VIDEO: Illinois State Police responded to a vehicle fire that produced Huge flames on the Dan Ryan Expressway Thursday evening. The fire happened around 7:29 p.m. on I-94 near 71st Street. The flames were so intense you can barely tell it was a vehicle engulfed by the fire. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames - leaving only a charred car. No injuries were reported.  

Not all heroes wear capes, some simply wear headsets. But, Winnebago County leaders are having trouble recruiting enough 911 dispatchers, with eight open positions. Nicole Kulpa, was in the middle of her twelve hour shift at the Winnebago County Center, when 23 News arrived. As a dispatcher, Kulpa is the lifeline behind the scenes, helping people in their most dire moments. "It's not a job for the light-heated, it can be a very stressful job," said Kulpa. "But it's the most rewarding career out there." In her six years at the center, Kulpa says she's heard it all. "One I remember distinctly, a gentleman called, he said is wife wasn't breathing, so I walked him through CPR," said Kulpa. But calls like this remind her why she's there; to make a difference. "She ended up surviving," said Kulpa.  

A family was left homeless when a fire destroyed their mobile home and damaged four others at the Airway Mobile Home Community in Oak Lawn. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Around 4:18 p.m. Thursday, Oak Lawn firefighters raced into the mobile home park at 9001 S. Cicero Ave. The fire happened in the east section of the park, facing several auto repair shops. Firefighters found heavy fire in one trailer home, with flames and heat exposure threatening the adjacent homes. "In spite of heavy, gusty winds this afternoon, Oak Lawn firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the heavily damaged home while keeping nearby adjacent homes from also starting on fire," said Chief Zack Riddle, of the Oak Lawn Fire Department. Several Airway residents told Patch they heard loud pops right before the fire.  

FOX 8 Video shows a Cleveland auto parts store on fire and collapsing. More than a dozen crews were called to the scene at the Clark Auto Parts at West 46th Street and Clark Avenue around 3:20 a.m. on Friday. At one point more than 50 firefighters were on hand. Officials said the fire seems to have started on the service and machine shop side of the auto parts store. Flammable material inside made the fire all the more challenging to combat. "It was pretty dangerous. We were fortunate in one level that the building that collapsed was sort of caught by a phone pole and some wires. It was held up a little bit," said Lt. Norman. "Anytime you come to fight a fire it's a dangerous situation. We do the best thing that we can to make sure that our members are in a safe proximity." The front of the two-story building collapsed after flames broke out.  

VIDEO: ‘Unacceptable.' That's what a Seattle City Council member is calling the violent attacks against firefighters responding to emergency calls. The fire department has been calling for urgent action, as the disturbing trend continues. Council member Andrew Lewis is proposing two new strategies to help. To help protect firefighters, Lewis wants to propose a law, that makes it illegal to obstruct a firefighter from helping someone or putting out a fire. Surprisingly, Lewis said Seattle doesn't have a law like that. "Which is horrible, that's a policy we need to change," said Lewis. He also wants to expand the ‘Health One' program so more mental health clinicians can go with firefighters to some of the calls. "Look: there's a lot of people doing weird things post-COVID, and our first responders have to have all the tools to respond to a variety of things that pre-COVID they were never exposed to," Lewis added.  

On the afternoon of April 14, 2020, dozens of firefighters arrived at an Amazon warehouse in Fresno, California, as thick plumes of smoke poured from the roof of the 880,000-square-foot warehouse. Some 220 solar panels and other equipment at the facility, known as FAT1, were damaged by the three-alarm fire, which was caused by "an undetermined electrical event within the solar system mounted on top of the roof," Leland Wilding, Fresno's fire investigator, wrote in an incident report. A little over a year later, about 60 firefighters were called to an even larger Amazon facility in Perryville, Maryland, to put out a two-alarm blaze, local news outlets reported. In the intervening months, at least four other Amazon fulfillment centers caught fire or experienced electrical explosions due to failures with their solar energy-generating systems, according to internal company documents viewed by CNBC.  

The city of La Crosse and Mayo Clinic Health Systems are teaming up to provide specialized fitness programs to the city's firefighters. The Finance & Personnel Committee approved a service agreement on Thursday, outlining that Mayo will help develop and present a series of fitness programs to improve the health and ability of La Crosse's firefighters. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity," said La Crosse Fire Chief Jeffrey Schott. Schott said this has been in the works for the last three years after a few doctors with Mayo expressed a "passion" for firefighter fitness. Mayo would develop "tactical" fitness routines for La Crosse firefighters by using data from previous injury reports, ride along observations, and input from firefighters.  

Buffalo's Engine 23 Members Of Color Helping All organization, also known as M.O.C.H.A, held a back to school event for young men heading back to the classrooms. The organization, made up of Buffalo firefighters of color, offered free hair cuts to all students. But this gathering was about so much more than just hair cuts. "So you can have a role model to think about when you're older," said soon to be 4th grader, Tamothy Cremer. M.O.C.H.A members told 7 News barbershops are the perfect place to connect with kids and create a healthy bond. "I think it's really important for young men to have positive male figures in their life," said Jeremy Gonzalez, firefighter and M.O.C.H.A member. "I mean that's something you get a lot in a barbershop. It's something you see a lot in our careers as firefighters. You get a lot of kids that just look up to you."