A massive overnight fire in Washington Park destroyed two houses and damaged a third home. No serious injuries are being reported; however, one firefighter was treated at the scene for heat exhaustion. It all happened on Portland Place, not far from Route 111 and north of I-64. Authorities told FOX 2 the two homes that were destroyed were both vacant, the third home which is damaged was occupied. Three people were inside of it at the time of the fire. They all escaped without injuries. Washington Park firefighters got the call about 4:15 a.m. The Assistant Chief for the Washington Park Fire Department, Ronnie Harris, told FOX 2 when crews first arrived, the two vacant houses were already fully engulfed and the flames were spreading to the third home.  

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday signed a law providing full disability benefits to Chicago police officers and firefighters struck by COVID-19 before vaccines were available, presiding over an emotional statehouse ceremony which marked the end of a financial struggle for responders including the brother of Comptroller Susana Mendoza. The Act-of-Duty law, HB3162, ensures disability benefits of 75% of salary plus health insurance for anyone unable to work after contracting the coronavirus from March 9, 2020, when the flare-up intensified in Illinois, until June 30, 2021. The law grants them the presumption that they picked up the illness on the job. Pritzker said after COVID-19's arrival in early 2020, police, fire and medical personnel were both a line of defense and a lifeline.  

A massive overnight fire in Washington Park destroyed two houses and damaged a third home. No serious injuries are being reported; however, one firefighter was treated at the scene for heat exhaustion. It all happened on Portland Place, not far from Route 111 and north of I-64. Authorities told FOX 2 the two homes that were destroyed were both vacant, the third home which is damaged was occupied. Three people were inside of it at the time of the fire. They all escaped without injuries. Washington Park firefighters got the call about 4:15 a.m. The Assistant Chief for the Washington Park Fire Department, Ronnie Harris, told FOX 2 when crews first arrived, the two vacant houses were already fully engulfed and the flames were spreading to the third home.  

VIDEO: Public-safety and utility officials announced Wednesday that the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department will soon have another tool to keep the public safe — an agency-wide set of multi-gas detectors slated to be distributed to the city's emergency-response vehicles. The devices, which can detect natural gas, carbon monoxide and other toxic vapors, were donated by San Diego Gas & Electric and will be delivered to all 52 SDFRD stations this year, officials said during a morning briefing at San Diego Fire Station 45 in Mission Valley. "When our crews arrive on scene, safety and seconds matter," San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said. "It's important that our firefighters have the tools they need to safely inspect and respond to potential gas incidents." More than 1,000 SDFRD personnel will soon be trained on how to use the detectors, according to the fire department.  

VIDEO: Tucked away at a Buffalo fire station is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) National Response Team truck — a mobile unit filled with tools and tech to investigate fires and explosions anywhere in the nation. "When we get on scene, we want to get right to work," said Mark Meeks, ATF special agent in charge from the Albany field office. "We don't want to have to think about where things are. We want to get right into it." The truck is organized exactly the same as all other NRT trucks in the country, so those trained in using it can always find what they need quickly. That could include tape measures, cotton swabs, tarps, shovels, etc. Anything that touched the debris of a scene is replaced after the investigation so it does not contaminate other evidence at a later scene. This truck assisted in the Boston Marathon Bombing and most recently the March 2023 fire on Main Street that claimed the life of Buffalo Firefighter Jason Arno.  

When Arlington firefighters respond to drug overdoses, they could soon start bringing along enough doses of an opioid-reversal drug to leave some behind. This is part of a statewide effort "to prevent fatal overdoses and increase community access" to the nasal spray Narcan, one form of the reversal drug called naloxone. On Saturday, the Arlington County Board is set to approve a memorandum of understanding with the Virginia Dept. of Health to get more state-provided Narcan into the hands of the public. Through the Narcan "Leave Behind" Program, VDH has authorized EMS personnel, firefighters, law enforcement officers, school nurses and others to give Narcan doses to overdose witnesses, as well as to the family and friends of people who use drugs. The infusion of Narcan is part of national, state and local a focus on reducing harm to drug users.