Nearly $1 million has been awarded to seven Macoupin County fire departments and ambulance services for a new regional communications system. The Carlinville Fire Department is the lead agency for the group which will receive $999,150 from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency in cooperation with the U.S. Fire Administration, according to U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville. The new regional communications system will be used by the Carlinville Fire Department, Girard Fire Protection Department, the Virden Fire Protection Department, the Northwestern Fire Protection Department (Palmyra-Hettick) and the Unit 7 Fire Protection Department (Gillespie-Benld-Dorchester). It also will be used by the Gillespie-Benld Area Ambulance Service and Prairieland Ambulance based in Virden.  

After four decades as a firefighter in his hometown, Larry Amidei will retire Friday as chief of the Highland Park Fire Department. Amidei, 59, grew up in Highwood, where his father was a volunteer firefighter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He said he developed an interest in the fire service from hanging around the station in town, recalling it as a close-knit, mostly Italian community. "Everything kind of focused around the church and the bacci club," Amidei said. "Probably when I was 9 or 10 years old, I would chase around the fire trucks on my bicycle whenever they went to calls." Amidei attended Highland Park High School, graduating in 1980. While he was in high school, he worked at Sunset Foods, a job to which he attributes his appreciation for great service. "They are very customer service oriented, and I always had that in my thinking, if you keep the customer happy, they're going to support you when you need it," he said.  

Peoria firefighters at Station 4 are getting a new fire building. The new energy-efficient fire station is located on the corner at Howett and South Western in Peoria's Southside. It will have solar panels, newer safety features and extractors, and heavy duty fire-washing equipment to wipe off carcinogens. The old station, located at 2711 SW Jefferson, was built in the 1950s. Peoria Fire Chief Jim Bachman said the new location is better positioned for responding to area fires. He said National Fire Protection Association's standard response time is four minutes. "We're excited about the location, it's more conducive to our responses, and helps us get to other parts of the city in a more expedient fashion," he said. Bachman said the new firehouse will be completed by February 2022.  

The same location in Peoria caught fire for the second time in less than 24 hours. The Peoria Fire Department responded to the 1100 block of W. Merle Lane, near Dunkin' Donuts on University Street, for a report of an apartment building on fire. Drivers were requested to find an alternate path of travel as the department was on scene and working the fire. The same location was aflame the night before when a lightning strike was reported. Upon arrival, crews found a high voltage power line arcing against a six-unit apartment at approximately 6:22 p.m. Firefighters search and evacuated the structure, then called Ameren to help disconnect power to the building. Before the power could be cut, fires started in the Attic and the back of the apartments.  

VIDEO: Massive flames burned through the roof of a commercial warehouse Thursday night in west Louisville, completely destroying the building that required a large presence of firefighters and first responders. The fire was initially reported just before 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the 3100 block of Del Park Terrace in the Russell neighborhood. That's not far from Interstate 264 and River Park Drive. Louisville Fire Department spokesperson Maj. Bobby Cooper confirmed that the warehouse belonged to a business called Anderson Finishing Solutions. The 80,000 square foot building housed solvents, paint thinners and large volumes of flammable liquids. Cooper said the cause of the fire is unknown, but arson investigators have been called in. The fire department brought in nearly 100 firefighters and more than 20 firefighter apparatus.  

Move over Dalmatians, a little baby pig is taking the spotlight at a firehouse in Brooklyn. Penny the fire pig is three months old and was adopted by FDNY firefighter Darren Harris. Penny spends much of her time hanging with her dad and the other firefighters at Engine 239 in Park Slope. She's become somewhat of a local celebrity, as many people stop by to snap pictures with the cutie and feed her snacks. Harris says Penny will likely be about 50 lbs. when she's fully grown. Her dad and the other firefighters have changed up their diets and are no longer eating pork around the firehouse.  

VIDEO: Every now and then, the internet opens a portal on a weird new trend. Enter the Milk Crate Challenge. You can find a growing collection of videos on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and the like of people stacking milk crates, trying to climb them like a staircase, and taking terrible falls, because believe it or not, piles of milk crates are not structurally sound. On TikTok, videos with the hashtag #milkcratechallenge had racked up more than 10 million views, and #cratechallenge had more than 82 million views before the platform started taking them down. Here's what's going on with the Milk Crate Challenge. The Milk Crate Challenge involves stacking milk crates in a pyramid of sorts so they form steps. People try to climb up one side and down the other as the stacks get increasingly precarious.  

Firefighters statewide have threatened to quit instead of being vaccinated, but, for some local firefighters – it's more complicated than that. They want to know if their job will change if they ask for an exemption. For the past 20 years, Tim Archer has been on the frontlines. He's also the president of the Spokane Firefighter's Union and says he hasn't gotten the vaccine for religious reasons. He will be filing a religious exemption, but wouldn't explain further what belief would make him exempt. "Those that have a religious exemption, or a medical exemption, to pursue those exemptions, which the city is helping us do," Archer said. "But what we do not have is any assurance, is that with that approved exemption, we will be able to work October 19." He argues it's not clear whether firefighters who are granted exemptions will be allowed to work in the field.  

Fire killed 3,700 and injured 16,600 people in 2019. Direct property losses due to fire reached $14.8 billion a year. Firefighters paid a high price for this fire record as well; in 2019, 62 firefighters died on duty. America's fire losses today represent a dramatic improvement from more than 40 years ago. In 1971, our nation lost more than 12,000 residents and 250 firefighters to fire. Acting to stop these tragic losses, Congress passed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act in 1974, and created the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration (NFPCA), now the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), and the National Fire Academy (NFA). Since that time, through data collection, public education, research and training efforts, USFA has helped to reduce fire deaths and make our communities and residents safer.