The Athens City Council approved hiring Gregory Werner as the City's new Fire Chief with a scheduled start date of May 1. Werner is currently the Assistant Fire Chief of Murphy Fire Rescue in Murphy, Texas. He is also an instructor for the leadership development program for the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service in College Station. Werner was chosen from more than 40 candidates that applied for the position.  

Two firefighters have been injured while battling a structure fire at the old Valley View Center in North Dallas on Thursday. Dallas Fire-Rescue (DFR) said firefighters responded to a 911 call at 13331 Preston Road just after 4 a.m. on Thursday. DFR said first arriving companies encountered heavy smoke and fire conditions in the abandoned shopping center. When they got to the scene, a second alarm was requested. Firefighters were trapped by the fire, but they were quickly rescued and removed from the building, DFR said. One firefighter had burn injuries and the other suffered a muscle injury. DFR said neither of the firefighters' injuries were life-threatening, but both members were taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.  

Willowfork Fire District #2 is building a new administrative office and remodeling its Westheimer Parkway fire station to meet the needs of a growing district. The new administrative office will be built next to Station 3, at 2700 Spring Green Blvd. Robert Miller, president of the district's board of commissioners, said the new building would be 2,000 square feet and hold six offices. Presently, Station 3 is serving as a temporary administrative office during the construction. While the groundbreaking ceremonies were March 10, Miller said construction began the previous week. He said the building is expected to be ready by February 2024, but the hope is that the construction can be completed before then. "They hit the ground running," Miller said. "We didn't want to hold them up." The district has three stations.  

Investigators are trying to determine what started a 2-alarm fire at a Northwest Side apartment complex. The fire started just before 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Copper Mill Apartments off Northwest Loop 410 near Wurzbach Road. San Antonio Fire Department officials said when they arrived, they saw heavy fire coming from the second floor of the apartment building, which houses 16 units. Firefighters made an aggressive attack to make sure the fire didn't spread to the common attic. Initial reports say the fire started in between floors, but arson investigators will look to see the exact cause. Evacuations were already underway before firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported. Of the 16 units, six were severely damaged by fire and water, while all the units sustained smoke damage.  

VIDEO: While rain is in the forecast this week, it may not be enough to help with the current drought conditions. According to Alton Fire Chief John Salinas, the drought conditions make it tough for firefighters to do their job. Salinas said the dry conditions are causing fires to spread quickly. Since March 1, the department has put out 24 fires. Salinas said most of the fires started with someone burning illegally. He insisted the fires could've been avoided. "It starts getting hot, humidity starts dropping, grass starts drying up so that just alone partakes into the factor that it's gonna be a bad season," Salinas said. "We do have a large area, we cover 123 square miles all the way to McCook." Those caught burning without a license can face a fine of up to $500.  

As South by Southwest (SXSW) events continue and spring festival season kicks into gear, Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) has designed a makeshift field hospital equipped with all the resources needed to treat patients in the downtown area. "We set up what we call a geofenced area around the downtown corridor where all the festival activities are happening, and we're able to manage 911 calls coming out of that geographic area just with our special event resources," ATCEMS Commander Eric Gordon said. The purpose is for medics to get to patients faster while also allowing ambulances to remain available for calls in their normal response districts. "Spring festival season draws hundreds of thousands of people down here. Road closures that are all around, that makes it very difficult for ambulances to get around, which is why we use all of our vehicles here," Gordon said.  

A drone was used to spray water on a downtown Oswego building that was on fire for almost two hours Wednesday, firefighters said. At 3:11 a.m. firefighters arrived at 39 West Bridge St. to find a fire at the back of the second-story apartment building, according to a news release from the City of Oswego Fire Department. The building has a bar called Raven in it, according to a Facebook post from Mayor Billy Barlow. One person was home at the time of the fire but managed to get out, firefighters said. People in neighboring buildings were evacuated by the fire department. The fire was heavy in the attic and cockloft, or area between the ceiling and roof, firefighters said. The firefighters were forced to exit the building and fight the fire from the outside, they said. For 90 minutes firefighters fought the fire with a large quantity of water, firefighters said.  

Shocking video of a crash last month on Interstate 80 in Warren County shows what happens when drivers fail to "Move Over" for emergency responders. New Jersey State Police, Allamuchy-Green First Aid Squad and the Allamuchy Fire Department responded to a crash the night of Feb. 23 on I-80 at mile 17.6 in Allamuchy Township, Warren County. The left and center lanes were closed with flares and New Jersey State Police vehicles as emergency crews worked, but a tow truck towing a box truck traveled into the scene, crashing into three NJSP vehicles, an ambulance and a firetruck. The responding troopers were outside of the three vehicles that were struck and were unhurt, but an EMT inside the Allamuchy-Green First Aid Squad ambulance reported a minor injury, state police previously said.  

Livy and Abby are two sisters visiting the Gulf Coast from Tennessee. When they went for lunch with their parents at DeSoto's, they got kids menus unlike any other. The menus included beach safety tips and information. Their mom, Michelle King, says it's a great reminder as they kick their family vacation off. "It's just nice, letting them know, if you see the flags, help us remember, if there is red we need to not go in and if there are two reds then we probably should definitely not go in," said King. "It's been a while since we been here so they have no idea what the colors mean, so it was nice going over it." The man who came up with the idea is Justin Parks, a Gulf Shores firefighter. "I have a daughter who is younger and two young boys as well and when they are doing those activity sheets, I am engaged in what they are doing, so the goal with these is the kids are looking at these activity sheets and the parents are looking at them as well," Parks said.  

Wildfires and drought in California, hurricanes and flooding in Florida and power outages in Texas have rendered all three states distinctly less livable in recent years. People still flock to Florida and Texas, drawn by low taxes and warmth. (California, not so much.) But climate change is on everyone's minds, and dire dispatches about fires and floods dominate the daily news cycle. "The data actually shows that some of the fastest-growing cities are some of those that are at the greatest risk of disasters," said Diane Vukovic, disaster-preparedness expert at Primal Survivor, a popular "prepper" website. A recent Census Bureau list of the 15 fastest-growing cities includes three each in Texas and Florida. Yet, climate change has posited a new idea in American culture: Parts of the United States may not be habitable for much longer.