PHOTOS: The nightmares have eased, but the images remain singed in Michael Irving's mind. The blown-out apartment complex, its walls and roof sheared off and refrigerators and mattresses still visible inside. The mushroom cloud billowing menacingly into the North Texas sky. The single severed leg poking out of the rubble, boot still firmly on foot. As the first law enforcement officer on the scene of the 2013 West Fertilizer Plant fire, Irving was the first to smell smoke, the first official to call in the fire and the first to begin evacuating people in harm's way. The ensuing explosion at the plant, triggered by 50 tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate, carved a crater in the earth 75 feet across and 8 feet deep. It killed 15 people – including 12 first responders – injured 260 others and shook the ground so deeply, sensors registered it as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake.  

VIDEO: Lacy Lakeview Volunteer Fire Department is going the extra mile to raise awareness and expand inclusivity in the community during World Autism Month. "We are trying to become a department that has awareness and acceptance of autism," Christy Gomez, who is a Lacy Lakeview volunteer firefighter, said. The department is adding communication boards and sensory tool boxes to the equipment in their fire trucks to be able to effectively communicate with children or adults with autism, especially in emergency situations. "The boards themselves came about, where we can ask them questions, and they can point to things," Fire Chief Patricia Byars-Faulkner said. "That may be able to help us when the parent may not be able to talk for them."  

A weekend fire in a Killeen strip mall was quickly extinguished. The City of Killeen Fire Department responded to the Central Texas Expressway around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. The fire was called in by a witness, and a general alarm assignment was immediately dispatched by the Bell County Communications Center. Three engines, one tower ladder, one heavy rescue, one ALS ambulance, two Battalion Chiefs and two EMS Supervisors responded to the scene. The incident commander later upgraded the alarm – which added one tower ladder, one engine, and one heavy rescue to the incident. A total of 28 personnel responded to the scene. The Killeen Fire Department was also assisted by the Harker Heights Fire Department, Killeen Police Department and Killeen Building Department.  

VIDEO: More than half a dozen husky puppies were left at an Aldine fire station late Saturday night, and now, officials are calling it an Easter miracle that they're finding loving homes while also advising people to not drop off animals at fire stations. Officials with the fire department said it's an ongoing problem they're forced to deal with that could cause problems if they choose between saving animals or citizens. "The fire station is not a place for animals," Aldine Fire & Rescue District Chief Joe Leggett said. "Please think before you bring them (puppies) to a fire station. Call a rescue organization." The most recent incident left Station 31, on Imperial Valley Drive, with seven puppies for which to care. Leggett said firefighters responded to an EMS call around 10:30 p.m. Saturday and returned to the station about 30 minutes later.  

Three fires broke out across Nassau County within hours of each other on Easter Sunday. Two homes and one flower shop were badly damaged by the flames. In Brookville, a two-alarm fire ripped through the upper floors of a large home on Fruitledge Road on Sunday afternoon, destroying the upper floors. The first alarm was called just before 2 p.m. and later went to two alarms, which means 150 firefighters from neighboring towns came rushing to help. They were able to put flames under control within 90 minutes, but the problem was - this was not the only fire. Over in Levittown, another home erupted in flames - this one at 423 Holmes Street. Eyewitness News is told there was some kind of explosion as firefighters tried to enter the house, forcing everyone to retreat and fight the blaze from the exterior. The fire appears to have started in the basement.  

VIDEO: National Donate Life Month is celebrated every April and encourages organ donor registration. In 1994, Dave Shafer was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. "Eventually, through the testing and everything else, it was determined that I needed to be on dialysis, and I was put on the waitlist and I got on the waitlist here at UPMC Harrisburg," said Dave Shafer, kidney recipient. In the meantime, he continued as a volunteer firefighter with Upper Allen Fire Company and occasionally ran into Steve Cosey, another volunteer for a neighboring department. "Our relationship was just being on fire scenes together," said Shafer. After five years on dialysis and seven years on a transplant list, Dave got a phone call from a familiar name, not knowing a new chance at life was on the other line. Without hesitation, Steve Cosey decided to become a living donor to Dave.  

PHOTOS: The nightmares have eased, but the images remain singed in Michael Irving's mind. The blown-out apartment complex, its walls and roof sheared off and refrigerators and mattresses still visible inside. The mushroom cloud billowing menacingly into the North Texas sky. The single severed leg poking out of the rubble, boot still firmly on foot. As the first law enforcement officer on the scene of the 2013 West Fertilizer Plant fire, Irving was the first to smell smoke, the first official to call in the fire and the first to begin evacuating people in harm's way. The ensuing explosion at the plant, triggered by 50 tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate, carved a crater in the earth 75 feet across and 8 feet deep. It killed 15 people – including 12 first responders – injured 260 others and shook the ground so deeply, sensors registered it as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake.  

PFAS exposure can pose a significant cancer risk. And it's present in the moisture barrier firefighters wear under the rest of their gear to repel water and oils that could pose a risk to their safety. PFAS , also known as "forever chemicals," are human-made chemicals found in everything from carpets, to fast food wrappers, to firefighting foams on military bases — like Grissom Air Reserve Base near Kokomo. The chemicals used to be present in more parts of firefighter gear. As concerns about PFAS' potential link to disproportionate rates of cancer among firefighters have been raised, manufacturers have whittled away at their presence in almost every part of the gear except for that moisture barrier. "That same piece of clothing that we think is helping us is also hurting us to a certain degree," said South Bend Fire Chief Carl Buchanan.