In a neighborhood still fractured by the October 2019 tornado, the landmark Preston Royal Fire Station has remained one of the missing pieces. "I think everyone's noticed it's not there, even though a lot of other things around here have populated again or been rebuilt," said resident Daniel Sanders. For many of the residents in the 6 1/2 square miles that Station 41 covered, that's been a public safety concern. "Obviously, this is a large area of people, and we need to be serviced just like any other area in the community," said resident Andrea Miller. But Tuesday night, Oct. 12, residents were finally getting a glimpse of the new station, which District 13 Dallas Council Member Gay Willis said will be a big improvement. "Actually, it looks like our services are going to be better than they were prior to the tornado," she said.  

A dangerous fire in the Galleria-area overnight is a good reminder for everyone to clean out your dryer, so something like this doesn't happen to you. According to the Houston Fire Department, a fire started at an apartment building at 2001 Bering Drive near Westheimer just before midnight because of lint buildup in the dryer, something that is more common than you might think. According to HFD, firefighters arrived to the apartment complex to find heavy smoke billowing out of a unit. A neighbor was already in the process of rescuing two dogs, and firefighters were able to give the dogs oxygen and first aid. The renter was not home at the time of the fire, according to HFD. "I was at home watching TV and I noticed that there was smoke in my apartment. I didn't think it was regular, so I started investigating on my own. My detector went off so I knew something was not good," neighbor Kevin Daniel said.  

Highland Village City Council voted unanimously Oct. 12 to approve an interlocal cooperative agreement with the town of Flower Mound and city of Lewisville for a joint fire training facility. Plans for the joint facility began back in 2019, when the city of Lewisville Fire Department determined its fire training facility could no longer safely be used for live fire training. Highland Village Fire Department currently must rent facilities to do fire training, which has led to "limited availability to train in real-life scenarios," according to a memo from Fire Chief Michael Thomson. The agreement states that the facility would be owned solely by the city of Lewisville, but it would grant the Flower Mound and Highland Village fire departments the right to use it.  

A local family is paying for three people to go to the Killeen Fire Academy in honor of their fallen firefighter son. Jose Negrete was a loving, kind, community-first guy. The Copperas Cove firefighter was also a brother and a son, and passed away in July 2020 after battling cancer and a serious infection from it. Keeping his legacy alive, Jose Negrete's mom, Maria Negrete and the rest of the family created Negrete Firefighter Foundation INC, a nonprofit that is assisting young adults pursue their dreams of becoming firefighters. "We tend to forget the sacrifices that someone did for us so I wanted to honor him," Maria Negrete said. "I needed a way to deal with my grief. He was my baby, he was my son, so I wanted some kind of legacy to go in his name."  

The Burkburnett Fire Department extinguished a house fire on South Preston Road on Tuesday. Firefighters arrived on scene shortly after 1:35 p.m. and saw smoke coming from the house. They quickly put the fire out, which had spread through a hallway and bedroom. The residents were reportedly not home at the time of the fire because the house did not have power due to the Sunday storms. Burkburnett FD officials said they don't believe the cause of the fire is connected to the storms, and that Oncor reported the house had no electricity at the time of the fire. No injuries to firefighters were reported. The fire remains under investigation at this time.  

The burn ban for the unincorporated areas of Travis County has been lifted. Travis County Fire Marshal Tony Callaway lifted the ban on Tuesday, October 12. Residents should still contact their local fire department before conducting outdoor burning. If you need assistance determining which fire department you should notify, contact the Fire Marshal's Office. "The recent rain and cooler temperatures led to significant improvements in conditions," said Travis County Chief Fire Marshal Tony Callaway. "Additionally, our forecasted weather pattern for the remainder of this week will help reduce fire danger in Travis County. For that reason, I'm lifting the burn ban, but we will continue to monitor the weather and soil conditions closely." Even though the burn ban has been lifted, residents in Travis County are urged to use extreme caution when burning outdoors.  

Phoenix first responders are some of the first in the country to get a brand-new type of cancer screening, and it's as easy as a blood test. The Galleri test is a game changer that screens for 50 different types of cancers at the same time and can find them in early stages. At Vincere Cancer Center in Scottsdale, firefighters and police officers were eager to get the major health check on Tuesday. "On my way over here I was telling folks, 'I don't want to know. I don't want to know.' But ultimately, down deep inside, you do want to know," said Phoenix Police Assistant Chief Steve Martos. Three years ago, Phoenix offered a month of free cancer screenings to first responders. Now the city has budgeted money for them to take this new test, which can look at DNA in the blood and determine whether it came from cancer cells. It's much quicker and less invasive than traditional cancer screening methods like mammograms and colonoscopies.  

A blaze broke out Tuesday afternoon at the Dunellen Defender Fire Company No. 1, officials said. A post from the company did not provide specifics on what was damaged but photos from the scene showed that at least two fire trucks were damaged as well as the front of the firehouse. "We are still assessing the damage and the cause is being investigated by the Middlesex County Fire Marshal's Office," the post stated. "There were no reported injuries and we are still assessing the damage." A spokesman for the office could not immediately be reached for comment. The company thanked the local departments that responded to the fire and said it would be working with them so they could help provide mutual aid until their apparatuses could be restored to "full service."  

PHOTOS: The Hard Rock Hotel collapsed two years ago on Oct. 12, 2019, killing three workers and injuring dozens more in one of the worst ever construction accidents in New Orleans. Structural design errors led to the upper floors crumbling into the floors below, damaging two massive cranes that threatened to tumble into nearby buildings. The city hired engineers to implode the cranes and officials spent months trying to retrieve the dead workers' bodies. After months of private and public squabbling, the city and the building's owner, 1031 Canal Development LLC, led by Mohan Kailas, eventually agreed to tear the building down piece by piece. Today, the site is cleared of debris. The demolition process necessitated destroying two historic Canal St. buildings. Rampart Street remains closed two years after the collapse.  

So far this year, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority has responded to 168 fires, two-thirds of which have been declared arsons, Capt. John Corippo reported last week. "We responded to 168 fires since Jan. 1, and 113 of those were intentionally set," said Corippo, describing arsons as 67 percent of the fires UVFA crews have investigated in 2021. "That number is just mind-boggling to us," said Corippo, especially given how extremely hot, dry and windy the weather conditions are much of the year now, and how every fire season over the past decade seems to get longer and more dangerous. "We're seeing fires burn in ways we never have before." Arguably the most concerning arson blaze this year was the Hopkins Fire, which started Sept. 12 in Calpella and destroyed dozens of homes. But another arson fire closer to Ukiah had the potential to be just as devastating, Corippo said.  

The Spokane Valley Fire Department isn't losing a single firefighter with an exemption over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. It worked out accommodations for the 22 who had a medical or religious exemption approved. The biggest change is those who are unvaccinated and staying on the frontlines will be separated from the rest of the department. They will all be working from stations 1 and 10, where the battalion chiefs are. "They are going to oversee the testing portion daily, with those crews, so it made sense to do them at those locations, so the battalion chiefs weren't driving around town, trying to find firefighters spaced out at all ten stations," said Spokane Valley Fire Chief Bryan Collins. That's not the only way the fire department plans on limiting the spread of COVID-19. The exempt firefighters will be tested daily and are required to wear an N95 mask at all times.