A woman has died following an apartment fire in Uptown, fire officials said Monday. Fire officials were called to a fire in the 1300 block of West Winnemac Avenue around 11 a.m. Saturday. Fire officials said they took a woman in her 60s to the hospital in critical condition. Chicago Fire Department officials tweeted Monday that there is now a fatality in that fire. A firefighter was also injured in the fire. Officials said the fire started on the bottom floor of a three story apartment building before spreading to the top floor. The Red Cross said they have stepped in and are helping more than a dozen victims who were displaced by the fire. The Chicago Fire Department's tweet also said they would be handing out smoke detectors in the area Monday.  

With the start of the school year just weeks away, Peoria firefighters are opening up their trucks to fill with school supply donations. First responders set up shop outside the Walmart on University Street, collecting donations from shoppers as they came in and out Sunday. It's been a weeks-long effort to collect supplies for kids that need them, with the goal of ‘filling the truck.' They'll give it all away next weekend at an event hosted by the Tri-County Urban League. Firefighters say the support they've received has been beyond their expectations. "It's been fantastic, the last two weeks have been amazing. We didn't think we would have the turnout that we have," says Scott Howard, a member of Peoria Firefighters Local 50 union.  

Elmhurst is poised to spend nearly 25 percent more on its annual ambulance contract. On Monday, a City Council committee plans to review the contract with Elmhurst-based Superior Ambulance, which has served the city for decades. Under the terms, the city is to pay the company $2 million for the year starting Sept. 1. That's an increase of $375,000, or 22 percent. The increase is attributed to the hike in wages for paramedics. In October 2020, the city amended its contract with Superior to increase the minimum starting wage for paramedics to $15.25 an hour, from $13. In 2021, without an increase to its contract, Superior hiked the starting hourly wage to $21 to stay competitive, according to a city memo. Under the new contract, that wage would increase to $24. If that happens, the starting wage would have increased by nearly 60 percent over two years.  

VIDEO: A North Texas wind farm is one turbine down thanks to what officials believe was a devastating lightning strike to one of the massive structures on Friday afternoon. Videos from witnesses and firefighters showed the wind turbine generator ablaze and disintegrate in the sky over Crowell, Texas. Doppler radar indicated there was plenty of lightning strikes around the Foard City wind facility before firefighters received the call about the high-altitude fire. Crews with the Crowell Volunteer Fire Department responded, but Fire Chief Perry Shaw said there was little his firefighters could do to put the fire out. "We're not equipped to handle that kind of fire. Nobody in the area really is to speak of," Shaw said. The fire chief estimated there were 800 gallons of oil in the gearbox and around 1,300 gallons of mineral oil in the ground-level transformer, which caused the smoke to appear dark black in the sky.  

PHOTO: A Syracuse Fire Department pickup truck stolen early Friday morning was found using the vehicle's GPS heading onto the New York State Thruway, fire officials said. The truck was stolen at about 1 a.m. from in front of a residence in the 100 block of North Edwards Avenue in the city's Eastwood neighborhood, Onondaga County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Seeber said. A fire crew was inside the home treating a patient when an American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance crew noticed the truck was being driven off, Syracuse fire officials said in a news release Friday afternoon. The crews alerted Onondaga County 911 Center dispatchers of the stolen truck. The truck, stolen by Nathan Kane, 23, of Syracuse, was tracked by GPS heading onto the Thruway, fire officials said.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The benefits and shortcomings of social media are often debated, but two local families are crediting Facebook with solving a mystery that was decades in the making. The story began to unfold when a couple began cleaning out a storage area in the basement of their new home in Lorain, and discovered an old firefighter's helmet. Alicia Zadorozny told FOX 8, "it was like ‘whoa, what is this, where did it come from, how long has it been here?'" The helmet had the name "Wilker" on it, and Alicia and Andrew Zadorozny decided to see if the firefighter was still alive or if they could find his family and return the helmet. "I have a lot of stuff that was passed on to me, so I know how valuable some of the memories are, so you know some of those things I hold on to very dearly," said Andrew. They posted a story about the helmet on a Lorain Facebook page. "And I said ‘this might be a long shot but maybe somebody knows somebody who may know somebody," said Alicia.  

In the 1950s, a group of local farmers felt nostalgic. Before World War II, they tended the land with wheat thrashers and steam engines, but as technology improved, their tools fell out of use and things started to change. Channeling their nostalgia into action, farmers pulled their old equipment out and invited the public in. In Oregon, just shy of Silverton, the Western Steam Fiends were born and continued the tradition of showcasing old farming equipment, culminating in the purchase of land to do just that in 1970. "When they bought it, it was just farmland. They'd grow some grain and put their machines out there," said Evan Burroughs. "Now, it's a complex of 14 museums." The 62-acre complex is now named Powerland Heritage Park and will host the 52nd annual Oregon Great Steam-Up starting July 30, headed by Burroughs and his army of more than 1,000 volunteers.  

VIDEO: The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department (MFRD) showed off some brand new vehicles today. Four firetrucks and three ambulances joined the MFRD's fleet along with two special additions... a hydration truck and training trailer. The hydration unit is a response to high temperatures. "It is a rehabilitation unit for firefighters. Essentially what that provides is an area for them to cool off and rehabilitate after being in their bunker gear at the fire scene, especially in Mobile, Alabama where the heat is a hundred-plus degrees during the summer time," said Jeremy Lami, Fire Chief of the MFRD. The training truck will be taken to schools, nursing homes, and other facilities, providing instruction that mimics real-life situations.