With Tropical Storm Harvey lashing at his city and no official word from headquarters, Houston Fire Capt. Scott Wilkey took matters into his own hands and drove the 35 miles from his home to the Houston fire station he commands. It was Saturday, Aug. 26, and meteorologists were warning of catastrophic flooding in the city.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

Mesa firefighter Jesse Simpson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, knew he had to do something, anything, to help “George,” a fellow veteran who had lost everything. In May, Simpson’s crew found George sitting on a toilet in a rundown west Mesa apartment that had been heavily damaged when a maintenance crew accidentally struck a water pipe, causing a flood.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: East Valley Tribune

A brand-new Lexington Fire Department headquarters may cost the town about $19.3 million, according to project architect Jeffery McElravy of Tecton Arcitects. McElravy presented his schematic design for the new facility to Selectmen on Sept. 11. The new facility will go in the same location as the current fire headquarters on Bedford Street.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wicked Local Lexington

A government-ordered inquiry into the London tower fire that killed at least 80 people opened Thursday with a minute of silence for the victims — and with its leader acknowledging that survivors feel a "great sense of anger and betrayal." Retired judge Martin Moore-Bick said he hoped his investigation would "provide a small measure of solace" by discovering how such a disaster could occur in 21st-century London, and preventing it happening again.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

A slap in the face is how many Raleigh firefighters and police view new changes to a city policy. It involves all city employees and centers on vacation time, sick leave, holiday pay and promotions. The changes were made as part of the consent agenda that passed at the last City Council meeting. “If I have to work on a Saturday, I already have to take two days off to have that weekend off.
- PUB DATE: 9/14/2017 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNCN-TV NBC 17