VIDEO: A southern Illinois fire department recently helped with an unusual rescue. According to the Carbondale Fire Department, they rescued alpacas from a stalled elevator on Thursday, November 17. They said the "victims" were from Rolling Oak Alpaca Ranch in Makanda, Ill. "Called 911 and said hey we got alpacas stuck on the elevator...I can only imagine what the dispatcher was thinking," said Morgan Stevenson, owner of the alpacas. According to Stevenson, they were filming a TV segment and the studio is on the second floor. They said they took two of their younger alpacas on the elevator "because alpacas don't do stairs." "They were on the second story and we thought well that's fine, an elevator is similar to a trailer, we can take our two alpacas, they asked us to bring animals," explained Stevenson.  

A cow barn at Illinois State University's farm in Lexington was damaged in an overnight fire, authorities said. A McLean County sheriff's deputy spotted the 1,000-foot-long cow barn on fire at around 12:40 a.m. Friday, according to a Facebook post from the Lexington Fire Department. The north half the building appears to have been saved by suppression efforts, LFD said. The south half, which also stores straw, will continue to smolder for some time, LFD said. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation.  

A single-story home in Pekin was damaged by a fire Thursday night. Pekin Deputy Fire Chief Tony Rendleman told 25 News that family members made it out safely, but they've been displaced because of the fire that was reported about 9:10 p.m. in the 100 block of Arrow Street, near Broadway Street. Rendleman said first responders saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the attached garage. There is significant damage to the garage and moderate damage to the rest of the ranch-style residence, the deputy chief said. Rendleman said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to get the fire under control. The fire department is investigating the cause, but Rendleman said it does not appear to be suspicious.  

Boone County Fire Chief Brian Kunce has been a firefighter for over 40 years. Even now, he says, many drivers don't move over when they see or hear fire trucks coming. Kunce says it slows down their response time, for what could be a life-saving effort. "Nobody knows what kind of emergency we are going to," Kunce said. "It could be a child, not breathing; someone in cardiac arrest. The quicker that we can get there, the safer we can get there, the quicker we can deal with the patient." Scott's Law, known as the Move Over Law, was passed into law in Illinois after the death of Lt. Scott Gillen, a Chicago firefighter who was struck and killed while assisting a motorist on the Dan Ryan Expressway in 2000. When drivers approach any police, fire, or ambulance stopped along a roadway, the law requires them to reduce speed and change lanes, if possible.  

Columbia-Richland Fire says no injuries have been reported in a large house fire reported on Thursday afternoon. According to a department spokesperson, the two-alarm fire was called in around 5 p.m. on Rusty Mill Drive - roughly three miles east of Pontiac in northeastern Richland County. About 50 fire department personnel responded to the fire, which displaced six people. As of 6 p.m., crews were still working to get the fire in the home under control, with flames having burned through the roof already. Video shared by the fire department shows flames towering several feet above the second floor and attic roofs of the home and a column of black smoke rising above them. By 6:40 p.m., fire crews were reporting that the fire had been put out. According to the fire department, early estimates suggest roughly $350,000 worth of damage.  

Michael Stanley was a part of the Schenectady Fire Department long before he officially joined its ranks in 1999. Firefighting, in fact, has been a tradition in his family dating back more than 100 years. Like many who answer the call to serve, the 47-year-old Stanley followed in the footsteps of his late father, Robert Stanley, who joined the department in the 1970s before retiring in the early 2000s as a deputy chief, capping off a 32-year career. "From the youngest age, I can remember going to the Christmas parties and picnics," said Michael Stanley. "Everyone talks about the fire department being a brotherhood, but it's not just a brotherhood. All our families get together and enjoy each other, too. We've had that ever since I was a little kid."  

VIDEO: The Louisville Fire Department has a new tool that leaders believe will keep the waterways safer than ever before. On Thursday WLKY got a first look at LFD's newest rescue boat, during one of the training sessions for one of the three crews that will be manning it. "There's not a vessel close to this within the port," said Louisville major Jonathon Jones. "The next closest one is probably Cincinnati, Covington [KY] area." The boat was, in part, paid for with the federal port security grant, and it arrived at the LFD port last week. Jones was the one who filled out the application in 2019 after their previous frontline rescue boat was damaged in a storm in the summer of 2018. "Since that boat was damaged we've been using our 1976 coast guard cutter as our frontline boat," said Jones.  

VIDEO: Six years after the wreck that almost took the life of Larry Sprinkle, he was able to thank the firefighter who saved him on a special day for that firefighter. On May 4, 2016, Sprinkle was driving on I-485 during the late afternoon rush, with traffic moving at a steady pace. Then, Sprinkle remembers traffic stopped abruptly. "Not seeing the brake lights, I slam into a large pickup truck," Sprinkle said. "The front of my car is totally demolished. People in the truck are OK... me, that's another story." Sprinkle has said the moments after the crash were like a huge blur. "The dashboard was on my chest," Sprinkle said a year after the crash, recalling the details. Firefighters from Ballantyne's Fire Station 32 were among the first responders who quickly arrived at the scene. One of those firefighters was Pete Baretsky.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears poised to approve certain naloxone products for over-the-counter use, a move that would help fight the nation's opioid epidemic. Naloxone (Narcan, Evzio) can save lives when administered soon after the first signs of an overdose from opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone or morphine. On Tuesday, the FDA issued a Federal Register notice that could lead to some prescription naloxone products getting approved for over-the-counter sales. The notice could also encourage development of new nonprescription naloxone products. "Today's action supports our efforts to combat the opioid overdose crisis by helping expand access to naloxone," said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf in an agency news release.