Two Houston firefighters were injured while battling a massive fire at Christ Church Apostolic Saturday.

Officials say more than 100 firefighters responded to the fire, which broke out around 6 a.m. in southeast Houston.

Witnesses said firefighters were hooking up a hose to a fire hydrant, and as the fire truck pulled away the hose came loose from the hydrant, striking the firefighters, KPRC reports.

One suffered a broken ankle, the other a fractured femur. Both were taken to the hospital and have since been released.

No other injuries were reported. The church, which had recently undergone renovations, is considered a total loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire and Houston police arson investigators now leading the case.

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Mary Ellen Godin
New Haven Register, Conn.
(TNS)

Sep. 16—WATERBURY — Firefighters at Fire Station 1 have been deployed to stations throughout the city while the firehouse undergoes a $5.7 million renovation.

The firehouse at 1979 North Main St. closed two weeks ago as part of the department’s ongoing plan to renovate its eight firehouses to bolster operations and service capabilities while ensuring long-term readiness, fire officials said.

As the city renovates one station, it will move on to the next. Each project is expected to cost several million dollars.

Mayor Paul Pernerewski described the firehouse conditions across the city as appalling. “They all need renovation,” he said. “They’re old and horribly run down and in need of upgrades.”

Personnel, apparatus, and resources from Fire Station 1 will be “strategically redeployed” to other stations throughout the city to maintain full emergency response coverage for all residents and businesses during the closure, fire officials said in a news release.

“The department has worked closely with city officials to ensure that public safety remains unaffected during this transition,” officials said in the release.

Fire Chief Javier Lopez said all available manpower will be assigned to the closest stations on Walnut Avenue and Willow Street. Also, instead of dispatching by geography, responding crews will be dispatched by GPS. If a crew is returning from a call or a training and are near a reported fire, they will be dispatched first.

Fire Station 1 is expected to reopen in June 2026 following upgrades that will modernize the station, upgrade sleeping and cooking quarters and provide a safer, more efficient working environment for city firefighters, officials said.

The city has completed work on Fire Station 6 on Willow Street, which needed significant upgrades to its rickety wooden stairs and failing railings. Asbestos inside the walls needed to be removed and the floor, built in 1907, was replaced with a much stronger structure, officials said.

“The floor that held the truck was not made for a 38,000-pound fire engine,” said fire department spokesman Capt. Edward Partridge. “When you can’t hold the fire truck from falling into the basement, that’s a problem.”

Fire Station 7 on Walnut Street was in the most need of work and had not had significant upgrades since construction. Asbestos was found in all the walls, plumbing and electrical also had to be brought to code, Partridge said. The cost to complete the work was $2.7 million, Partridge said.

After completion of Station 1, the city is expected to begin small renovations at the kitchens in Station 4 and 6, he said.

Not all the stations will be improved but “most of them need some work,” Partridge said.

The renovation is a top priority for new chief Lopez who took over the helm of the department in June. The city has 230 firefighters, and responds to about 22,000 calls annually.

The city is also searching for space in the East End to build a new station for coverage in that area, but officials had no further details. A previous plan to expand Fire Station 5 on East Main Street fell through, the mayor said.

Pernerewski said the firehouse improvement project sends a message to firefighting staff that the city values them.

“If you’re putting people in second-rate or third-rate or fourth-rate living quarters, I think there is a subtle message there that says you’re not a priority for us, and I don’t think that’s true,” Pernerewski said.

© 2025 the New Haven Register (New Have

Alex Wigglesworth
Los Angeles Times
(TNS)

A man was stabbed to death near a Los Angeles County library on Saturday, and another man stole an ambulance that responded to the scene, police said.

Officers responded to a report of a stabbing victim in front of the Downey Library shortly after 9:30 a.m., the Downey Police Department said in a news release. The man died at the scene, according to investigators. His identity was not released pending notification of his family members, police said.

Witnesses reported the assailant ran toward Downey High School, prompting a lockdown of both the library and high school, police said. Officers arrested a 23-year-old suspect on the high school campus. His identity was not released.

In an incident investigators believe to be unrelated to the stabbing itself, a man stole a Downey Fire Department ambulance that was parked at the scene as emergency personnel tended to the victim, police said.

Downey police chased the ambulance, which crashed into a parked vehicle, and took the driver into custody, according to investigators. He was identified only as a 52-year-old Los Angeles resident.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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In this episode, brought to you by our friends at Rescue Intellitech, Andy and Bill highlight the value of Siamese appliances in rural and urban settings, especially Siamese models equipped with double clapper valves. These appliances allow simultaneous connection of multiple supply lines, enabling seamless transitions between water sources such as tanker shuttles and dump site pumpers. The double clapper design is crucial because it prevents downstream water from draining out when hoses are disconnected, maintaining system integrity.

Fire departments selecting Siamese appliances should consider customizable inlet and outlet sizes based on their operational needs. For instance, a four-inch Siamese with adapters for two-and-a-half or three-inch lines offers versatility for rural fireground water supply without impeding flow. Manifolds, like five-way or tri-gate appliances, play an important role for departments engaging in parallel supply operations. Since pumpers often cannot handle maximum flow through a single discharge without excessive friction loss and pump strain, these manifolds split flow across multiple discharges to maintain pressure and volume without overtaxing any one line.

One often-overlooked factor in drafting efficiency is the size and design of intake valves. Bill points out that many departments unknowingly downgrade their flow by retaining outdated intake valves the fire apparatus replaces. Valves with openings as narrow as 3.5 inches dramatically restrict water flow and cause significant friction loss, even when connected to large-diameter hard suction hose.

Both experts advocate for installing six-inch intake valves with correspondingly large male threads to align with the true diameter needed for maximum flow. Andy stresses the importance of examining existing intake valves and budgeting for upgrades where necessary, especially for departments frequently reliant on drafting operations. While budget constraints often lead to cheaper valve choices, these cost savings come at the price of critical flow loss, which can undermine firefighting effectiveness on the fireground.

Another tip involves the use of hydrant gate valves equipped with pressure gauges. Andy explains that the traditional admonition for pumpers to maintain at least 20 psi intake pressure relates primarily to municipal water system integrity and preventing backflow contamination. However, the intake pressure observed at the pump panel doesn’t always reflect conditions at the hydrant due to friction losses in hoses, connections, and valves.

By installing a pressure gauge at the hydrant itself, pump operators gain real-time feedback on the actual available residual pressure. For example, one scenario occurred where intake pressure at the pump was as low as 5 psi while the hydrant residual pressure measured 40 psi. This discrepancy signals that additional water is available, and that more supply lines can be added or pump pressures adjusted to maintain system safety and efficiency. It also helps avoid unnecessary overtaxing of pump engines by allowing operators to fine-tune throttle settings based on precise data.

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