The City of Victoria has promoted Jeff Cowan to the role of fire marshal. In this role, he will plan, organize, develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive fire prevention program with the City. He will investigate the cause, origin and circumstances of fires in which property has been destroyed or damaged. Cowan has over 22 years of combined fire, EMS, law enforcement and military experience, including more than 16 years in management. He joined the Victoria Fire Department in 2004 and held the roles of firefighter/EMT, paramedic specialist, Fire Marshal's Division inspector/investigator, lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and interim fire marshal before being promoted to his current position. Cowan is a graduate of the Texas A&M Fire Training Academy, Victoria College Emergency Medical Services Program, Victoria College Police Academy and Texas Fire Chiefs Academy, and he is a certified master firefighter, master peace officer, master arson investigator and master fire inspector.  

The Tyler Fire Department celebrated the addition of two new fire engines to their fleet with a ‘push in' tradition. It will help them serve the nearly 14,000 calls for service every year. The tradition goes back to horse drawn equipment, the horses were unable to back in, so firefighters had to unclip the horse and push the equipment back into the bay themselves. One of the two engines is at station five on South Bennett Avenue. The second engine is at station nine, serving the outskirts of the city. "It absolutely keeps us in that ready state. The reliability of a truck, the other ones started getting a few miles on them. The optimum replacement time for a fire engine is 12 years," said Fire Chief David Coble. Replacing the old with the new is crucial to how fast and efficient fire men and women can get to your property in a time of crisis.  

Fort Worth firefighters want to do more to fight against opioids, and they just got the funding to get started. "We do believe that it's going up in the community," said Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis of opioid use. "We are seeing an increase in the amount of use of naloxone in our fire department to reduce the effects of opioid overdose." At last week's city council meeting, members approved $157,505.64 for the fire department's Homeless Outreach Programs and Enforcement Team, or HOPE Team. The money comes from the state's opioid settlement funds, which is money recovered through the statewide opioid settlement agreements, then redistributed across Texas to programs that help combat the opioid crisis in Texas, according to the city.  

Waco Fire Department has rolled out new technology that could save emergency responders critical seconds in response time. The department switched from a digital radio-based fire station alerting system to an internet protocol (IP) alerting system. Executive Deputy Chief Robby Bergerson said the previous system was over 20 years old and was "reaching the end of it's serviceable life." "The radio based station alerting and dispatching was efficient for its time, but we're moving into the next chapter," Bergerson said. Waco Fire Department is now using the PURVIS Fire Station Alerting System, an IP alerting system that allows dispatch to assign crews and trucks with the assistance of a computer-generated voice transmitted to fire stations.  

A house exploded early Tuesday morning in a West Park neighborhood, reducing it to rubble. It happened in the 5200 block of Southwest 20th Street, just south of Pembroke Road. Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue received word of the blast around 12:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived there was no fire, but there was debris all over the place. "The home was completely destroyed," said Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane. "At this point, we don't know the source of the explosion, we just know that the explosion was caused by some type of gas," he added. The explosion could be heard for miles. Those who live in the neighborhood where it happened were stunned.  

On Tuesday, Dec. 19, the Springfield City Council wasted little time in unanimously approving a set of four bills that joins the city with a statewide pool of funding that provides benefits for firefighters who get any of the 17 different types of cancer the program covers. Known as the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool, the program was established by a pair of Senate Bills in 2021 and 2022 led by local State Senator Lincoln Hough. As part of the statewide pool, Springfield will contribute an estimated $28,545 to be enrolled for one calendar year. Springfield firefighters can receive up to $300,000 in benefits, the maximum amount available through the program. The cancers covered in the MFFCIP are bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, lung, melanoma, mesothelioma, multiple myeloma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, prostate, rectal, skin, stomach, testicular and thyroid.  

VIDEO: Fire officials have rescued a man who was trapped under material at a Paulding County concrete plant. The incident happened Tuesday at Wayne Davis Concrete along Hailey Path in Dallas, Georgia. Paulding County fire officials confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that a man in his mid-30s became stuck in a hopper. Emergency crews were up against time during the dramatic rescue. Their skills played a huge role as they rescued a worker who was nearly neck-deep into three tons of sand. "We got here and we couldn't actually see the top of his head," said Lt. Josh Collier of the Paulding County Fire Department. Not long after that, there was a second collapse of material burying the man even deeper. "You can see it's approximately 20 to 25 feet down. He had material on top of him and underneath him so he was trapped," Collier explained.  

VIDEO: A local fire station is using a unique tool to educate the public on fire safety. The Emporia Fire Department has a new inflatable safety house. The department was awarded a grant from Clint Boyer's 79 Fund in the summer, and now is ready to show this fire safety house to the public. Boyer's 79 Fund is a grant supporting education, health and safety. "We were looking at ways we can improve our public education and came across it," Emporia Fire Department Training Officer Matt Luder said. "It's lot more engaging and captures people's attention a lot more than just simple question and answer sessions." It comes with a lot of things like any standard house would, but with some educational aspects. "So it's laid out kind of like a house; there's a kitchen area, living room, bedroom areas and on the walls there's pictures of different things," Luder said.