Two children and one woman were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries after a fire in Rockford Thursday morning. The Rockford Fire Department was called to 619 Furman Street for a report of a residential structure fire. Crews were told that an adult and a child were possibly still inside at 9:30 a.m., according to the Rockford Fire Department. Additional ambulances and fire crews were then requested to the fire. Crews reported seeing black smoke coming from a second floor window of a two-story home. A man then walked out of the home as fire crews were entering. Crews then rescued a small child found laying in his crib. The child was then taken to a local hospital. Crews then found and extinguished the fire in a second floor bedroom. A second child and his mother, who had exited the home prior to the fire department arriving, were also take to the hospital for smoke inhalation and first degree burns.  

Hobart City Council heard emotional pleas for the permanent reopening of Fire Station 3 from the family of a woman who was pulled from her badly damaged car by Hobart police Sunday following a head-on accident, just before the car became engulfed in flames. "There was a fire station two minutes away (from the accident) that was shuttered. The first people to respond were police officers. They acted as firemen, broke into her car and dragged her out," said Angel Gilarski, a Lake Station resident and cousin to the victim, 34-year-old Samantha Kunkel, of Lake Station. "When firemen finally arrived, her car was engulfed," Gilarski said at Wednesday's City Council meeting. "I understand budget cuts, but you're talking lives," Gilarski said.  

Edwardsville Fire Department (EFD) responded to a fire at a two-story townhome in Edwardsville Thursday afternoon after a passerby noticed billowing smoke. Crews were dispatched after the call came in at 2:11 p.m. to report the fire in the 200 block of Parkview Court. Edwardsville Fire Department (EFD) Chief James Whiteford said when firefighters arrived on the scene, personnel spoke with one resident of the townhome who said the building had been evacuated. The townhome's back door was left ajar and three firefighters made entry, Whiteford said. "We did have one minor injury to a firefighter's hand," Whiteford said. No other injuries were reported. Edwardsville Fire struck a mutual-aid request and several crews departments responded — Glen Carbon, Wood River, Madison County Rehab and Collinsville. Troy and Holiday Shores fire personnel were on standby and covered Edwardsville fire stations.  

Three juveniles admitted to setting a shed on fire in Decatur Thursday, firefighters said. The structure is located at 1466 E. Orchard St. Crews said they responded at 4:16 p.m. Thursday to find the shed fully involved, with electrical wires down and arcing. A press release from firefighters said residents reported seeing three neighborhood juveniles trying to start several fires in the area and reported them as suspects. Crews said the juveniles admitted to the crime when quested by Decatur firefighters and Decatur police. Firefighters requested OSFM due to the nature of the situation. Crews cleared the scene at 6:15 p.m.  

The Quincy Fire Department will be hosting a hybrid open house event for Fire Prevention Week. The department will post a series of informational and educational videos on its Facebook page on Friday, Oct. 9. A quiz will be posted that correlate with the videos. Children 16 and younger are encouraged to watch the videos, and answer the questions for a chance to win prizes. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Oct. 10, the department will host an apparatus display at the Quincy Mall. Families are encouraged to stop by for a "swag bag" for children 16 and younger. The bags will be filled with gifts from Quincy Mall vendors that helped to sponsor this event. The quizzes can be turned in during the display. The winners will be announced on the department's Facebook page later in the day.  

VIDEO: Authorities said a truck hit the Ellinwood Fire Department late Tuesday night. The driver was heading westbound on U.S. 56 at over 100 mph. After the truck hit the building, it started on fire. "We got the fire extinguished rather soon, and then, we had to extricate, took about 20 minutes to extricate the subject in the pickup," said Ellinwood Fire Chief Chris Komarek. The driver was transported to a Wichita hospital with a broken hip. The building and two trucks were destroyed. One was a reserve tanker and the other was a brush truck. "Actually, we have three brush trucks so we'll be down to two now. We'll probably be able to manage on that," said Chief Komarek. "We have good mutual aid with surrounding departments." The department estimates they will be without a building for at least six months.  

VIDEO: At least 70 people are displaced after a major apartment fire in DeKalb County. According to DeKalb Fire Capt. Deon Bentley, the fire ripped through the Alderwood Trail Apartments at 2947 N. DeKalb Dr. Images from above the fire showed flames shooting through the roof of the building and plumes of white smoke billowing in the air as crews worked to put out the fire. Early indications appear to show that the fire started in the breezeway, though it's still unclear exactly how it was sparked. While no one was injured in the fire, officials said that because it started in a breezeway, there were some people who were initially stuck inside their apartments. The fire department told 11Alive's Hope Ford that neighbors actually used their own ladders to help get people out before the fire department showed up.  

Is this person with chest pain having a heart attack? That's a question EMTs frequently confront when responding to 911 calls. A study conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Health shows that on-scene use of a new protocol and advanced diagnostic equipment can help paramedics better identify patients at high risk for adverse cardiac events. This approach could help paramedics determine the hospital best equipped to treat those people. Currently, pre-hospital assessment of patients with chest pain focuses on looking for signs of a heart attack with a portable electrocardiogram (EKG). For the 93% of people who aren't having a discernible heart attack, paramedics rely on their experience and patient preference to decide what hospital to go to rather than on an objective risk assessment of the level of cardiac care needed, Stopyra said.  

Caitlin Crandall's morning routine looked much different a couple of years ago. The 35-year-old went from working 9-5 at a desk to 24 hours for the Syracuse Fire Department at Station 5, preparing to save lives. "Life was just so blah and just so mundane," said Crandall. "Something just clicked for me. This is what I need to do to feel fulfilled in life. I need to be doing more." Crandall didn't know anything about firefighting, but she knew there was a sense of pride, camaraderie and commitment that she wanted to be a part of. She became 1 of the 13 women within the 338-person department. "I am proud to be a female firefighter," said Crandall. "However, being a female does not take precedence over the synergy that my guys and I have together. We all have the same job. There's a job that needs to be done." Chief Michael Monds says women make up about 4 percent of the department, meeting the national average.  

More than a dozen individuals who traveled to Charleston this week to take the state electrician's exam were instead arrested on federal charges alleging they are in the U.S. illegally. The Office of the State Fire Marshal became suspicious of several exam applications received earlier this month. The investigation and increased scrutiny that resulted flagged several additional applications. Fire Marshal investigators coordinated with Enforcement and Removal Operations at U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement. This joint effort led a targeted enforcement operation at the Oct. 6 exam site and the arrest of 14 unlawfully present individuals. "The men and women of ICE have the vital role of arresting and removing criminal aliens, and we will continue to perform our duty as intended by Congress with integrity, courage, and professionalism." said ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Simona L. Flores-Lund.