State Senator Christopher Belt (D-Swansea) is proud to announce two local fire departments will receive funding through the Small Equipment Grant Program, administered by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal for equipment upgrades. "This program gives eligible departments the opportunity to purchase small equipment that they may otherwise not be able to afford," Belt said. "Thanks to the small equipment grants, these fire departments will be able to provide better service to residents and families in our community." The Small Equipment Grant Program was established by the Office of the State Fire Marshal to provide grants of up to $26,000 to support small firefighting and ambulance equipment purchases. A total of $3.3 million was awarded to 149 fire departments and EMS providers across the state through the program.  

VIDEO: Five people, including children, were sitting on the roof of a car or standing in almost knee-deep floodwater when a man came to the rescue while smoking a cigarette. Des Plaines firefighters were dispatched to the call at Route 83 and Algonquin Road, but the actual location of the rescue was west of Elmhurst Road (Route 83) on Algonquin Road (Route 62) in front of the AAA Tower Inn & Suites located in Mount Prospect. Floodwater was too deep even for emergency vehicles to pull up to the stranded vehicle, and the Good Samaritan had already begun his rescue. The man carried or walked five people to safety — at least two were carried piggyback and one was assisted while walking on her own. The rescuer was able to manage his rescue while continuing to enjoy his smoke. Two children were apparently rescued before the camera was capturing video.  

A fire which struck a home at 1210 Chandler Street in Danville Thursday afternoon left extensive damage. But there were no injuries. The home was occupied when the blaze broke out shortly after 3:30 p.m. Firefighters found heavy smoke coming from the residence when they arrived on the scene. Initial reports indicated the fire began in the home's garage and extended into the kitchen. But the cause remains under investigation. Danville Firefighters were on the scene for nearly two hours.  

Pekin Fire responded Thursday morning around 7:30 a.m. to Alto Pekin LLC on reports of a cornmeal dryer on fire. The dryer that caught fire is used for the production of ethanol. Fires reportedly are common in that type of dryer due to their size and constant use. Interim Pekin Fire Chief Trent Reeise says they respond to about 6-10 fires involving large industrial dryers every year. Crews were on scene for about two hours, but it only took 45 minutes to get the fire under control. Since the fire did not involve ethanol or other chemicals, water was used to extinguish it. No injuries were reported in the blaze.  

PHOTOS: It was quite a sight to see the Fireboat John D. McKean arrive at Pier 25. On one of the most beautiful days of the year, there were bagpipers from the FDNY to welcome it on the pier, and its (her?) cousin, the John J. Harvey, which is docked in Hudson River Park at Pier 66 Maritime, gave a water display as a welcome. The scene resembled some sort of fireboat mating ritual (which is weird now that I already said they were cousins): the Harvey fired up all its water cannons as it sailed down the middle of the river. The McKean then chugged over towards it and did a 180 in front of the boat — and at one point, was perfectly lined up in its shadow with the spray as a backdrop. Then the McKean launched its own water cannons — and at one point snuck over so close to Pier 26 that they doused the folks on the end of the pier, much to the pleasure of the rest of us watching from 25.  

The abrupt, deadly collapse of part of the Champlain Towers South apartment building in Surfside, Fla., is prompting new calls for enhanced oceanfront construction safety protocols and inspections. "Buildings like this do not fall in America," Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett told Fox News' Tucker Carlson Thursday night. "This is a third-world phenomenon, and it's shocking." He said the "disturbing" collapse was reminiscent of the fall of the Twin Towers in New York City following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, as far as the way the structure crumbled in moments. Video shows two wings of the 12-story high rise tumbling out of the sky without warning around 1:30 a.m. Thursday. It's not immediately clear what caused the collapse, and Miami-Dade officials said they did not expect to have answers any time soon.  

AT&T and the FirstNet Authority announced the addition of 19 deployable assets to the dedicated FirstNet fleet of mobile LTE vehicles, with Communications Vehicles and Micro SatCOLTs providing different operational features and flexibility than was available previously. Fred Scalera, AT&T's associate director for FirstNet, said he believes the new deployables will help AT&T—the nationwide contractor building the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN)—deliver "next-level" communications support to public safety during emergency-response efforts. This announcement is just the latest step in the evolution of the FirstNet deployable offering, he said. "We're working on new technologies into the next year already," Scalera said during an interview with IWCE's Urgent Communications.  

Doctors at UPMC are trying to raise awareness about the benefits of napping for first responders. KDKA's Meghan Schiller found out this new napping study applies to everyone looking to make informed decisions about rest but especially applies to first responders, police officers, firefighters, pilots, train operators and other high-risk jobs. Research shows their ability to stay awake and make decisions with a clear mind directly impacts people's safety. "We call it a safety nap. When they can get a safety nap in, it's a really good idea to do that. Any deposits into the sleep bank is important for these guys because they might be up for the entire night," said Greg Porter, assistant director of the Ross/West View EMS. When lives are on the line, Porter expects his paramedics to feel rested.  

President Joe Biden may have already conceded that the U.S. will fall short of reaching his July 4 goal to have vaccinated at least 70% of the adult population against COVID, but the stakes for advancing the nation's vaccine drive remain high as the Delta variant—the highly transmissible and concerning strain of the virus that first emerged in India—swiftly makes inroads across the country. In an analysis of genomic surveillance data released by the Centers for Disease Control last night, the Delta variant now accounts for 20.6% of America's COVID cases, up from 9.5% in the previous two week period. The "variant of concern," as the CDC declared it last week, is the cause of nearly half the new COVID cases in the Midwest and Upper Plains regions, according to CDC data.