There is a new fire chief for the South Brazos County emergency services district (ESD). The board for the ESD based in Millican has announced the hiring of Mike Montgomery, who most recently worked for TEEX, the Texas A&M engineering extension service. Montgomery was also a fire marshal in Harris County. The South Brazos County ESD, which has 40 paid and volunteer members, serves approximately 20,000 residents south of College Station. Via news release, South Brazos County ESD 1 Fire Department announced that Chief Mike Montgomery has been named by the Brazos County ESD 1 board as the department's new Fire Chief.  

PHOTOS: Multiple fire departments across Bell County came together to battle a large house fire early Sunday morning. Morgan's Point Resort Fire-Rescue says it responded to the residential structure fire at 3:41 a.m. Firefighters from the Belton Fire Department, Central Bell Fire & Rescue, the Harker Heights Fire Department and the Sparta Volunteer Fire Department also responded. The home was considered to be heavily involved, with several outbuildings and numerous exposures threatened. Crews worked to contain and extinguish the blaze despite downed power lines, a huge fuel load and water supply issues. Morgan's Point Resort Fire-Rescue says this was the second large incident handled by crews over the weekend. They also assisted many of the same departments – along with Killeen, Salado, Travis County STAR Flight and the Fort Cavazos Fire Department – with a Wildland/Urban Interface alarm that threatened several neighborhoods.  

Two citations were issued after a fire came very close to some homes in a Montgomery County neighborhood, officials say. According to the South Montgomery County Fire Department, multiple units responded to the fire in a drainage area between Legends Run and Wright's Landing. Officials say firefighters, with the help of residents, were able to keep the fire from directly damaging any homes. Several privacy fences were damaged by the fire. The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Montgomery Pct. 3 Constable's Office assisted in the response. Officials say MCOHSEM used a drone to track the fire spread and calculated the size of the fire to be just over seven acres.  

PHOTOS: A man was arrested and charged in connection to the arson at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown El Paso last month. Authorities arrested Noah Ochoa on August 22. The building on 301 W. Missouri Avenue was set on fire on July 24. Ochoa was seen in the video arriving at the side of the building around 12:25 driving a gray sedan. Officials said Ochoa removed gas cans and other items from the vehicle. Officials said Ochoa made a forceful entry to the building through a door. Once inside, Ochoa began pouring an ignitable liquid on the floor in a room as the fire spread, the document stated. Ochoa then left the building. Investigators received information about the vehicle seen in the surveillance video on August 7. Ochoa was currently on bond for aggravated assault against a public official.  

A Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue helicopter crashed into an apartment building in Pompano Beach Monday morning, authorities confirmed. The crash was reported just after 8:45 a.m. in the area of North Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard, southwest of the Pompano Beach Airpark. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that three people were onboard the Eurocopter EC135 helicopter that "crashed into a structure." Sky 10 was above the scene just after 10 a.m. as an apartment building in the area had a large, gaping hole in the roof with burned debris visible. Video posted to Facebook shows smoke coming from the helicopter before it starts going around in circles and then crashes to the ground.  

VIDEO: Identical twins Manuel and Emmanuel Zuaznabar broke through barriers to achieve their goal of becoming New York City firefighters, and now they're sharing their story of success in hopes of inspiring the next generation. Coined the "Z brothers," the 29-year-old, half-Dominican half-Cuban twins were born on Staten Island and raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn. They were first generation and grew up in a packed household with little resources. Manuel said it was actually a toy drive that sparked their interest in becoming firefighters. "We grew up with immigrant parents. It was a rough upbringing in New York, and we went to a lot of after school programs. And the city had cops help us out, firefighters at toy drives," he told CBS New York's Zinnia Maldonado.  

VIDEO/PHOTO: The people who've spent days helping Mt. Charleston residents after destructive floodwaters swept through their community now need some help themselves. Flood waters that brought destruction to Mt. Charleston over the weekend also dealt a heavy blow to the local volunteer fire department. On Friday, community members established a GoFundMe campaign aimed at helping them rebuild. According to Kim Koster, who started the campaign, the Mt. Charleston Volunteer Fire Department building was "severely compromised" in the flooding, which destroyed "much of their equipment and supplies that took years to accumulate." "Even with the devastating losses, the volunteers have continued to work endless hours trying to keep the community safe while helping to rebuild," Koster wrote on the fundraising site.  

The Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department is on a mission to create a certified county wide search and rescue unit comprised of first responder who can provide aid anywhere in the county in times of disaster. According to Chief Dave McCoy the search and rescue department is already an obligation of all fire departments, with everybody being responsible for their own area with fire. If the fire department has EMS, search and rescue both fall under a fire department's responsibility. According to McCoy, the department has joined forces with Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) to get the ball rolling. McCoy noted that Columbiana County EMA Director Peggy Clark has helped make the efforts to establish the unit possible.