A person was taken to a Scott & White Medical Center in Temple Tuesday after an explosion that left a house engulfed in flames in Copperas Cove. Firefighters from three departments responded just before noon Tuesday to the 600 block of Judy Lane after receiving a report of the explosion, which "consumed the entire home," an official said. They found the injured resident at the scene. Several area residents said they heard a loud boom and went outside to find the nearby house engulfed in flames. "I heard a loud boom. At first we thought it was training from fort hood, but we went outside to see. When we got outside lots of neighbors were there and we saw that two streets down on Judy Ln dark smoke coming rising from a house," one resident said in a social media post.  

Eight Houston firefighters are being quarantined as of Tuesday after becoming high risk of contracting coronavirus after coming in contact with a patient who tested positive last week. Five of the firefighters are spending the two-week quarantine in a Houston hotel because it is not safe for them at home. The wife of one of them spoke with ABC13 Tuesday. Krystal Roman said her husband came in contact with a patient he didn't know had the virus. She said he spent a day at home after that and went back to work. He called her from the station Saturday night and Houston Fire Department's Infection Control told him the concerning news. HFD and CDC protocols allow high risk firefighters to quarantine at home in a separate bedroom away from other family members.  

On Tuesday, Lubbock Fire Rescue tweeted about a local scam that is attempting to use their name. The scam consists of fraudulent phone calls asking for funds on behalf of Lubbock Fire Rescue, according to the tweet. Phillip Grandon, training lieutenant for Lubbock Fire Rescue, said information about the fraudulent calls was passed on to them when the president of the Lubbock Firefighters Association was made aware of the scam. "There had been multiple calls from a local number asking people to give money to firefighters so that we could buy personal protective equipment," Grandon said in regard to the scam. Lubbock Fire Rescue will never solicit funds by telephone, according to the tweet.  

The Mission Fire Department began its yearly hydrant testing around the city and now they have new technology in their arsenal to ensure the safety of residents. Firefighters have begun using Collector for ArcGIS, a new app courtesy of B2Z Engineering that allows them to input test information and update the location of each hydrant. The user friendly app is accessible from any smartphone or tablet. Instead of using paper forms when inspecting hydrants, members of the fire department, or hydrant maintenance teams can manage the process electronically. "This new technology will allow us to piece together a fire hydrant inspection report for the city swiftly and efficiently," Assistant Fire Chief Robert Alvarez said. "It is a much easier way for our firefighters to inspect fire hydrants and record the results of the inspection electronically. We will be better prepared when we respond to a scene."  

In the midst of these trying times, brought upon by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), people of Cuero are coming together to give back to their neighbors and those in need. Cuero Fire Department Lt. Cory Mekush recently had the idea of doing something for some senior citizens in the community. With the support of DeWitt County Emergency Management Coordinator, Cyndi Smith, they were able to prepare boxes of food and household necessities for those in need. Last Saturday morning, March 21, Mekush, Smith, firefighter David Crowley, Jennifer Mekush, Avery Carlow and Brighton Sitka put together and delivered these boxes of food throughout the Cuero community. With the support of HEB, who allowed them to purchase more for their cause, they were able to provide some much-needed items, including bread, water, fruit and some toilet paper, just to name few.  

A Northeast Side family was displaced by a fire Tuesday, according to the San Antonio Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the two-story home on the 4100 block of Camphor Way for a structure fire Tuesday afternoon. Two ladders and 11 total units battled the blaze, which started in the garage and traveled up the wall to the attic. It took firefighters over an hour to knock the fire down completely. The house suffered significant damage and blackened holes were visible on the roof. Everyone inside escaped safely and no firefighters were injured, according to SAFD spokesperson Joe Arrington. The source of the fire in the garage was not immediately apparent. Arson investigators were on scene.  

VIDEO: Montgomery County first responders who are on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus are using spray guns to clean ambulances and keep themselves safe. "One of our employees came up with the idea just to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get paint sprayers," Justin McNabb, a Narberth Ambulance Infection Control Officer, told NBC10. "So we actually filled it up with isopropyl alcohol. It works like a charm." It's part of an overall effort to protect EMT workers in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which has at least 159 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday. "As we pull up to the scene, we're really focusing now on taking our time once we get on scene," McNabb said. "We cannot rush through this. We have to make sure that we're protected in the right way."  

VIDEO: Thuy Dinh was stuck at home while the coronavirus pandemic was quickly moving across the world. So, the mechanical engineer put her talents to use—from home. "A lot of people right now who aren't in the medical field feel like there's a sense of helplessness," Dinh said. She had seen a design of a protective face shield on Facebook and decided to use her own home 3-D printer to make one. "This design by Prusa had been floating around my Facebook for a while, so I decided to make one. It was a dollar to make," she said. That creation, which Dinh says cost only a dollar, has since sparked a grassroots movement. "So I started posting them on my Instagram, just the process of it to see if I could figure out which hospitals might need them. And, the next day, five other makers reached out, and now we're running our 3-D printers around the clock to print them and get them distributed to hospitals," Dinh said.  

In reaction to Ohio's first confirmed death from coronavirus, a state lawmaker is urging his colleagues to back a bill that would require hospitals and local boards of health to notify first responders when a patient they've treated is suspected of having a contagious disease. "We need to make sure our first responders stay healthy and are able to respond to the community's call for service," said state Rep. Haraz Ghanbari (R., Perrysburg). "In this case, it's my understanding that these first responders did not find out this was a presumptive case from the hospital or department of health and heard about it instead through social media and media reports." Springfield Township firefighters who initially transported Mark Wagoner, Sr., to St. Luke's Hospital after a fall were not told by the hospital or the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department that Mr. Wagoner was subsequently treated as a presumptive coronavirus patient.  

As shelter-in-place orders and other directives from government officials take effect, people across the country are adapting to a new normal of social distancing, working from home and, in some cases, temporarily closing up shop during the COVID-19 outbreak. Health officials say such measures are essential to help "flatten the curse," keeping the number of disease cases at a manageable level, spread out over time. But as we all know, first responders and healthcare workers simply cannot stay at home. They are on the front lines of the disease, responding to medical calls, transporting patients and providing treatment to those in need. First responders and healthcare workers have taken to social media, pleading with the public to #StayHomeForUs to help flatten the curve. Images show first responders holding signs with messages like, "We stay here for you; you stay home for us."  

While some families are grappling with how to keep their children educated and entertained in this new age of social distancing, many on the front lines are grappling with whether to risk coming home to their families some nights or pondering whether responding to an emergency could result in exposure. The risks and pressures squeezing those on the front lines transcend the health care industry, as essential services are provided by emergency responders, police, nurses, doctors, lab clinicians, maintenance workers, administrators, those in transportation, utilities, cleaning and food services and many other interconnected duties that make all life-saving operations work. Through this pandemic, we want to bring you the stories of those on the front lines... "Am I going to get exposed on this call?" "It's a very strange time. I've been in EMS for 25 years. The only other time things were so unknown was when Sept 11 happened.