Multiple fire departments were called out to a large structure fire near Loami on Saturday afternoon. The Loami Fire Department received a call out at 2:35PM on Saturday to a structure fire to 9328 John's Creek Road. Upon arrival, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Huesing says that a garage and a portion of a two-story barn-style home was fully involved with fire. Mutual aid was radioed for water tankers as attack on the structure and rescue efforts began. The homeowner along with a number of pets were able to get out of the home to safety. Responding to mutual aid was Waverly Fire & Rescue, Auburn, Chatham, New Berlin, and the Sangamon County Rescue Squad. Waverly Fire & Rescue transported one Loami firefighter from the scene to Springfield Memorial Hospital for severe smoke inhalation.  

VIDEO: Nine people were injured when a car and MetroLink train collided late Sunday afternoon near the Washington Park station, authorities said. Washington Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Ronnie Harris said two of the people who were injured — the driver of the car and a passenger on the train — were taken to an area hospital in critical condition. The other injuries were minor. Harris said the driver of the car was on the ground but unresponsive when firefighters arrived on scene shortly around 4:30 p.m. The car, which was smoking when firefighters arrived, caught fire several minutes later. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes, Harris said. A Bi-State Development spokesman said trains stopped operating between the Emerson Park and Fairview Heights MetroLink stations due to the incident.  

Volunteer fire department chiefs have a battle on their hands that doesn't involve burning homes or car crashes. They face a shortage of new recruits and trouble retaining experienced volunteers. In an effort to bolster the ranks of volunteer firefighters and Emergency Medical Service workers, state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would give volunteers a $500 tax credit on their Illinois income tax return. State Sen. Christopher Belt, D- Swansea, said if the bill is approved, it could cost the state an estimated $20 million to $22 million in lost revenue but he said that sacrifice is worthwhile. "I will argue that what it costs upfront pales in comparison to the lives that are lost ... without volunteer fighters, without EMS," Belt said in a news conference Friday at the Signal Hill Fire Department near the west side of Belleville.  

Police say one person was hospitalized with minor injuries after a fire broke out in an apartment building early Sunday evening. The fire started just after 5:00 p.m. on the 26th floor of Twin Towers Place on Southwest Jefferson Street. As many as 30 firefighters responded to the scene and police say the fire was fully contained within around 10 minutes. Two people were found inside the affected unit - a man and woman. The man was taken to a local hospital after an evaluation. After the fire was put out, firefighters searched the units in the floors above where the fire took place and evacuated all residents. They ventilated the building and shut off the sprinkler system. According to a release from the fire department, multiple units in the East Tower sustained smoke and water damage. A total of 59 condominium units were affected.  

A man was injured after falling more than 20 feet at Starved Rock State Park Sunday, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The 23-year-old man from Aurora went into a restricted area of Sandstone Point Overlook around 2:30 p.m. when officials say he fell between 20 and 30 feet. He suffered injuries to his head, shoulder, hip and leg. Officials said he was taken by boat to a nearby field by the Utica Fire Department, where he was then flown to a local hospital in Peoria. He was said to be conscious when he was airlifted, officials added. The man has been cited for entering a restricted area.  

Five people have been left without a home after a house fire on St. Cecelia Drive in Chesterfield, leading the Chesterfield Fire Department to issue a warning to other residents. The fire department received a call at 8 am and the first crews arrived on scene within 4 minutes. There, they found flames emerging from the roof of the home. While firefighters began attacking the flames in the interior of the house, the intensity of the fire forced them to pull back and adopt a defensive approach, dousing the exterior of the house. The fire was under control within 45 minutes. All of the house's occupants – 3 adults and 2 children – were able to escape the house on their own. One of the occupants sustained minor injuries, which were treated on scene. The Red Cross was called to assist them.  

VIDEO: Two Sparks firefighters are now providing a piece of equipment to fire stations all over the country. ‘We came up with an idea of trying to find a way to protect the lens of our SCBA mask," said co-owner Cody Cavin. What started as an idea became BA Shields, where they manufacture shields that cover the lens of a firefighter's self-contained breathing apparatus. "Once it gets into the hands of our firefighters, they see the value of it almost immediately," added co-owner Pat Case. The shield protects the lens from getting scratched and nicked while out on the job. And it also saves time and money. A replacement lens can run upwards of $200, not to mention the time it's pulled out of service to get repaired. "They have to send it off, they have to get it removed, replaced, re-fit, tested and get back in that person's hands," explained Cavin. Meanwhile these shields cost just $35.  

PHOTOS: The city of Highland Park has added a $1 million truck to its firefighting fleet, the first new vehicle for its Fire Department since a private resident donated one nine years ago. The city received about $850,000 from the state to buy Ladder 1 with the help of state Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit, according to Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp. The truck, a 2018 Rosenbauer that can carry 700 gallons of water and boasts a 109-foot ladder, will help the city put out fires and rescue people more efficiently, Yopp said, allowing it to use its own apparatus and avoid relying on cities like Detroit and Hamtramck with which it has mutual aid agreements. Yopp said the truck, which the city added in February, would allow the city not just to fight fires more efficiently by dumping water on them from above, but rescue people trapped on higher floors of buildings.  

Some familiar faces to the first-responder industry this week announced the Public Safety Towers Company (PSTC), which enters the competitive wireless-infrastructure space while promising to take a public-safety-centric approach in an effort to find synergies between government-owned assets and commercial-carrier needs. Launched last month, PSTC has received an initial $50 million investment from InfraRed Capital Partners and has been contracted by an unidentified U.S. commercial carrier to provide 100 cell sites in western states. PSTC co-founder and COO Chris Odenthal said that PSTC will seek opportunities to help public-safety agencies improve their internal communications coverage—for LTE and/or LMR systems—while also providing commercial carriers with a chance to expand their footprints in locations they otherwise would not be able to access.  

PHOTOS: The Baltimore City Fire Department's largest boat could be used to rescue a cargo ship that has been stuck in the Chesapeake Bay since mid-March, according to the local firefighters' union. The Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734 said in a social media post on Sunday that the fireboat has the ability to help with operations to safely remove the Hong Kong-flagged ship Ever Forward from the bay. The cargo ship hasn't been moving forward ever since it ran aground 24 feet deep into the mud. It was initially headed from the Port of Baltimore to Norfolk Virginia. It noted that Donjon Smit, the appointed salvor, had conducted several underwater inspections of Ever Forward. The data collected during the inspections has been analyzed and an effective refloating plan has been designed—but only after it has received approval from authorities, the shipping company said.