VIDEO: An extra-alarm fire ripped through a building in Mendota Monday afternoon. Around 1 p.m., firefighters rescued several people from the burning building in the 800 block of Main Street in the downtown area of Mendota, which is about 90 miles southwest of Chicago in LaSalle County. Eleven surrounding fire departments responded to the massive fire. The building was evacuated, and firefighters late Monday afternoon were making sure the fire would not spread. Witnesses said some people were taken to the hospital, but we do not know their conditions.  

VIDEO: Electric cars are becoming more popular on the road, and that can mean more dangers for first and second responders who may not know how to handle them. That is why GM went to the Illinois Fire Service Institute to create a training class. The instructors worked with GM engineers to cover everything a first responder would need to know to be safe around an electric car in an emergency. They said that it is important to stay up to date as new technology hits the road. "There will be more electric vehicles on our roads and first and second responders will be responding to those emergencies both at home and on the street. So our ability to create awareness in operations training for those first responders along with a big companies like GM is very beneficial for us and beneficial to the public," one instructor said. The class will be offered to first responders for free across the U.S.  

A fire department in St. Clair County, Illinois is warning residents that a man is impersonating a first responder. Marissa Fire Department Explorers Post 8499 wrote in a Facebook post Monday that a man going by "Dakoda Brewer" is telling people "he can and will respond to their emergency calls and that he is a part" of Post 8499. Marissa Fire Department said he has claimed to a part of their department as well as Shiloh Illinois Fire Explorers, Fairview Heights Fire Explorers, and Triad Fire Explorers. "He tells people that he responds from his house that is approximately 20-40 minutes from all of these locations and responds to every emergency call," according to the department.  

The Village of Danvers Fire Department held a mock mass casualty drill Monday. The purpose was to simulate a crash involving a school bus and a car to make sure the agency is prepared if the unfortunate incident were to happen. "We actually have a school bus policy in our McLean County EMS protocol policies. So we thought that at the beginning of the school year it would be beneficial to all our members to not only to review the school bus policy but actually have to be active in a scenario involving a school bus," said Assistant Fire Chief Ben Whitacre. The assistant fire chief said, although the department has monthly EMS training, the mass casualty drills are held once every two or three years. "It's what we call a low frequency, high acuity call. Where we don't have them very often, but it's a serious situation… It allows us to get training in since we don't have these calls very often," Whitacre said.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A tanker truck carrying diesel fuel went up in flames, closing part of I-40 near Forrest City, Arkansas for hours Monday afternoon. Eight tractor trailers, three pickup trucks, and two passenger cars were involved in the crash around 3:15 p.m., according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT). At least one person was trapped in their vehicle as fire engulfed the scene, Arkansas State Police said. FOX13 confirmed via ArDOT that one person was killed in the crash. FOX13 saw footage of the crash and counted several vehicles involved near Exit 247 in St. Francis County. Flames could be seen roaring from the diesel truck, and large plumes of black smoke clouded the skies. Arkansas State Police said that traffic in the area was expected to be backed up for no less than seven hours.  

A wind-driven fire in the middle of a monster hurricane sounds like an apocalyptic story. Fire. Wind. Whipping rain. All of this happened at once for Victoria firefighters five years ago during Hurricane Harvey. The Victoria Fire Department fought a residential fire for three hours on Aug. 25, 2017, while also battling sudden hurricane-force winds. Fire Chief Tracy Fox and other frontline responders explained the lessons they took from Harvey as well as how they are preparing to battle the next tropical monster, including hardening Fire Station No.1, adding generators and water wells to local hospitals. Firefighters would not normally, in most circumstances, go out to quell a fire in sustained winds over 45 mph, but as Hurricane Harvey was blowing into Victoria, it knocked down a weather tower, giving the department an incorrect reading on the wind speed. Firefighters rushed to put out a house fire in the 500 block of Westwood Street just as Harvey amped up, Fox said.  

VIDEO: Inside a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, a Massachusetts company makes special tanks used by fire departments all over the world. United Plastics Fabricating, in North Andover, building custom tanks that are designed to hold water inside a firefighting apparatus. "I think that's what's sort of exciting, is that you're doing something that can save lives. That's really important," said UPF president Andrew Lingel, the son of one of the company's founders. Back in 1986, Joe Lingel started the company after serving as a firefighter in Lynnfield. He was inspired by an experience with one of the town's pumper trucks having a rusted tank. That's when Joe Lingel and co-founder Allan Burnham fabricated a replacement tank made from plastic instead of steel.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Firefighters with Tampa Fire Rescue are settling into their new digs while Sulfphur Springs and surrounding residents enjoy some added peace of mind with the opening of Fire Station 45, an exclusive "rescue station." In September, the Tampa City Council approved around $3.4 million to renovate Fire Station 25 and add four additional personnel and two new rescue units. Fire Station 25 will operate solely as a rescue station, which means trained firefighter-paramedics assigned there will respond to medical calls and other emergencies. These rescue units are especially critical for this area where 90 percent of the calls are for emergency medical services. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said the new rescue station will play a pivotal role in easing the burden on nearby fire stations.  

VIDEO: An Indianola woman gave her father a dream gift for his birthday. Alli Marois put out a call on TikTok earlier this year for fire department shirts from all 50 states - and she got a response of more than 170 shirts. Marois and her mother designed a quilt with all of the shirts. They even found a quilt maker in Pleasant Hill to do it for free, just in time for Marois' father's birthday this past Saturday. Her father, a retired Des Moines fire captain, is flattered by the thoughtful gift. "It was very heartfelt because I know all the work that went through to get it to me," said Phil Collins, Alli's father. "And I wasn't real surprised of how many shirts they ended up with because across the nation, when a firefighter or someone wants something, they just respond." Alli said she even got some shirts from out of the country, like Iraq and Afghanistan. They came from firefighters who served overseas.