Gary Young is the new Fire Chief for Copperas Cove. The city made the announcement Monday morning. Young has worked for the City of Copperas Cove since September 23, 1989. His most recent position was Deputy Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator. Fire Chief Michael Neujahr resigned in September of 2022, and Young was named the interim fire chief at the same time. Young graduated from Copperas Cove High School in 1988 and went on to earn two associate degrees from Weatherford College. Those were Fire Service Administration and Fire Protection Safety and Technology. In 2019, Young earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree in Fire Service Administration from Texas A&M-San Antonio.  

VIDEO: Firefighters at a Central Texas Fire Department shaved their heads in a show of solidarity for a young fellow firefighter battling cancer. The Jarrell Fire Department took clippers to their heads to support Jarrell firefighter Jake Owen, 24, of Lorena. Jake discovered just weeks ago he had a tumor which turned out to be cancerous in his brain after experiencing weeks of headaches. "Jake is one of our drivers, and he'd been having headaches for a couple of months, and in late January, it just got to the point that it got bad enough that he went to the emergency room in Waco to be treated, and there they found that he had a mass on his brain," said Jarrell Fire Chief Ron Stewart. There is no better firefighter than Jake, Stewart said, describing Jake as someone who is "humble, kind, soft-spoken" and a person who "always has a smile on his face."  

Lightning may have started a fire that sent people running out of their apartments in far southwest Fort Worth. It happened just before 5 a.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex on Bayline Drive, near Chisholm Trail Parkway and Altamesa Boulevard. There was a lot of lightning in the area at the time. A woman who lives across the street said she called 911 after hearing a lot of commotion. "It was just thundering and lightning. It was getting really close," Keiara Fredrick said. "The next thing you know I'm hearing dogs barking really loud. I thought it was lights or something, but it turned out to be fire. Very scary." Firefighters said they received several calls about possible lightning fires Wednesday morning. Investigators will determine whether lightning is to blame for this fire.  

A new pilot program from the Texas A&M Forest Service is issuing grants of up to $3,000 to help volunteer fire departments with recruitment. The Volunteer Recruitment Resources grants are available through the Rural VFD Assistance Program, and eligible volunteer fire departments can apply for reimbursement of 100 percent of the actual cost for recruitment resources up to $3,000. "Resources such as banners, mailouts, billboards and other promotional items qualify for reimbursement but must convey a call to action for the recruitment of volunteers," the forest service reported. Total funding available for the pilot project is around $300,000 through federal Volunteer Fire Assistance Funds. Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.  

State-of-the-art simulation training was held at the Wyatt Ranches – Tasajillo Division in Realitos on Tuesday for EMTs and paramedics from South Texas. The training's purpose was to use critical skills through real-life scenarios using the latest technology and lifelike mannequins. The Wyatt Ranches made a generous contribution to University of Texas Health and Science – Houston for the purchase of a state-of-the-art simulation ambulance. "Back in June of 2022, the University of Texas Health Science Center asked us to provide a training ambulance to train ambulance medics in the greater Houston area and as part of the provision of the grant it was a requirement that the training ambulance be brought to South Texas upon request for training of ambulance medics. Here lately we try to make sure that all grants have a tie back to South Texas," said Brad Wyatt, Wyatt Ranches administrator.  

A hotel in Irving had to be evacuated Wednesday morning due to a fire on the roof of the building. The incident happened at the Super 8 hotel off of State Highway 114 near Esters Boulevard. Police were knocking on guests' doors at 5 a.m. to have them evacuate. The Irving Fire Department told WFAA that the fire was isolated on the hotel's roof and its outside wall before being put out. They said no one inside was exposed to the fire. Crews remained at the scene to check for any hotspots. No injuries were reported. Some hotel guests told WFAA that the fire may have been from a lightning strike, but that hasn't been confirmed at this time. Thunderstorms and rain rolled through North Texas early Wednesday. No severe weather was reported, but lightning was frequent overnight.  

A massive 6-alarm fire engulfed a building housing a row of businesses in West New York, New Jersey. The fire reportedly began inside one of the businesses located on Bergenline Avenue, near 61st Street. Multiple emergency responders are on scene, fighting the fire from inside and outside the building – trying to get it under control. It's unclear if there are any people inside the building. No injuries have been reported at this time. The smoke could reportedly be seen traveling over the Hudson River into New York City. A number of streets are blocked off in the area. The cause of the fire is unknown.  

VIDEO: Last July, an electric transit bus in Connecticut burst into flames while parked at a depot. A month later, an electric scooter sparked a fire inside a New York City apartment that killed a 5-year-old girl and 36-year-old woman. And last month, a fire believed to be caused by the batteries in an electric scooter engulfed a multifamily home in Brockton, Massachusetts. Lithium-ion batteries have become a ubiquitous feature in new forms of transportation and common household products. They're also found in residential solar energy systems. But when those batteries fail or overheat, they release flammable, toxic gasses that can spark a fast-spreading fire that is extremely difficult to extinguish. "The source of the gasses that are creating the flames is confined within a cell battery that will not allow water in," said Ofodike Ezekoye, a fire scientist and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Stepping away from full time service to retirement can be a big transition for firefighters, as they move away from the family they had at their station. No one at Olympia Firehouse 5 expected to be meeting for Monday morning coffee surrounded by a half dozen vintage firetrucks in their retirement. Once word got out that there was a place to go refurbish fire engines, talk shop and share stories, everything started to come together. Beginning their week at Firehouse 5, helping with vehicle projects or participating in community events, keeps retirees connected. In 1998 the Olympia fire chief designated the retired members as Firehouse 5, the name being next in line after Olympia firehouse 1,2,3 and 4. After Ray McDonald and Larry Dibble retired from the Olympia Fire Department, both had purchased antique fire engines.  

VIDEO: Tulsa International Airport (TIA) has upgraded its phone system to alert first responders in the event of an emergency. It's called a crash phone system. TIA firefighters told FOX23 they've waited a long time for this new system. It costs around $100,000, and firefighters said the equipment is vital. "Time is of the essence when upgrading the system," said TIA Fire Chief Mark Stuckey. "It allows a faster response time." Stuckey added that the phone typically rings 10 to 12 times a month. "Any type of emergency, it can be anything from medical emergency on an aircraft ... to an indicator light for gear not coming down safely," he explained. "It can be an engine malfunction, hydraulic problem ... there's all sorts of emergencies. Very rarely is it a fire on an aircraft because commercial jets nowadays are very safe." Stuckey explained that TIA's old crash phone was a two wire system and much slower.  

Greene County will give volunteer emergency responders a break on property taxes in an attempt to recruit and retain firefighters and EMTs as their numbers continue to decline across the state. The move takes advantage of a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December giving counties a standardized way to give the breaks. All 27 fire companies in Greene County are all-volunteer, and the decline in numbers means there are fewer emergency personnel to deal with an increasing number of calls. John D'Alessandro, the secretary of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, said there was not a statewide count of firefighters, but that the number of volunteers across the state has declined dramatically in the last couple of decades, estimating it went from about 120,000 in the early 2000s to between 80,000 to 85,000 today.