VIDEO: Officials are searching for the driver of a vehicle that reportedly hit a firefighter while responding to a wreck on FM 850 on Sunday. Smith County Emergency Services District 2 said just after 8:30 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to a wreck when a firefighter was struck by a vehicle. Officials said the firefighter was transported, treated and has since been released. However, this is the second time a firefighter has been hit in the last month. "It was just a few weeks ago that we posted about vehicles driving around the traffic cones as firefighters were working a scene. Drivers, you MUST pay attention. Our firemen have wives, children, families of their own. This should not be happening," Smith County ESD2 said. Now, officials are looking for the driver who fled the scene.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The Ector County Sheriff's Office has asked for people in the area of 81st Street and West County Road to evacuate the area amid a large oilfield fire that broke out overnight. Odessa Fire Rescue has confirmed a fire broke out at Permian Basin Containers, located at 819 W 81st Street, early Tuesday morning. The immediate area on 81st Street from Erron to Golder has been evacuated but OFR said there is no danger or harmful fumes. A Red Cross evacuation center has been established at Connections Church on Tanglewood and Penbrook for those who have been evacuated. According to OFR, the buildings on the property have been destroyed; an RV and a couple of mobile homes nearby have been burned as well.  

Bees are swarming at full force! Over the weekend, bees stung four people in Alice including three Alice firefighters. Bee stings are not uncommon, but, what should you know to help stay safe. "We have lost people. People have lost their lives to the bees in this area. So, it's concerning to us," said Patrick Thomas, Alice Fire Chief. Thomas said on the afternoon of July 21, firefighters were called to Garcia Street to assist an individual being attacked by bees. The man and the firefighters stung are expected to be okay. "This particular situation the individual was not on their property where the bees originated from. He was cutting grass on the neighboring property," Thomas said. He said every year, especially in the summer heat, first responders see bee attacks.  

Throughout her time on the dais, District 10 City Council Member Alison Alter has stressed the need for the city to understand and prepare to fight wildfires in the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, which is the area between unoccupied land and human-made structures. On Thursday, she sponsored a proclamation praising the Fire Department for making sure that every Austin firefighter has been trained in WUI firefighting, which is significantly different from fighting structure fires. Joining her in delivering the proclamation were Council members Mackenzie Kelly, Paige Ellis and Ryan Alter, all of whom represent west side districts perhaps most at risk of wildfires. Austin is among the most vulnerable cities in the country to wildfire, she said, noting that the whole city needs to be prepared for the wildfire threat.  

PHOTOS: A truck driver died after a tractor-trailer exploded and caught fire on Route 3 in Clifton, NJ, the Passaic County Prosecutor said. The incident closed lanes on the highway in both directions and forced evacuations at nearby homes on Monday morning, but by the evening authorities said that westbound Route 3 had been opened. Authorities say that the truck crashed into a barrier, causing it to catch on fire. The body of the driver, a 55-year-old man from Linden, was discovered inside the wreckage. The Passaic County Prosecutor said the NJ DEP and Passaic County health officials tested for chemicals in the air following the crash and found there were no airborne contaminants. Authorities said they were also testing the water used to extinguish the flames for chemicals as well.  

VIDEO: Mayor Eric Adams announced a major step for fire safety to protect New Yorkers from e-bikes and scooters that use lithium-ion batteries. The mayor was joined by members of the FDNY on Monday for the launch of a PR campaign that will alert delivery drivers in particular to never store e-bikes in the home. According to the FDNY, e-bikes have caused over 700 fires across the five boroughs since 2019. The city is also launching an incubator to help build more charging racks to make it easy for e-bike users to charge on the go instead of in their homes. "We will make sure there is a place for people to charge them… this accelerator will make sure we are leveraging the private sector who helped cause this boom to make [charging outside] a possibility for our users," said FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh.  

VIDEO: A fire department in Berkeley County says a change to firefighter shifts is showing positive results. The Berkeley Fire Department and EMS piloted a change for its firefighters from 24-48-hour schedules to 48-96-hour schedules for six months last summer before making the switch permanently in January of this year. Firefighters nationwide often work 24-48 shifts, meaning they are on duty for 24 hours and then get 48 hours off. But fire departments across the country are shifting to a different model that has firefighters working 48 hours at a time and then being off for four days. The shift is designed to ease the high-stress shifts firefighters work that can lead to a lack of sleep and less time with family. The National Library of Medicine says the lack of sleep decreases work performance and increases the risk for cardiovascular disease.  

An odd find of an antique first-aid kit triggered a Hazmat response in Bexley, and three other antique resellers around the country called emergency services after finding the same material, a local couple says. Kate Sanfilippo, a Bexley resident who sells handmade and vintage items as pickleladyfarm and PickleladyVintage on Etsy, picked up a 1933 Boy Scouts Johnson & Johnson first-aid kit Friday from a local estate sale. One of the items in the kit was a small packet of gauze meant for treating burns that was once wet with picric acid. Sanfilippo searched picric acid online to make sure the kit wouldn't need any hazardous material labeling when she shipped it to a potential customer. Picric acid, it turns out, can spontaneously combust or explode unless diluted by 30% with water.