A $205,431 regional grant will be awarded to the City of Kewanee Fire Department through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. That money is expected to give firefighters new state-of-the-art training programs, as well as improved equipment and tools compliant with the National Fire Protection Association. U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) made the announcement in a press release. "Our firefighters and first responders put their lives on the line every single day to keep our communities safe," Bustos said. "This critical funding will ensure that they are well-equipped with up-to-date tools to protect Illinois' families and stay safe while on the job. This grant funding is a testament to Chief Kevin Shook's leadership and the strong efforts of the Kewanee Fire Department."  

Speedway Auto Parts has been on Joliet's east side for more than 50 years and Tuesday night's fire in the auto salvage yard left business owner Sean Krause thankful that the fire wasn't worse. The fire was contained to the auto salvage yard where Speedway recycles car parts. An estimated 200 to 300 crushed cars were damaged in the fire that began shortly before 7 p.m. Speedway is at 1301 Herkimer St., right off Collins Street and adjacent to the sprawling concrete fortress known as the Old Joliet Prison. Speedway's main building, encompassing 72,000 square feet, sustained no damage from the fire, remarked Sean Krause, who runs the business with his father, Paul. Sean Krause walked Joliet Patch's editor around the property Wednesday morning, showing where the fire originated. Besides Speedway, he and his father also own the Ashley's U-Pick-A-Part store on Collins Street.  

ComEd and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus has announced it is granting a total of $170,000 in funding to 20 public agencies, including the Chicago Heights Police Department, through the annual ComEd Powering Safe Communities Program. The program aims to support crucial public safety initiatives and enhance the quality of life in communities across northern Illinois, according to a news release. The release states that this year, the program had a special focus on clean transportation projects, which can reduce carbon emissions, improve public health outcomes and advance community resiliency. The 2021 recipient projects range from the installment of electric vehicle charging stations, to flashing signs for high-traffic areas, to replacing outdated warning sirens that will alert residents of dangerous conditions even during a power outage, the release states.  

VIDEOS: Firefighters put out a fire that engulfed two boats at a marina in Dania Beach. 7SkyForce hovered over the scene at 299 Lewis Lane, just south of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Wednesday afternoon. The two boats could be seen fully engulfed in flames as heavy black smoke billowed from them. "We couldn't breathe in all the bad stuff," said neighbor Gayle Snow. It took 50 firefighters to fight back the intense flames burning on the boats on Dania Beach Cutoff Canal. "And one caught the fire, and then it caught the next boat and there was a big superyacht that was right behind them," said witness Tony Pereira. "They were lucky to get that out of there." Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue said the fire may have been the result of the work being done on one of the boats.  

This year, we will mark 20 years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. For one retired firefighter, the tragedy and a firefighter's helmet called him home to New York to help. In the heart of the South Bronx is Engine 73, Ladder 42, and in the hearts of firefighters at the Prospect Avenue fire house are the heroes lost on Sept. 11, 2001. "What do you feel when you look around here?" CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis asked retired FDNY firefighter Jerry Sanford. "Oh, it's just, it just floods back to me, looking at the house," Sanford said. The last time Sanford was inside the fire station was nearly 20 years ago and he says it all "started with a helmet." "There's the helmet, 1914. This is kind of amazing," he said. Sanford was working as a public information officer in Florida when a fire chief there showed him the antique helmet with the number 42 on it, which Sanford recognized.  

Chief Justin McKenzie leads the newly-formed, full time fire department in Fultondale, and he's using flames in a unique way. A master of the grill, McKenzie was recently a contestant on Food Network's Guy's Grocery Games – a show hosted by Guy Fieri in which different cooks compete for prize money. "When I first got [the invitation], ‘I was like no way,'" Chief McKenzie said. After an EF-3 tornado hit Fultondale in January, he was invited to be a contestant on the show along with fellow firefighters for a special episode. "All this stuff has happened in the city… We had 260-something residential buildings down, 61 businesses affected – if not destroyed. There's a lot that I was worried about just for our city and residents," McKenzie said of the devastating tornado.  

Even when he works two consecutive 24-hour shifts, Chris Aberle rarely sleeps at the fire station. Sometimes he tries. If he is lucky, he might pick up a couple hours of rest. But lately his shift has been getting calls at night. "No one ever sleeps, you know, even if we had no calls from midnight to 8 a.m.," he said. "No one really sleeps because you're just waiting for that bell to go off." Twenty-four hour shifts can be exhausting, he said. Back-to-back 24-hour shifts are worse. "It's tough to stay two days in a row. Because you're like, if you've been up all night, I don't want to be here another day. It wrecks your body. It wrecks your body and trying to do it all over again the next day, you're like, ‘Here we go.' " Lately, Aberle and the other firefighters at the Biddeford Fire Department have worked extra shifts, which are first assigned on a volunteer basis. If no one volunteers, the fire chief informs the person at the top of the "force list" that they must take the shift.