The Boone County Local Emergency Planning Committee is hosting its annual Lunch and Learn next month to focus on responding to a large chemical fire. The lunch will be on Tuesday, Sep. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Community Building Complex on 111 W. First St. in Belvidere. Rockton Fire Department Fire Chief Kirk Wilson, along with Boone County EMA Coordinator Dan Zaacard and Rockford Fire Department Division Chief Michele Pankow will go into detail about the response to the chemical fire in Rockton. They will also discuss how residents can prepare for this kind of emergency in the future. The lunch is free, but a reservation is required to attend.  

A 95-foot cellphone tower is in line to be constructed on the grounds of the Peoria City/County Health Department. Considering its mission, that makes perfect sense, as the department's leader and others see it. The tower is to be built at the rear of the parking lot behind the health-department complex at 2116 N. Sheridan Road in Central Peoria. A ravine and a county-owned garage are adjacent. T-Mobile is the initial tower tenant, according to Ray Shinkle, an agent for Vertical Bridge. That Florida-based company is seeking city permission to construct the tower. Existing T-Mobile towers are located at Knoxville Avenue and Interstate 74 and at Gale Avenue and I-74. The former location is about 1 mile from the health department. The latter location is about 1½ miles away.  

Beginning Monday, The Homewood Public Works Department will start flushing fire hydrants throughout the Village. According to the village website, hydrant flushing is the quick release of water from fire hydrants. It's a controlled procedure that is vital to the general maintenance of the village's water distribution system. The process ensures adequate water flow is available to firefighters, residents and businesses, and also improves water quality by clearing iron and other mineral deposits from the water mains, the village states. During the procedure, some may notice reduced water pressure and flow.  

Multiple houses under construction were damaged or destroyed after Phoenix firefighters battled a second-alarm fire Sunday morning. Arizona's Family cameras show several structures went up in flames near Bell Road and Tatum Boulevard. Phoenix fire crews responded to the area around 9:30 a.m. for reports of a house fire. When crews showed up, they found multiple houses under construction on fire and called a first-alarm. Crews later upgraded the fire to a second-alarm because of the number of houses on the lot. Four houses were declared a total loss. Five houses also had significant smoke damage, according to Capt. Todd Keller. Crews are on scene clearing up the hotspots. No people were hurt as a result of the fire. The property owners are cooperating with fire investigators as they work to determine the cause.  

Without the remains of the mangled cab in the middle of the photo, it may have been hard to even realize that a fire truck was involved in the Saturday night collision. Even harder to believe is the fact that there were no injuries among the many first responders who were on the scene that night. Nonetheless, the Flint Hill Fire Department wanted to share the image of destruction, not only to remind drivers to use caution but to show how dangerous a firefighter's job can be. The crash apparently happened while the Flint Hill fire engine was on the scene of another accident. A semi-truck ultimately hit the fire truck. Firefighters, emergency medical services, and law enforcement were all on the scene at the time but somehow walked away unscathed. The truck driver was taken to an area hospital for treatment.  

A report detailing the city of Waco's response to February's freeze recommends stockpiling fuel and supplies, developing emergency housing plans with designated shelters, investing in snow plowing equipment and arming more city facilities with backup generators. The report details what happened when the unprecedented nine-day weather event caused havoc with the state's power grid, the erratic and long-lasting power outages that put lives in danger throughout Texas and the ensuing water pipe ruptures that spread throughout the city, putting the water system in jeopardy until a combination of round-the-clock work and water conservation measures helped it recover. Critical infrastructure in the city had not been reported to Oncor, the company that manages power distribution in Waco, something the report suggests correcting as soon as possible.  

Firefighters already provide lifesaving services to people in Volusia County. Now, they're adding another service: scanning for microchips when people find pets they believe are lost. The county's animal services and fire department have launched a program to train firefighters in the use of microchip scanners. Microchips for pets have been around for years, but the firefighters' involvement in such a program is new. All 20 county fire stations will have staff trained in the use of microchip scanners. Beginning on Sept. 1, residents who find pets that seem lost can bring them to fire stations for microchip scanning. "As many people know, microchipping is the only permanent method for identifying pets in our community," said Volusia County spokesman Gary Davidson in a press release.  

PHOTO: Donnie Speer owns and operates The Big Hole Pizza Company in Wise River, Montana. What started as a creative dream a couple years ago led him to purchasing a retired fire truck with roots in Daviess County — nearly 1,800 miles away. The fire truck, which still reads "Thruston-Philpot Fire Department," dates back to 1978. "Originally, a man bought it from someone at that station (in Daviess County), put a new set of tires on it and drove it out here," Speer said. "He was going to start a volunteer fire department in his town, but he passed away and the truck just sat in a yard for 15 years rotting out." When Speer had the idea of starting a business a couple years ago, he began to look for the perfect opportunity to offer customers a unique place to gather. "I had built a pizza oven the winter before and was trying to think where to put it," Speer said.