Thursday, San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh announced the appointment of Christopher (Chris) Monestier to Interim Fire Chief and Valerie Frausto to Interim Deputy Fire Chief over Administrative Services. The appointments are effective Friday, January 12, 2024. "I know Chris well and he is a strong leader who is well respected within and outside the Department," said City Manager Erik Walsh. "I have full confidence in Chris leading the Fire Department as they continue the excellent job they do in providing critical life-saving services to San Antonio. Chris and Valerie, along with the Fire Department Command Staff, will provide excellent leadership to the department. Each of them is fully dedicated to leading the SAFD and the critical services we provide each day. They are a completely capable team with many years of experience."  

VIDEO: On this day in 2020, a pickup truck hit a patch of ice on I-27 and veered across the interstate into another crash where police and fire were already responding. Lubbock police officer Nicholas Reyna and Lubbock Fire Lieutenant Eric Hill were both struck and killed. Firefighter Matt Dawson was critically injured. "It's a somber day for us," Lubbock Fire Rescue Chief Shaun Fogerson said. "Just remember them, the contributions they made to our department, to the police department, and just what great people they were." Lubbock Fire Rescue Chief Shaun Fogerson said January 11th has been dedicated to remembering Hill, Reyna and Dawson since 2020. But after the loss of Dawson in November, he said, this is the first anniversary they are grieving all three of them.  

The Amarillo Fire Department had a busy night, fighting two different fires early into the morning. According to the Amarillo Fire Department, the first of the two fires occurred on North Nelson Street around 1:30 a.m. AFD set up a landing zone for LifeStar on the football field at Travis Middle School, and one occupant of the home was transported to the burn center in Lubbock. Officials say the second fire began around 4 a.m. on Southwest 4th Avenue after the occupant left a fire unattended inside a shed. No one was injured in this fire.  

Texas Fire Department leaders are pushing to provide help with mental health to firefighters. Department leaders in the state of Texas say they recognize that post-traumatic stress and other mental health issues are the biggest dangers of the job. Mental health has been a concern for firefighters in the state of Texas. Departments are reporting more cases of PTSD and depression which can have deadly consequences. "Fire departments have seen an increase of suicide attempts of firefighters really from two thousand beyond. It even got worse from Covid. More firefighters die every year from suicide than in line of duty deaths." said Odessa Division Captain Travis Jones. The Odessa and Midland fire departments are trying to bring awareness of mental health. Both fire departments provide counseling services to help them.  

Two mayday calls were issued Thursday night as two firefighters fell through a hole on the second floor of a Goshen home engulfed in flames. Their fellow firefighters executed a swift rescue, bringing them to safety, miraculously unharmed. Flames and smoke billowed from the residence at 5 Middle St. around 9 p.m. Thursday night. According to Goshen Fire Chief Peter Easop, the fire originated in the living room and quickly spread upstairs, reaching three alarms. Approximately 80 firefighters from eight departments across Orange County responded to the scene. After the two firefighters were rescued, Chief Easop ordered the remaining firefighters to evacuate the building and focus on an exterior attack. It took more than an hour to extinguish the fire, with the Chief Easop declaring the house a total loss.  

VIDEO: Serving San Francisco for decades, a "last of its kind" fire truck has been restored and is being returned to the city by the bay. Rising to its former glory, the 1939 apparatus featured in the World's Fair spent decades serving the city of San Francisco. The truck was one of only two ever built and specially designed to navigate the Bay Area's steep hills and very tall buildings. After serving the city for decades, the truck was retired and bought by a private entity. Through a series of donations, the city of Plymouth, with the help of Folsom inmates, worked over 18,000 hours to restore the truck to showroom quality. "It makes me happy to see that it's going to be taken care of," said Jon Colburn, a member of the Ahrens-Fox Restoration Society and former mayor of Plymouth.  

To soften the potential blow of tax season, first responder retirees in Illinois now have an increased opportunity to reduce their taxable earnings with a health care deduction. While this is a nationwide opportunity for retired law enforcement, firefighter and emergency services workers, the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association is making a special effort to spread the news to those who could benefit in Illinois. "We're just trying to get as many people as we can to know about it and take advantage of it," Dan Ryan, the nonprofit's project coordinator, said. Ryan told The Center Square these changes could put extra money in the pockets of at least 35,000 retirees in Illinois who pay medical insurance premiums. "They can exclude up to $3,000 in their pension income for money that they used to pay for health insurance," Ryan said.  

PHOTOS: It was a terrifying moment for two people and a child after their car left the road and crashed into a ditch filled with water. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) said on Friday, January 5, deputies responded to a crash with injuries involving two people and a small child. Body camera video captures the moment deputies arrived at the harrowing scene. When they arrived, deputies said they found a dazed and bleeding man outside of the car. When deputies approached the vehicle, they found a bleeding woman and a little girl, still strapped in her car seat, trapped inside the vehicle. "I see a lot of blood on her," one deputy said when they found the injured woman. Deputies shattered the window to get to the woman and child, the little girl's head can be seen briefly in the video.  

PHOTOS: An unprecedented number of billion-dollar disasters — 28 in total — struck the U.S. in 2023, as the remarkably warm year wrapped up with a record-warm December. "For millions of Americans impacted by a seemingly endless onslaught of weather and climate disasters, 2023 has hit a new record for many extremes," said NOAA Chief Scientist Sarah Kapnick. "Record warm U.S. temperatures in December, a record-setting number of U.S. billion-dollar disasters in 2023 and potentially the warmest year on record for the planet are just the latest examples of the extremes we now face that will continue to worsen due to climate change." The average annual temperature across the contiguous U.S. was 54.4 degrees F — 2.4 degrees above the 20th-century average — ranking as the nation's fifth-warmest year in NOAA's 129-year climate record.