McAllen Fire Department holds push back ceremony for new brush truck

VIDEO: The McAllen Fire Department held a traditional “push back” ceremony on Thursday for a new brush truck it has received. The Skeeter Brush Truck was acquired through Community Development Block Grant funding with an initial investment of over $220,000 and was approved by the McAllen City Commission. “The vision behind this apparatus that is a reality here today is to continue to always provide our first responders and firefighters with the equipment necessary to perform their job not just safely, but effectively,” said Juan Gloria, City of McAllen Fire Chief. This new unit replaced an 18-year-old one and is equipped with a removable wildland firefighting skid load, a 300-gallon on-board water tank and various equipment for wildland firefighting and rescue operations.
KVEO-TV NBC/CBS 23 Brownsville

No injuries in 2 Longview house fires

The Longview Fire Department extinguished two housefires that resulted in no injuries Thursday night and early Friday morning. According to the Longview Fire Department’s Facebook page, the first fire was responded to around 11 p.m. Thursday in the 800 block of Buchanan Avenue. Upon arrival, the post said there were visible flames in the back of the home, where the fire was put out without injury. The home was vacant at the time, the post said, and sustained an estimated $35,000 in damages. The department responded to the second fire around 3:50 a.m. Friday in the 1300 block of North Ninth Street, where the fire was found on the south porch of the home. According to the post, all residents were out of the home upon the department’s arrival. One pet was treated with oxygen on the scene, the post said, but is reportedly in good health.
KLTV ABC 7 Tyler

Firefighters respond to reports of ’multiple explosions, fire’ at east Austin home

The Austin Fire Department knocked down a fire at an east Austin home after reports of a “disturbance associated with multiple explosions, fire and smoke.” Firefighters responded to 4604 Imperial Drive at 9:58 a.m. Crews searched the structure and removed boards from the windows to ventilate. AFD said Austin-Travis County EMS was evaluating multiple patients with injuries unrelated to the fire. Drivers were asked to avoid the area.
KEYE-TV CBS 42 Austin

2 football fields worth of rubber, trash catches fire at recycling plant, Houston Fire Department says

VIDEO: A huge fire burned at a recycling facility in northeast Houston. It's mostly out but firefighters said the flames were 50 feet tall when they first arrived at the scene. Firefighters said two football fields worth of rubber and trash caught on fire. The fire first broke out at the Derichebourg recycling facility on Wallisville Road just west of Wayside Drive around 11 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters said they had to get the flames under control first. Then they had to bring in heavy machinery to flatten and turn the piles of burning rubber over. The Houston Fire Department said they had no idea what sparked this fire but they had been to this facility before. “We’ve been out here a couple of times before. It’s a recycling plant. It’s mostly rubberized materials. Car parts. They recycle all kinds of things,” Jimmy Campbell with HFD said.
KHOU-TV CBS 11 Houston

Community Foundation of Abilene grants $200K to 19 volunteer fire departments

The Community Foundation of Abilene (CFA) awarded over $200K in grants to 19 area volunteer fire departments Tuesday. The grants will help the fire departments buy safety equipment to protect their communities. The fire departments submitted requests for funding for items such as gear, fire hoses, radios, and breathing equipment. CFA rural grants manager, Meagan Harris, said the average cost for a firefighter's gear is $22,000. The CFA grant cycle for volunteer fire departments opens at the beginning of each year. CFA's president, Katie Alford, aknowledged the importance of the grant cycle. "This grant cycle is important to our rural communities. We're honored to partner with our donors to provide this funding opportunity for our volunteer fire departments."
KTXS-TV ABC/CW+ 12 Sweetwater

Denton County firefighter transferred to long-term care facility while recovering from crash

Corey Claytor, a firefighter/paramedic for Denton County ESD No. 1 (formerly Argyle Fire District), has been transferred to a long-term acute care facility as he continues to recover from a serious motorcycle accident. Claytor suffered multiple serious injuries in an off-duty collision on March 22, and for the next three weeks he received care at Medical City Denton. Claytor started out as a volunteer firefighter with the ESD in January 2020, and became a part-time firefighter three months later. He has been full-time since April 2021 and is assigned to Station 511 in Argyle. He was the fire department’s Rookie of the Year in 2021 and received a Life Saving Award in 2020. He is also an avid photographer who takes a lot of the district’s photos.
The Cross Timbers Gazette