Michael White commuted regularly between Macomb and the northwest suburbs of Chicago, some 250 one-way miles in pursuit of public service. Such dedication is what one of his Macomb-area supervisors remembered about White. The McDonough County volunteer firefighter was among three men killed in a motorcycle accident last weekend in Texas. "He was just an all-around great guy," David Estes, chief of the Emmet-Chalmers Fire Protection District, said Tuesday. "He showed up for calls and was always able to help out. "Everybody got along with him, and he liked to do the work." White also liked to ride -- particularly as a member of the Thin Blue Line Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club. Nicknamed "Psycho," he was Chicago-chapter secretary of a national group of active and retired law-enforcement motorcycle enthusiasts.  

Villa Park Fire Department officials said no one was injured when oily rags ignited late Monday at a business that specializes in cleaning restaurant linens and uniforms. Firefighters were called to the business on the 1000 block of North Villa Avenue just before 9 p.m., Chief Ron Rakosnik said. Firefighters encountered smoke inside the building and a sprinkler system had been activated. Firefighters spent about an hour on scene to make sure there were no hot spots. The business had been closed for the day and no one was inside when firefighters arrived. Fire officials estimated about $3,000 in damage and the building did not sustain structural damage. Rakosnik said the business was expected to reopen Tuesday.  

A hookah lounge in Crest Hill was damaged by a fire on Sunday morning, according to the Lockport Township Fire Protection District. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by fire protection district investigators. About 8:30 a.m., firefighters received a call from a passerby who reported smoke coming from Game Time Hookah Lounge at 2301 Plainfield Road, according to a news release from Lockport Fire Chief Frank Blaskey. Firefighters arrived and found smoke showing from the small one-story commercial building that was unoccupied at the time, Blaskey said. Firefighters "initially had difficulty finding the seat of the fire, which was eventually located in the crawl space and walls," he said. "Due to additions on the original building and it's construction, the fire proved to be extremely difficult to extinguish," Blaskey said.  

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday adopted legislation sponsored by Bainbridge Township GOP Rep. Dave Joyce to ensure that families of first responders who die from or are disabled by the coronavirus get Public Safety Officers Benefit program payments for firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians who are killed or disabled in the line of duty. The bill, cosponsored by Rocky River GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez and Warrensville Heights Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge, passed on a noncontroversial voice vote. It passed the U.S. Senate on May 14, so it will become law after President Donald Trump signs it. Their "Safeguarding America's First Responders Act" creates a presumption that if a first responder is diagnosed with the coronavirus within 45 days of their last day on the job, the Department of Justice will treat it as a line of duty incident and provide the payments.  

VIDEO: Massive flames ripped through a farm in South Jersey overnight, killing nearly 300,000 chickens. The blaze broke out around 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Red Bird Egg Farm on the 100 block of Cemetery Road in Pilesgrove, Salem County. Crews battled the four-alarm fire all night and remained on scene Tuesday morning putting out hot spots. No humans were injured but fire officials say nearly 300,000 chickens have died. About 200,000 of the birds died in the fire while another 80,000 died in a neighboring building that lost power which stopped the fans from blowing. With the hot weather and heat from the fire, the chickens did not survive. The Mannington Fire Department chief says the major issue was getting water to the scene.  

Two more injured firefighters from an explosion in downtown Los Angeles in May have returned to active duty. A total of 12 firefighters were injured in the fire that broke out in the Toy District on May 16. More than 230 firefighters responded to the scene. As firefighters were responding to the blaze inside the building at 327 East Boyd Street, the site of a butane honey oil supplier called Smoke Tokes, there was a "significant explosion," said LAFD Captain Erik Scott. There are now three total firefighters back on the job after the incident. One firefighter remains hospitalized in the burn unit but is expected to return to duty at some point. The remaining firefighters are still recovering at home.  

By the time the EMTs reached my hotel room in Austin, Tex., I was already unconscious on the floor. Moments earlier I had dragged myself to the phone and called for help as chest pains began to overwhelm me. I later learned those first responders resuscitated me more than once as they used their medical training to keep me alive until we arrived at the hospital. That's where doctors and nurses and a lot of machines took over. I had suffered a major heart attack. The care I received at that medical center was extraordinary. But not for the immediate care I received from that small team of EMTs, I never would have made it. That was back in 2017. I've since recovered and feel great, often thinking about those heroic first responders, whom I was lucky enough to meet and personally thank a year later. I especially think of them and their colleagues today as COVID-19 creates huge budget problems for local governments that threaten their jobs and our nation's ability to respond to this and future crises.  

As the U.S. approaches 4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, local health officials are reporting more cases per day than at any previous point. The virus is concentrated now in states that had relatively few confirmed cases not long ago. On June 22, there were seven states with at least 100,000 cumulative confirmed infections. As of July 20, there are now 10, with several more on pace to hit that threshold within a week. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on confirmed COVID-19 cases, as reported by local and state government health agencies since the outbreak began, to determine the states with the highest number of confirmed cases per capita. We calculated the total number of COVID-19 diagnoses per 100,000 residents since the start of the outbreak in each state using one-year population data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 American Community Survey. Data is as of July 19 for all states except Oregon, for which data is as of July 17.