116 first responders from Illinois, Iowa and Indiana traveled to Champaign for the 26th Annual Winter Fire Training Event at the Illinois Fire Service Institute. IFSI helps first responders train with highly skilled instructors to gain hands-on training for real world situations. The institute trains firefighters from all over the United States, so they can go back to their community with enhanced first responder skills. "We want them to not only be able to do their mission relative to their community, save lives and protect property. We want to be able to have them do it in a safe manner that protects themselves and their brother and sister firefighters on our left and their right." says Royal Mortenson, the Director of IFSI. The 26th Annual Winter Fire Training Event brought in first responders from around the Midwest to better their skills. Most of the participants are Volunteer Firefighters from smaller counties.  

Around 9 a.m. on Saturday, the Limestone Fire Department responded to a report of a mobile home on fire in the Royal Oaks Estates Mobile Home Park. One man escaped the home but suffered burns to his face. He was taken to OSF St. Francis for treatment. According to Deputy Chief Dale Hoerr, the homeowner believes the fire was started by an oxygen tank explosion. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the mobile home.  

Police and firefighter/paramedics from Arlington Heights responded about 8:52 p.m. Friday, January 22, 2021 to a report of a house fire in the block of 200 East Ivy Lane in Arlington Heights. Police and firefighters on arrival discovered flames blowing out a second floor bedroom window and extinguished the fire with an exterior and interior attack — one line exterior and one line interior. Buffalo Grove's tower ladder was at the front of the home with the main aerial raised, but did not use their master stream. Firefighters on arrival reported flames blowing out a second floor window on the west side of the house. The fire was knocked by about 9:09 p.m. and appeared to be stopped by firefighters at the bedroom.  

After conducting additional searches along the Des Plaines River downstream of the crash site with a drone, first responders reported locating the body of a person in the river on the west side of the Barrypoint Road bridge at about 2 p.m. At about 3 p.m., firefighters using a boat recovered the body, believed to be a female, from the water. The investigation is being handled by the Illinois State Police, and while earlier information pointed toward possibly two people having been inside the vehicle at the time of the crash, it appears that investigators now believe there was only one occupant. Riverside Fire Chief Matthew Buckley, interviewed at the scene Sunday afternoon, told the Landmark that "through the investigative things that [state police and Lyons police] have done already this morning, they determined there was only one person in the vehicle, which is why we're confident that this is the person from that vehicle."  

VIDEO: One person was killed and two others badly injured after a Denver fire truck collided with a sedan Saturday afternoon. The fire truck was entering the Broadway and Speer intersection at 1:37 p.m. when it t-boned an oncoming car. The crew was en route to a potential structure fire and had its lights and sirens on as it was crossing the intersection, police said. One person in the car was killed and two others were critically injured. Some of the firefighters also sustained injuries. "The entire Denver Fire Department extends our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the victims of this tragic accident," said Fire Chief Desmond Fulton. "We are committed to cooperating fully with this investigation and are hopeful to prevent this type of tragedy from occurring in the future." In a news conference Sunday, Fulton said the five-man crew leaped to help the crash victims regardless of their own injuries. "They immediately, being professionals that they are, recognized the severity of this, and even though they were shook up and sustained some injuries themselves, they immediately went to work helping to extricate these individuals."  

VIDEO: While firefighters were responding to a fire at an Ocean Beach bar Friday night, a man allegedly climbed into a fire truck and stole a bag of equipment, according to San Diego police. The fire broke out at a single-story building at the intersection of Lotus and Bacon streets at around 9:30 p.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. About an hour after responding, San Diego police said in a tweet the fire had been put out. However, the focus of officers' had turned to a man seen climbing into one of SDFD's engines and stealing a bag of equipment. The man has since been identified and an investigation is ongoing. Photos tweeted by the department give a clear look at the man seated in the engine's passenger seat. SDPD said the man was wearing a white hat, black jacket, red under shirt and black pants, and was last seen riding away on a beach cruiser.  

A disciplinary hearing was held Friday afternoon for an Oklahoma City Fire Department Major who rushed a young burn victim to the hospital in his fire engine after waiting 20 minutes for an ambulance. Firefighters with knowledge about the disciplinary action tell KFOR that Maj. Corey Britt has been relieved of his role as a Senior Company Officer at Station 34. Britt was forced to sneak out the back of Station One Friday afternoon following his disciplinary hearing at headquarters. "We don't transport patients," said Fire Chief Richard Kelley with Oklahoma City Fire Department. "That's not our job." Kelley says this policy is also a state statute. Friday, the veteran of 25 years learned he will keep his pay and rank but will face what the chief calls "internal corrective measures". Chief Kelley says the initial complaint against Britt came from EMSA, the emergency service that was more than 20 minutes late during the call on Christmas Eve. "Most of the times those calls are excellent, but if you miss the mark, we talk about it and correct it as necessary," Deputy Chief Mike Walters with the Oklahoma City Fire Department said.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The office of the state fire marshal is investigating a fire Saturday night that destroyed a four-bay commercial garage and construction equipment at the home of Lisbon contractor Scott Kelly, president of Centuri Construction Group. The garage, located about 200 feet from Kelly's home on Kelly Lane, was a total loss, Deputy Chief Bob Robitaille of the Lisbon Fire Department, said Sunday. Crews were called at about 5:30 p.m. and found flames through the second-story roof of the building, according to Robitaille. The fire started in a rear corner of the building, and Kelly was able to remove a number of pieces of construction equipment in time to save them from the fire. Some 30 firefighters from Durham, Lewiston, Topsham, and Wales assisted Lisbon at the scene, and tankers from Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Durham, and Freeport provided water until crews could draft water from a pond. The fire was under control at about 8:30 p.m., Robitaille said, but firefighters remained at the scene until 5 a.m. Sunday, and then returned around 9 a.m. to extinguish hot spots.