VIDEO: An entire community rallied behind one event since 2022, and it's had a huge hand in helping students prepare for the beginning of the school year. "It's like I say, a legacy is building a garden and planting the seeds for a garden you might never get to see someday," Scott Howard, vice president of the Peoria Afro American Firefighters Association and member of the Executive Board of Peoria Firefighters Local 50, said. Aside from being a Peoria firefighter, Howard is also the reason behind the annual Fill the Fire Truck event. Chanel Hargrave-Murry, who worked with the Tri-County Peoria Urban League, initially met with Howard two years ago to discuss giving away about 40 backpacks to children. After much discussion and contemplation, Hargrave-Murry remembered Howard was a firefighter, and the idea of filling a fire truck with donated school supplies came to life.  

State Senator Paul Faraci's measure to give veterans and first responders access to mental health providers of their choice was signed into law last Friday. "As we see the federal government start to crack down on non-compete agreements, it's important that we stay ahead of the curve in Illinois," said Faraci (D-Champaign). "The goal of this initiative is to expand access for veterans and first responders who want to receive mental health treatment from the licensed professional of their choice." The measure was brought to Senator Faraci because a mental health provider was sued for providing health care services to a firefighter under a non-compete clause. These clauses are common when a mental health professional leaves their place of employment; often times their contract contains a non-compete clause, leaving them unable to provide services within a 50-mile radius for two years.  

VIDEO: David Baston was working at The Jayhawk Club in Lawrence, Kansas, when he began to feel ill on Feb. 28. A co-worker hopped in a car with him, and the two headed for Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH). However, Baston said he had a gut feeling he needed medical assistance immediately, so they veered off the path to the hospital and pulled into Fire Station No. 5 in central Lawrence. "I came in this door right here and told the receptionist that I think I was having a heart attack," Baston said. Baston said he took a seat. "I had no idea I was going to die right there in that chair there," he said. Firefighter paramedic Jacob Gardner was working on Feb. 28. He said it was a typical day; the crew was cooking breakfast together and about to eat when someone alerted them of a cardiac arrest in the lobby.  

VIDEO: Mayor Eric Adams on Monday appointed Robert S. Tucker, the head of a private security firm, to head the city's fire department. Tucker, 54, takes over from Laura Kavanagh, the first woman to serve as the city's fire commissioner. "I can think of no higher calling than serving as a fire commissioner of New York," Tucker, the chairman and CEO of security firm T&M USA, said at a news conference. "This is truly a dream come true." Like Kavanagh, who stepped down after two years as fire commissioner, Tucker has never worked as a firefighter. Tucker has served on the board of directors of the FDNY Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for the fire department. As a teenager, he interned in the department's Manhattan communications office, where he said became "obsessed" with mapping the locations of the borough's multiple-alarm fires.  

More than 300,000 people are expected to descend on Sedalia, a town of about 22,000 people, in the coming days for the Missouri State Fair. Nearly a thousand people work at the fair — making delicious fried treats, operating carnival rides, running livestock shows and more. So, what happens if something goes wrong? That responsibility falls on the State Fair Volunteer Fire Department, an organization that is now in its 62nd year of service and provides fire response, emergency medical services and training opportunities for the volunteers that staff the department. Larry Eggen, the spokesperson for the fire department, has been volunteering for nearly 30 years. He said the department started in the Missouri Beef House in the 1960s providing fire education and information to fairgoers.  

VIDEO: At a lab in the Medical District of Dallas, Cancer Check Labs is behind a big project aiming to detect cancer early in firefighters. Cancer is the number one cause of death in firefighters. Two out of three will be diagnosed, which is more than three times the general population's cancer rate. "The key to catching cancer is to catch it early," said Sumit Rai, founder and CEO of Cancer Check Labs. With one blood draw, Rai said, the breakthrough technology can identify more than 200 types and subtypes of solid tumors. "All tumors are known to shed in order to spread," said Rai. "We are able to extract these whole tumor cells intact such that we can put them on the glass slide. So that way, we can grab the tissue without actually having to go in for a surgical biopsy."