A residential fire on Christmas Eve in the 200 block of Alton's Madison Avenue left two residents with injuries severe enough to require air transport to St. Louis. Alton Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Emily Hejna on Tuesday night said that a 63-year-old man and an 89-year-old woman were transported from the home via ambulance. Both were taken to St. Anthony's Hospital and then flown to a St. Louis hospital via Arch helicopter. Their names and conditions were not available on Wednesday. Authorities said that at approximately 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, Alton Police, firefighters and EMS personnel were dispatched via 911 calls. The first fire crews, responding from just blocks away, arrived to see visible flames coming from the windows of the home.  

A group of local firefighters who have made it part of their mission to make the season a little brighter for children battling cancer have recently garnered the support of two sports celebrities. Michael Schofield, an offensive lineman for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers, and his wife, Kendall Coyne Schofield, a professional hockey player and 2018 Olympic gold medalist, are giving their support to Project Fire Buddies. Project Fire Buddies was started by Oak Forest firefighter and paramedic Kurt DeGroot after an emergency call in December 2016, when he transported a young child with a high fever who was battling cancer. He wanted to do more for local children going through that battle than just being there during an emergency, so DeGroot reached out to his fellow firefighters and came up with Project Fire Buddies.  

A 13-year-old boy was burned and a Zion police officer treated for smoke inhalation Monday after an apartment caught fire in the north suburb. Crews were called about 9:30 p.m. to the 1700 block of Joppa Avenue and found the boy with burns, according to a statement from the Zion Fire Department. He was taken to Vista Medical Center in an unknown condition. Firefighters were called from as far as Wisconsin to battle the "stubborn, smoky fire," which took more than three hours to put out, the department said. A Zion police officer inhaled smoke while checking adjacent apartments and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Crews shut off water to the apartment building to prevent a leak, displacing seven families, the department said.  

A mother and daughter who lost their home to a fire got a special gift from Des Plaines firefighters Tuesday. On Dec. 12, a fire destroyed the single mother's apartment, destroying all of their belongings, including their clothes. Firefighters worked with their property manager and arranged for a new apartment in the same complex, and on Tuesday delivered clothes, school supplies, Christmas presents and gift cards to the family. Some of the firefighters who fought the original blaze were there to spread the holiday spirit. The Des Plaines Fireman's Association and Fire Union collected and donated all of the gifts, knowing the family did not have renter's insurance.  

A woman was rescued early Christmas morning after apparently spending hours teetering on a bluff ledge high above Piasa Park in Alton, just off Great River Road. After 1 a.m., Madison County 911 received a call that a woman could be heard calling for help there. "Earlier today, she climbed up onto the bluffs, and got stuck up there," Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison said of the situation. "She kind of slipped, ended up on a ledge and couldn't figure out how to get down." Jemison said it was estimated that the unidentified woman had been there since about 4 p.m. Tuesday, approximately nine hours before rescue crews were summoned. It was estimated that she was stranded approximately 30 feet off the ground. The bluff was on the eastern side of the park, which is thick would wooded brush. The treacherous climb would have eventually led to Bluff Street.  

Much of a Long Island firehouse was destroyed after going up in flames Christmas morning, leaving the chief in tears as he described the loss of two pumpers, a ladder truck, an ambulance and the volunteer department's firefighting equipment. A passing state trooper noticed the blaze at the unoccupied North Massapequa fire headquarters at 1000 N. Broadway just after 6 a.m. and called it in, Fire Chief Joe Pesale said. "The first arrival was myself and my first lieutenant. Smoke was coming from the truck room," Pesale said. "The immediate response was to transmit our signal 10, which is for a working fire, alerting everybody as well as multiple departments coming with mutual aid — especially being that this is our firehouse and our apparatus is on fire," the chief continued. "We made an attempt to get the trucks out of the building. There were three small explosions which prevented us to," he said.  

Spartanburg County's fire service needs have failed to keep up with the growth of more than 50,000 residents over the past 20 years, the county's leading fire official says. That's primarily because the county's master fire service plan has not been updated in more than 20 years, according to Barry Frost. "All departments respond to fires, but there is a huge difference in the other services provided," Frost said. "There are inconsistent levels of service across the county with the rural areas being hit the hardest." Frost is the fire chief in Duncan and chairman of the county's Fire Prevention and Protection Advisory Committee. Frost told county council his committee is trying to correct years of neglect when it comes to coordinating fire service needs.  

VIDEO: Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze at a commercial building in Mahwah shortly before 5 a.m. Christmas Day, working for hours to get it under control, officials said. The fire occurred at the Arzee Building Supply Center at 37 Franklin Turnpike, Mahwah Police Chief Stephen Jaffe said. All five Mahwah fire department companies, township police and firefighters from mutual aid support from Rockland County in New York responded to the call, officials said. Arzee Building Supply Center sells residential and commercial roofing, waterproofing and siding supplies. No fatalities or injuries were reported, Mahwah PBA Local 143 wrote on Facebook as firefighters continued to battle the blaze Wednesday. The building itself suffered a partial roof collapse.  

The Pell City Fire Department is working on a new partnership with local businesses for 2020. The department will ring in the new year with its new Fire and Life Safety Program. This program will mainly entail the inspections of all business in the city during the new year. Ahead of these inspections, the city is also asking that businesses complete a few minor steps that will help both them and the department in the long run. Fire Chief Tim Kurzejeski said the new program will help the department streamline its process. As part of this program, the city is asking for businesses to update their contact information. Fire Marshal Caleb Walker said keeping current contact information is a highly important step. "We sometimes don't even have up-to-date contact information," he explained.