Thursday marks the six-year anniversary of the death of San Antonio firefighter Scott Deem. The 31-year-old husband and father of three died while responding to a fire on May 18, 2017, at Ingram Square Shopping Center. Hundreds of family members, friends, election officials and firefighters attended Deem's funeral service at Community Bible Church. "(It was) probably the most challenging fire in our generation (a fire that) "defined and created a new normal" and "changed our department permanently," San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said during an emotional address at the service. Following the remarks, Hood led a team of firefighters to ring the final alarm for Deem. San Antonio Fire Department officials shared a tribute to Deem on Facebook Thursday calling him a beloved family member.  

The future of McKinney's fire department has been top of mind for Paul Dow since he joined the organization as a consultant. Now, he's at the helm of the department, serving as McKinney's fire chief. Dow officially became McKinney's fire chief on May 2 after serving as interim chief since February. The move came after former fire chief Danny Kistner's retirement was announced in January. Dow came to the McKinney area from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he previously served as fire chief and oversaw a department of 750 firefighters and 22 fire stations. He moved to the McKinney area to be with family. He began working as a fire instructor at Collin College in June 2022 and then began doing contract work in the area, including with the McKinney Fire Department where he was hired to build a professional development program. He was named as McKinney's assistant fire chief in January 2023.  

State investigators determined the cause of the South Fork Dairy fire was an accident that started with an engine fire in a manure vacuum truck, according to a report from the Associated Press. The report did not determine what caused the engine fire but found there was "no intentional act to cause a failure." According to the AP, a worker driving the truck told investigators he noticed what he thought was steam coming from the engine. He tried to drive out of the barn when he realized it was a fire, but he could not make it out, the AP reported. The driver tried to put the fire out with two extinguishers but failed. The AP said several other employees told investigators they rushed to help, but the fire spread too quickly. Investigators also found a second truck on the property that previously caught fire in the engine, the AP reported.  

The Killeen Fire Department held a badge pinning ceremony this week to accept 14 new firefighters into the department. "The ceremony was very well attended with standing room only, each of the new personnel had a number of family and friends attend along with more than 25 on-duty personnel who came out to support their new teammates." Killeen Fire Chief James Kubinski told the Herald on Thursday. During the welcoming of the new crew Tuesday, Killeen Mayor Debbie Nash-King attended to say a few words to the men being honored and they were later sworn in by Judge Kris Krishna. "The badge pinning ceremony is a long-standing tradition in the fire service; it pays tribute to the men and women who first responded to the needs of others," according to the city. The Killeen Fire Department has 238 firefighters total.  

One worker has died after firefighters battled a massive, five-alarm blaze that broke out Thursday morning at a construction site in Charlotte, North Carolina. The deceased worker was identified as Demonte Smith. His father confirmed his death. A second worker remains missing. The fire captain told CBS News that on Thursday night, structural engineers deemed it unsafe for heavy machinery to operate overnight, so search and rescue efforts were paused until morning. Efforts resumed in the morning as machinery was used to search under debris. There are concerns that the entire structure is unstable and could collapse, the captain said. More than 90 firefighters were called to the scene and had not yet extinguished the fast-moving flames, said Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson at a news conference held hours after flames initially erupted around 9 a.m. ET.  

A suspect was taken into custody Thursday after allegedly stealing a fire truck and leading police on a chase that spanned three counties. Police confirmed the fire truck was stolen out of Station 32 in North Miami Beach as Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was conducting a training exercise. Lekambrick Hanna, 31, is accused of entering the fire truck and stealing it. As he fled, he proceeded to crash into an Opa-locka Police cruiser, police said. Video from Only in Dade showed a portion of the pursuit, which went through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. At some point, the chase ended up on I-95 and ended on the Turnpike northbound near Boynton Beach Boulevard, bringing traffic to a standstill. The chase lasted about an hour and ended around 9 p.m.  

When Ruby Brown turned 95, she celebrated by riding a motorcycle for the first time. When she turned 96, she finally went for a spin in a golf cart. To celebrate her 100th birthday, Brown crossed the last – and biggest – item off her bucket list after going for a drive in a firetruck. It was an experience she'd been looking forward to for a long time. "In the last four or five years, they'll tell you that's all I've talked about," Brown said. Brown, a Whiteland resident, and three family members – including a great-grandson who lives in Carmel – stopped by Carmel Fire Department Station 41 on May 16 for a quick tour of the city in CFD's largest vehicle. Brown, whose 100th birthday is in October, was all smiles from the front passenger seat as the truck pulled out of the station. "It was great. I enjoyed every minute of it," she said after completing the ride.  

VIDEO: Sounding the alarm -- during this past Virginia legislative session, first responder mental health was a top priority for Del. Israel O'Quinn. That's why he proposed and helped get a measure across the finish line -- focused on improvements and resources for those personnel. Del. O'Quinn says this legislation comes after professional firefighters and law enforcement officers say there are two big issues in the public safety sector. As a result, House Bill 1775 now adds depressive and anxiety disorder to the current worker's compensation statute. "If a firefighter or police officer believes that they have post traumatic stress disorder or anxiety disorder, they can be diagnosed by their doctor, and then under the worker's compensation statute, they now have a presumption, meaning that it's much easier to prove that they have this and they can receive the treatment that they need," said O'Quinn.