VIDEO: One of Rockford's oldest churches goes up in flames Wednesday night and the Rockford Fire Department believes someone intentionally set it on fire The former Metro Christian Center Church is a shell and rubble right after flames and smoke tore through the building early Wednesday evening. Now fire crews are asking neighbors if they saw anything suspicious leading up the blaze. Heavy clouds of smoke covered downtown as the church was engulfed in fire and dozens of trucks surrounded the structure as parts of it fell to the street. The building has been condemned for several years and many doors and windows had been boarded up and there was no electricity inside the building. Fire officials said they are opening an arson investigation. The church was a downtown staple for many years and residents said it was heartbreaking to see it engulfed in flames.  

Jacksonville police and firefighters and Ameren Illinois crews were at the scene of a large gas leak in the 1100 block of East Morton Avenue after a gas line was cut just after noon Wednesday. Fire Chief Doug Sills said the line released gas near a new housing development and any residents of the development and surrounding houses were briefly evacuated. Gas was cut off about 1:15 p.m. and residents were being allowed to return home.  

After spending two weeks battling the Pine Gulch Fire, crews from Illinois are back. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said a multi-agency wildland fire crew from Illinois recently returned from Colorado, where they helped battle the more than 139,000-acre Pine Gulch Fire, the largest in Colorado history. The 21-person crew included 14 representatives from IDNR, plus the seven additional crew member from the U.S. Forest Service, Shawnee Resource and Conservation District and The Nature Conservancy. During the crew's time in Colorado, it teamed up with crews of varying specialties, including bulldozer and road grader operators, to protect property and buildings and fortify fire breaks used to contain the blaze.  

An apartment building suffered $20,000 in damages following a fire in Belvidere on Wednesday morning. The Belvidere Fire Department was called to the 600 block of W. Locust Street for a report of smoke coming from a multi-family apartment building at 10:36 a.m. First responders reported light smoke showing from the rear of the three-story building while evacuation was taking place. The fire was found and extinguished in a second level apartment of the 16-unit apartment complex. No injuries to either residents or first responders were reported. The fire was ruled accidental and caused $20,000 damage to the structure which is valued at $950,000. Area departments that responded with Belvidere were Boone County Fire Districts #2 and #3, Cherry Valley Fire, Marengo Fire, Boone County EMA, OSF Lifeline and Capron Rescue Squad.  

VIDEO: Flames engulfed a condemned church building Wednesday evening in downtown Rockford. Several Rockford Fire Department engine companies were on the scene, fighting the blaze at Kishwaukee and Walnut streets and First Avenue. The fire sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky over downtown Rockford. Smoke could be seen from miles away. The former Rockford Masonic Cathedral, 607 Walnut St., dates back to 1869 and sits just inside the Haight Village Historic District. Officials said the building had been boarded up for some time. It was last known as the Metro Christian Centre. The fire was first reported around 6:45 p.m. and quickly spread throughout the church necessitating a response from as many as 30 firefighters, Rockford Fire Chief Derek Bergsten said. The chief confirmed that the building was not in use. Several windows had been boarded up, and there was no electricity going to the building. Old, dry timbers that frame the church are helping to fuel the fire, he added.  

The Centers for Disease Control has urged governors to be prepared for the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine by November 1, which is two days before Election Day. CDC Director Robert Redfield sent the letter dated August 27 to governors, informing them that the government is contracting with the company McKesson to distribute the vaccine to local health departments and doctors' offices and asked them to expedite any applications for distribution facilities requested by the company. CBS News has obtained a copy of the letter, first reported by McClatchy news service. "CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these distribution facilities and, if necessary asks that you consider waiving requirements that would prevent these facilities from becoming fully operational by November 1, 2020," the letter reads. "The requirements you may be asked to waive in order to expedite vaccine distribution will not compromise the safety or integrity of the products being distributed."  

VIDEO: The everyday trauma experienced by first responders across the country and in Northeast Ohio continues to lead to growing levels of post-traumatic stress and the oftentimes life-altering side effects that come with it. In an effort to curb this trend, a coalition of researchers, experts and state officials developed a new science-based mobile app, making Ohio one of the first states with such an offering. Called the F.I.R.S.T. Support app (First Incident Respondence Technology), the app was developed in partnership with Ohio State professor and researcher, Dr. Kenneth Yeager, and Accentus Health. Dr. Yeager leads the STAR Program (Stress, Trauma and Resilience) at OSU's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. After an extensive beta period, the app has been released on Android and the Apple app stores. The app had a simple goal in mind: bring scalable and sustainable mental health support to high-stress, high-trauma professions like medicine and public safety.  

A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter who has been missing for nearly two weeks is likely the victim of a "violent kidnapping," according to the head prosecutor of Baja California, Mexico. Frank Aguilar, 48, was last heard from on the night of Aug. 20, when he went down to check on the condo the family rents out through Airbnb, according to his two daughters. The property is located in the coastal city of Rosarito, less than 20 miles south of the U.S. border. Aguilar traveled alone and was only expected to be there for a few days, they said. The FBI got involved in his disappearance six days later. Investigators in Baja California say there were signs of violence at the condo. "We are working with technical personnel to establish his last instance when his freedom was taken," Hiram Sanchez, the head prosecutor, said. "We have found a lot of evidence that leads us to believe this was an act of violence, nevertheless we have not determined for sure this is what happened to him." &n bsp;

Alabama is the worst state in the nation to work in during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey out that rates the states based on their policies to protect working families. Oxfam America, a nonprofit agency dedicated to ending poverty, used 27 different data points in three areas of state assistance - worker protections, healthcare protections and unemployment support. Alabama ranked 52 - dead last - in a survey that included the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. It also ranked last in unemployment services, 49th in healthcare and 48th in worker protections. "The pandemic has exacerbated challenges facing low-wage working families in the US—but it did not create them," Minor Sinclair, Oxfam America's U.S. domestic program director said. "Instead, it has revealed the ugly reality of deep, structural problems for millions of working families who risk falling into poverty, hunger, and homelessness."