A massive fire broke out at the Poly-America factory in Grand Prairie around midnight Wednesday morning and is still burning hours later with no end near. Fire officials said the blaze in the area of 2000 W Marshall Drive could burn for a couple days as crews work to extinguish it. Some residents may need to self-evacuate if they feel in danger, Grand Prairie officials said. They did do a reverse 911 call out to make residents in the area aware, but no official evacuations have been declared. Officials are concerned the fire could pull down more power lines in the area, if it topples one of the towers. The base of one has already collapsed and they've de-energized power lines in the area as a precaution. No injuries have been reported, according to officials, but the factory did have a night shift crew present at the time the fire broke out. Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth and Cedar Hill fire departments were on scene, as well as the DFW Airport foam sprayer.  

Investigators confirm a local man, who went missing during a house fire early Tuesday near the Almeda area, has been found dead inside the home. He is the second victim identified after an elderly woman was found unconscious inside the burning home, according to the Houston Fire Department. She's in critical condition, earlier reports said. Fire crews responded to a smoke check at 4:35 a.m. at a residence in the 4800 block of Tidewaters after a neighbor called. Firefighters arrived to find heavy flames coming from the back of the home and upgraded the call to a house fire. HFD Deputy Chief Roger Westhoff said firefighters had a tough time getting inside as the house is secured with burglary bars, but they eventually forced their way in. Once inside, investigators said they found the woman not breathing. She was suffering from burns and smoke inhalation, according to Westhoff.  

VIDEO: Firefighters are investigating a garage fire that left a family of nine displaced in Cypress Wednesday. Officials said the fire happened around 12:25 a.m. in the 20200 block of Pioneer Ridge Drive near Enchanted Creek Drive. According to firefighters, crews found flames coming from the garage and a vehicle in the driveway. Firefighters said the family was sleeping at the time and woke up to the noise and escaped. One person was evaluated for minor injuries but refused treatment, officials said. Firefighters have put out the fire and are now working to put out hot spots. The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating to find out the cause of the fire.  

VIDEO: An apartment fire in North Dallas is mostly contained, Dallas Fire-Rescue said, but will leave eight apartments uninhabitable. No injuries were reported in the afternoon fire at the Bel Air Park apartment complex on 3737 Timberglen Road. The cause of the fire is currently undetermined, DFR said. At approximately 5:08 p.m., DFR responded to a structure fire call at the apartment complex. According to DFR, firefighters moved in for a quick attack but were pulled out of the building after smoke and fire began showing through the roof of the building. In a second-alarm response, two aerial ladders were deployed to fight the fire. DFR said the fire is mostly contained, although firefighters will remain until all hot spots are extinguished. Eight apartments will likely be left uninhabitable as a result of the fire, DFR said.  

Sharing resources between area fire departments and emergency medical services is a common practice in the industry called Automatic Aid and Coppell will soon be lending a helping hand to Cypress Waters. Located in and serviced by the city of Dallas, Cypress Waters is a growing development that borders the city limits of Coppell to the southeast. While there is a temporary fire station in Cypress Waters with a fire truck, paramedic-trained staff, and emergency medical equipment, it lacks an ambulance to transport patients to a hospital. "The city of Dallas does not have ambulances assigned to the Cypress Waters development," Coppell Fire Chief Kevin Richardson said. "They have a temporary need for a partnership that would allow another department to provide transport services for them. Right now, the nearest transport ambulance is coming from several miles away."  

An overnight fire destroyed a two-story home in Georgetown early Wednesday morning. One person was inside the home at the time. That person was able to get out safely but was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. Fire crews got the call about the fire on Manzanita Drive around 12:30 a.m. When they arrived, the whole second floor of the house was on fire. "It wasn't safe when they arrived on scene for them to make entry into the house," said Michael Wofford with the Williamson County Fire Marshal's Office. The house started to collapse in the back when firefighters arrived, so they took a defensive stance and were able to keep the fire from spreading to a small apartment and garage nearby. Fire crews also had to deal with the challenge of getting water at first due to the rural area where this home is located.  

VIDEO: A massive fire at a plastics facility in Grand Prairie is likely to continue burning for several days and could knock out electricity in the area for some time, firefighters say. Meanwhile, officials are urging people to stay indoors because of the "toxic plume" rising from the scene that could be an irritant for people with respiratory issues. At about midnight Wednesday, an overhanging power line fell onto plastic sheeting in a storage area at the Poly-America manufacturing plant, starting a fire, according to Bill Murphy, assistant chief of operations with the Grand Prairie Fire Department. The materials ignited and spread throughout the storage area, Murphy said, an area about 300 yards wide along the 2000 block of West Marshall Drive near Texas Highway 161. One rail car exploded and supporting towers for electricity lines are expected to collapse under the heat of the flames. At least three of Poly-America's freight rail cars had caught fire.  

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, motorists each day drove about 8.8 billion miles on American roadways, while the U.S. railroad system carried 85,000 passengers and 5 million tons of freight. Though travel habits have shifted since the coronavirus outbreak, transportation infrastructure remains vital to the health of the U.S. economy. Despite the importance of a reliable transportation network, upkeep of critical infrastructure is being neglected across the country as roads, bridges, and railroads age. Nationwide, 21.8% of roads are in poor condition, 7.6% of bridges are in need of replacement or repair, and there have been 4.8 derailments for every 100 miles of train track from 2015 to 2019, the most common cause of which are broken rails or welds. In some states, these figures are far worse, indicating a threat to not only the economy, but to public health and safety as well.  

Funding commitments are now in place for the Rescue Hose Co. to add paid firefighters for the first time in its 140-year history. Greencastle Borough Council agreed to develop a budget to support paid firefighters using a fire tax during a joint meeting with fire company representatives and Antrim Township supervisors last week. The borough can enact a fire tax up to 3 mills, but that much will not be needed to cover the funding request, according to Borough Manager Lorraine Hohl. Township supervisors had pledged their support months ago, with the money coming from the general fund. The timeline calls for a paid firefighter/EMT supervisor to be on staff by Jan. 1, 2021, with a probationary salary of $20 going to $21.50 per hour on July 1. Three part-time firefighters/EMTs will be hired around July 1 at $18 an hour.  

On Aug. 17, the United States recorded its fewest COVID-19 cases in nearly 2 months, with 35,112 new cases and 445 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The new cases raise the total to 5,469,604 cases and 171,344 deaths. Though the decrease in cases is a sign that early summer hot spots, including Arizona, Texas, and Florida, are showing falling case counts, reports from schools that have opened across the country, as well as nursing home data, show congregate living is still a major contributor to COVID-19 outbreaks. There is no official tally, however, on outbreaks in public elementary and high schools, NBC News reports. Though schools that have opened in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Indiana, have had significant outbreaks, no data are being collected about how reopening has led to outbreaks, quarantine protocols, and number of cases.