Fire destroyed a 2½ story multiple-family residence Thursday morning at 1103 N. Church St. as wind gusts challenged firefighters' ability to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters were called to the building around 11:15 a.m., and there was heavy fire and smoke when they arrived four minutes later. No one was found inside during a search of the property, and no one was injured, the Rockford Fire Department said in a news release. Firefighters were eventually withdrawn from the structure because of the rapidly changing fire conditions caused by high wind.  

As COVID-19 spreads across the country, departments across central Illinois are taking steps to keep first responders safe from the virus. "We're conquering it," Sgt. Ron Adkins with the Macon County Sheriff's Office said. Adkins said the men and women of the department are being given N-95 masks, suits, glasses and respirators for situation they know will put them in contact with a COVID-19 patient. The changes also mean lower priority calls, things like noise complaints, may be responded to with a phone call instead of an officer coming by. "We're going to have a lot fewer interactions with the public," Adkins said. Firefighters are also finding themselves in the midst of change. The Williamsville Fire Protection District is no longer allowing staff to congregate at the fire house, and Thursday meetings have been cancelled.  

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Carle Health has produced a prototype emergency ventilator to help during the surge of respiratory care needed as a result of the coronavirus, the university announced. The emergency ventilator is called the "Illinois RapidVent." It plugs into the oxygen source available in most hospital rooms or into a tank of oxygen, according to a statement on UIC's website. William King, a professor at the Grainger College of Engineering and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, is leading the project. "Our team is living the Apollo 13 movie," he said. "We have dropped everything else to work around the clock to help respond to the COVID-19 crisis."  

As the U.S. continues to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the New England Patriots' airplane is being used to help aid the country in its response to the pandemic. The Patriots' team plane departed early Wednesday morning from Shenzen, China, where the Boeing 767 had picked up 1.2 million N95 face masks to bring them back to the United States, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The plane was expected to land at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. "No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers. Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker tweeted. A picture of the Patriots' plane with workers moving large cargo can be seen in the governor's tweet.  

VIDEO: Protecting first responders has never been more important. Now a local business has developed a simple safety solution. CBS 2's Steven Graves takes a look at how it works. Like most operations around the country, the one at Crown Point, Indiana Fire and Rescue has shifted. "Our thought process is that everybody is a potential patient with COVID-19. That's just how we have to treat it right now," said assistant fire chief Mark Baumgardner. "Even though we have the proper PPE on, it still puts us at a much higher risk to get contaminated." This week, they started using this isolation box, similar to ones used in emergency rooms, but strapped to a stretcher. "We can not only protect our people, but still provide the advance care we need to give to our patients," Baumgardner said. It's made out of a thin layer of plastic that can be easily sterilized. It goes over the patient's head, can be taken on and off and moves with the stretcher.  

Cardiac patients who flatline will not be taken to area hospitals for further care, according to a new directive handed down as the city battles the rise in coronavirus cases. The new orders from the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City say that "no adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest is to be transported to a hospital with manual or mechanical compressions in progress" unless the person's heart restarts at the scene. The council — which sets policies followed by private and government EMS crews in the five boroughs — issued the order to free up emergency room space for the continuing onslaught of COVID-19 cases. "In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of the NYPD," the directive notes. Traditionally, EMTs responding to cardiac cases rush their patients to the hospital to continue resuscitation efforts even when the patient has died.  

Tucked away in the corner of his office, Dr. Richard Saint Syr has created a little treatment station. On the bottom shelf of his bookcase, hidden behind one of his pictures, is an ultraviolet light the size of his forearm, two N95 masks and some goggles. The light he bought from Amazon a few days back after he was hit with a realization. UV lights are used in hospitals to clean rooms and kill off germs, in HVAC systems to squash mold, in aquariums to fight off bacteria and parasites — why not enlist light in the fight against the coronavirus? As stocks of personal protective gear like the N95 masks that health care workers wear as they treat sick patients dwindle, Saint Syr, a family doctor at Swedish Medical Group's Bainbridge Island Primary Care facility, has taken to practicing the UV technique and preaching it to his colleagues.  

Hospitals are seeing early success giving hydroxychloroquine to patients with COVID-19. Now, Henry Ford Health System wants to see if the drug can prevent the virus. The health system and the city of Detroit are launching the first research trial in the nation in which healthy people are given hydroxychloroquine. It plans to enroll 3,000 first responders and health care workers from southeast Michigan in the eight-week trial. The goal is to see if the drug can prevent or weaken COVID-19, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. "In Detroit, we don't normally take things lying down. We fight back," Duggan said. "If this study works out, we'll save the lives of first responders around the world." Enrollment is voluntary for any first responders or health care workers in southeast Michigan who don't have COVID-19 or related symptoms.