PHOTO: One person was found dead inside a home in Fox Lake after a fire engulfed the residence, prompting the response of over two dozen fire departments Thursday morning. The Spring Grove Fire Protection District responded around 2:46 a.m. Thursday to the area of Main Street and Wilmot Road in Spring Grove for a report of a structure fire. The fire district said crews found a fully engulfed house fire in the 900 block of Main Street. Because the house was located on the north side of the street, it turned out to be located in Fox Lake, not Spring Grove. The Mutual Aid Box Alarm System was activated to the third alarm level due to a lack of hydrants in the area, the fire district said. The upgraded alarm level prompted the response of over two dozen fire departments, including some Wisconsin departments.  

After 34 years with the Moline Fire Department, Chief Jeffrey Snyder is retiring on Aug. 29, 2022. Chief Snyder started his career with the department on the same day in 1988, rising through the ranks before being appointed Interim Chief in July 2017 with the retirement of the former Public Safety Director. Following a national search, Snyder was promoted to chief on Jan. 10, 2018, according to a city release Thursday. In his retirement notice to the city, Snyder said: "I have been blessed with experiences that I could never have imagined as I began my career, friendships which enriched me and a sense of accomplishment that I leave the department in the capable hands of the men and women of the Moline Fire Department. Their dedication to the mission of saving lives and protecting property is unyielding."  

VIDEO: Firefighters, police officers and the South Side community streamed into St. Rita's chapel Thursday night to show support for Officer Dan Golden. Officer Golden, who graduated from St. Rita in 2009, was off-duty at Sean's Rhino Bar over the weekend when a fight broke out at the bar and he tried to break it up. That's when someone opened fire. Three men face charges in connection to the shooting. Golden's father, Patrick, said the outpouring of support Thursday and since the shooting has been overwhelming. "It means everything, these people from the South Side of Chicago are a special breed. We're all in this together," Patrick Golden said. Hundreds joined in that prayer for Officer Golden as he watched a live stream of the service from his Christ Medical Center hospital bed, recording this message for the crowd. "To my family, friends, thanks for everything," he said.  

Firefighters responded to an auto parts yard in south Sacramento after two cars caught fire early Friday morning. The fire started just after 3 a.m. near 25th Avenue and Florin Perkins Road. Crews got to the scene and found the fire in the middle of an auto dismantler yard. Apparently, two vehicles that had just shown up at the yard after some recent accidents had caught fire. It's unclear how the cars caught fire, but firefighters were able to put the flames out quickly. No injuries have been reported.  

VIDEO: When the call for help goes out, LifeFlight of Maine answers. But when they're not saving lives all across the Pine Tree State, they're keeping their skills sharp at the all-new simulation and learning lab. The in-house labs officially opened this week in Bangor, Auburn and Sanford, the beginning of a statewide training connection. "This will be paramedics, nurses, doctors all working together in a community, said LifeFlight Executive Director Thomas Judge. "And this way, we can do it in virtual communities simultaneously all across the state." It's just another day at the office for critical care flight nurse Kelsi Story. "Our trainings are constant, they're ongoing," Story said. "It's pushing us to be better so we can then translate that to the people that we're taking care of." And that training is the real deal. The quote of the day? "Perfect practice makes perfect."  

PHOTOS: Two Elizabeth volunteer firefighters recently took the trip of a lifetime when they drove the town's first firetruck along U.S. 20 from Elizabeth to Newport, Ore., a round-trip journey of more than 4,000 miles. Bob "Hambone" Wand, who is retired from the Elizabeth Fire Department, and Jacob Krug, a current volunteer, left Elizabeth on June 17 in the 1½-ton 1937 Chevrolet Rotary Fire Pump firetruck. They were accompanied by a couple of "chase" cars for moral and mechanical support that carried Wand's wife, Kathy; his daughter Heather; his son Casey; and friend Bonnie Knight, all of Elizabeth. Wand acquired the truck in 2002. "It was Elizabeth's first firetruck," he said. "When the truck was sold, I knew who the department had sold it to. The guy just kept it in a nice garage, and when he was selling it, I went and got it."  

Nearly four years ago, Brian Kyle "BK" Frizzell lost his sister, Haley Frizzell, and roommate David Angel Ortiz to a fire that was deliberately set at the Iconic Village Apartments in San Marcos. Haley, 19, was the youngest of five victims – along with Dru Estes, 20; Belinda Moats, 21; Ortiz, 21; and James Philip Miranda, 23 – who lost their lives on July 20, 2018. The still-unsolved case inspired BK to create "The Weight of Ashes," a 73-minute documentary focusing on each victim's family and BK's best friend, Zachary Sutterfield, who suffered burns on 70% of his body and lost his hands. "When I was in the hospital one time visiting Zach, his mom started talking to me about maybe making a documentary about the whole thing, and at the time I humored her; I was like, ‘yeah, that might be a good idea.' But really I was thinking, ‘there's no way in hell I would ever do that,'" Frizzell said.  

The Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD) is welcoming 76 new members — 67 firefighter/EMTs and nine paramedics — into its ranks after a nine-month training program. This year was the first live audience fire department graduation after the start of the pandemic. The fire department also celebrates 150 years in 2022. This year was very different from recent graduations as paramedic and firefighter classes graduating at the same time is an infrequent event. "This is an unusual extra special event because we usually don't have paramedic and firefighter classes graduating simultaneously. Plus, firefighters graduate every two years and they've all worked so hard," Kathy Matheson, Communications Director for the Philadelphia Fire Department, told AL DÍA. This year's graduation ceremony was special for other reasons, as well.