A wind swept leaf fire damaged an Alton home Thursday afternoon. At about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Alton firefighters respondesd to the 3700 block of Horn Avenue after a U.S Postal Service letter carrier saw a fence fire. The fire appeared to have started in a pile of leaves in the yard of a residence on Western Street, behind the home on Horn Avenue. Wind spread the flames to a wooden fence, a gas barbeque grill, a shed and then a rear corner of the house which was unoccupied at the time of the fire. Firefighters, fearing the fire was inside the house, called for a box alarm summoning East Alton firefighters to the scene. Shortly after firefighters arrived, a valve on the barbeque's propane tank blew, hissing and shooting flames in the direction of the house.  

Peoria Police Public Information Officer Semone Roth confirmed a man has been arrested in connection to the strangulation death of 24-year-old J'Naysia Marie Hobbs Wednesday morning. Roth said police arrested 28-year-old Tahir Goodman Thursday. He is facing charges of first-degree murder and aggravated arson connected to Hobbs' death. At this time, the Peoria County Jail is holding Goodman. Records show Goodman has been arrested twice for domestic battery since 2017, with the most recent arrest being on Oct. 20. That case is still open.  

Lisle police and firefighters got a festive surprise this Thanksgiving, when graduates of the most recent Lisle Public Safety Academy dropped by the police and fire stations to give them food, gift cards and gift certificates to show their gratitude. Raza Siddiqui, who attended the academy along with nine other citizens, told Patch the students were eager to give back to first responders who had to work through the holiday. "We really believe in letting people know the appreciation we have for them...having to work on holidays and sacrificing time with their families," Siddiqui said. Some students brought cookies; others brought gift cards for Starbucks and local grocery stores, so police and firefighters were able "to choose what they wanted without having to dip into their own funds," Siddiqui said, explaining that Lisle-Woodridge firefighters usually pool money to buy food for their shifts.  

VIDEO: "Bringing smiles to people's faces when they don't have a whole lot to smile about," Tim Cahill, Central Illinois Pink Heals, said. That's the goal of one organization in Central Illinois and a group of high school students joined them, just in time for the holidays. A small community is coming together to put a smile on the face of a little girl with cancer, but they're not done yet. They're collecting toys for her Christmas. After meeting this little girl, the group knew they wanted to do more. A 6-year-old girl in Paxton had the surprise of a lifetime, with a visit from a pink fire truck and a big group of high schoolers. "We go to these visits and there's times where you know these people aren't going to be making it very long and to be able to make them and their family smile and have that lasting memory is just absolutely amazing," Tim Cahill said.  

VIDEO: Dec. 2, 2021 marked the fifth anniversary of an Oakland tragedy. In 2016, a late night fire broke out at a warehouse. It happened during a dance party and killed 36 people. The master tenant, Derick Almena, was sentenced earlier this year to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say Almena was criminally negligent when he illegally converted the industrial Oakland warehouse into a residence and event space for artists dubbed the "Ghost Ship," stuffing the two-story building with flammable materials and extension cords, without smoke detectors or sprinklers. Victims were trapped on an illegally constructed second floor with just a narrow staircase for the escape route. Almena was the master tenant, but the warehouse was owned by the Ng family, who were never criminally charged.  

A new partnership between the American Cancer Society and the International Association of Fire Fighters will work to improve policies and treatment for firefighters with cancer. The IAFF, or firefighter's union, describes the new partnership as pivotal in their battle with cancer. The collaboration was announced Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021 in New York City but will impact union firefighters nationwide and across North Carolina. Together the two agencies hope to create more research opportunities and culture changes, while working to limit a firefighter's exposures to toxins. It will also provide patient support for instance, rides to treatment or housing if treatment takes a firefighter out of state. It comes as more and more fire departments feel the impact of cancer cases.  

It's a tool that can be the difference between life and death on the scene of a fire. The Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department is now making sure every crew has a special kit that can treat patients for smoke inhalation. A house fire on Saturday could have been a tragedy, but firefighters say the victim inside was saved by a tool they recently started carrying. "It's one of the few treatments that we carry that we can actually see an immediate reaction, almost like if you gave Narcan to an overdose patient," KCFD Division Chief Michael Latta said. It's called a Cyanokit and it removes cyanide from the blood after smoke inhalation. "Now, what we've learned is almost every material that's synthetic, if it's in your house and it burns, it produces cyanide," Latta said. He said that means anyone in a burning building is likely breathing that toxic cyanide in.  

Actress and talk show host Drew Barrymore welcomed the Long Beach Fire Department to the "Drew Barrymore Show" last month. Barrymore recognized the entire department, highlighting firefighter Catherine Lewis. Lewis, who is known as Cat to her fellow firefighters, was sworn in as the first paid female firefighter in the department's 111-year history in March, which Barrymore noted. "It was a really cool experience," Lewis said of appearing on the show. "It was really nice to have all of us recognized, not just myself." The segment also featured other Long Beach firefighters speaking about Lewis. Sam Pinto, who is also a paramedic and school board trustee, said that having Lewis in the department makes it more like a family, and that she helps move the department forward.  

VIDEO: A long-awaited addition to the Hermon Fire Department has finally arrived. A new training prop is helping firefighters be better prepared to enter burning buildings. "We've been getting pictures of this as it's been built over the months, so it's kind of like a baby. We've been waiting for it to arrive," said Hermon Fire Chief Frank Roma. After placing an order in June, the Hermon Fire Department finally received its custom made training prop this week. "It's a cutaway mockup of the construction types and features that you'll find in residential homes that are either made with a construction type that's called balloon frame, or platform frame," Roma said. "Simply put, any building that's on fire is a building that's under destruction. The construction elements and parts of that building that are being exposed to fire are becoming weak and potentially, over time, they'll fail and collapse. This allows us to have a better idea of what we're working with."