start to green up." "These are the wettest months out of the year for the Texas panhandle, but this year is different," said Chief Meteorologist John Harris. "We are in a drought right now. I think after today we get back more of a normal June pattern." The Amarillo Fire Department officials said a fire in Northeast Amarillo started today when someone was using a burn barrel for trash, but the high winds caused a nearby trailer home to catch on fire.  

VIDEO: A three-alarm house fire broke out in a home on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Rosedale Street on Tuesday around 10:20 a.m. Firefighters urged motorists to avoid the area while they work to contain the fire, assess the damage, and begin cleaning up. Officials say roads in the area will be closed until approximately 3:30 p.m. Billowing smoke could be seen from the First Federal Building downtown. More than 80 firefighters were on scene to battle the fire that started in the roof and grew to damage about nine units in the building. Firefighters on scene said because of the intensity of the fire and the conditions outside, they had to pause for a moment and regroup before tackling the fire. According to RFD, 21 people lived in the building and all people and pets are accounted for. The Red Cross is assisting those who are effected as RFD officials say they don't know if the building is salvageable at this time.  

Researcher Gregory Chiklis has spent the duration of the pandemic running antibody tests in his Franklin lab, MRN Diagnostics. He has tested hundreds of first responders who were exposed to coronavirus in towns west of Boston. "We've gone back now and tested their spouses or their partners, in a couple of cases we tested their children who are over 18, and in no cases have we seen that person spread the virus to their family members," said Chiklis. His findings echo something the World Health Organization is now dialing back on after a controversial comment Monday. "It appears to be rare that an asymptomatic individual transmits onward," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO's emerging diseases and zoonosis unit. A day later, she clarified. "That's a big open question, and that remains an open question," she said.  

Billings police arrested a man on suspicion of driving under the influence after he drove through a blocked zone, dragging a firefighter trying to stop him along the way. Eli Rindal, 23, drove through cones that marked off an area where power crews were repairing a transformer at Bench Boulevard and Joyce Street in the Heights, according to police Sgt. Brett Becker. When one of the firefighters in the blocked-off area reached through the driver's-side window to stop him, he hit the accelerator. The firefighter held onto the vehicle for about 100 yards, and Rindal eventually stopped. Becker said the firefighter was treated at the scene and didn't need to go to the hospital. "Once he stopped the firefighters kept him there until officers arrived. They did their preliminary DUI investigation at the scene ... and then took him to our DUI center," Becker said.  

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), in partnership with the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA) and the American Psychological Association (APA), has released a new directory of behavioral health professionals that are equipped and ready to help firefighters, EMS providers, dispatchers, and rescue workers. Emergency responders are at risk of many behavioral health concerns, including anxiety, depression, burnout, post-traumatic and acute stress, addiction, relationship challenges, and others. Through the Share the Load™ program, the NVFC works to provide resources and tools to help responders struggling with behavioral health issues and to enable departments to support the mental well-being of their members. The new Directory of Behavioral Health Professionals is designed to provide local options for responders seeking assistance so they can get the help they need.  

Preliminary results from an ongoing study suggest that those with a certain blood type may have some protection against the novel coronavirus. In April, not long after the pandemic began, the genetic testing firm 23andMe began using its testing services to help scientists better understand how genetics may play a role in why some people who contract the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, develop severe infections, while others present only mild or moderate symptoms or have no symptoms at all. On Monday, the company released early results from the study, which involved more than 750,000 participants. "Preliminary data from 23andMe's ongoing genetic study of COVID-19 appears to lend more evidence for the importance of a person's blood type — determined by the ABO gene — in differences in the susceptibility to the virus," the company said in a blog post regarding the findings.