In Pekin, city leaders made moves Monday night to improve fire response times and stations. Council approved the purchase of two pieces of land for more than $500,000 with the purpose of building two new fire stations. Currently, the city has three, and this move will bring the total to four. The City of Pekin will buy 2.96 acres of land for $475,000 on Sheridan Road to rebuild one of its existing fire buildings on the city's northside. The city will also buy 1.1 acres of land at Broadway and Ironwood Drive for $150,000 to build the fourth fire station. Currently, the city has three fire stations and all were built before the 1980s. Mayor Mark Luft said the plan is to replace all three existing fire stations, while adding the fourth. The process to purchase a third piece of land is still underway.  

VIDEO: Firefighters extinguished a chemical fire at a chemical plant in Columbia, Illinois Monday night. Monroe County Public Safety Director Kevin Scheibe said the explosion happened at around 7:20 Monday night at the EMCO plant on Westgate Drive. The fire started when a 55-gallon drum of chemicals exploded in the center of the building. Scheibe said the contents of the drum were unknown. Scheibe said it took firefighters about an hour to get the fire under control. He said the fire was isolated to one room where the drum was located. No one was injured in the fire. Firefighters from Missouri and Illinois assisted in putting out the fire.  

The cause of a structure fire is under investigation at this hour after fire totally consumed a Jacksonville home overnight. Jacksonville Fire units were called to the scene of a house fire at 900 Beesley Street just before midnight. Jacksonville Fire Captain Matt Summers says crews could see a large amount of flame and plume from several blocks away while they were en route to the scene. He says the single-story home at the corner of Beelesy and Farrell was fully involved when they arrived. "The main structure that was on fire was unoccupied, it was in the process of being rehabbed at the time and no one was living there thankfully. But it was fully involved and we went immediately to an aggressive defensive attack pulling multiple lines.  

A firefighter was hurt by falling debris while battling a blaze that broke out in an apartment building in the 5400 block of Burr Oak Road in Lisle Sunday. The injured firefighter was taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated and was released later that day. Fire crews got to the scene just before 12:30 p.m. to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the two-story residential building. It took firefighters about an hour to get the flames under control. Lisle-Woodridge firefighters were assisted at the scene by fire crews from Bolingbrook, Darien, Downers Grove, Lombard, Naperville, Warrenville and Wheaton. The blaze displaced residents from four apartments in the building that sustained damage from smoke, fire and water. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

Tony's Too had no interruption in service after a small early Sunday morning kitchen fire. Quincy Assistant Fire Chief James Pioch said spontaneous combustion of rags stored in a plastic tub was blamed for the fire reported at 3:09 a.m. which left about 25 feet of a wall damaged by smoke and water in the restaurant housed in the Holiday Inn at 4821 Oak. "No structural component burned, just rags and the tub," Pioch said. Firefighters found the restaurant's sprinkler system activated "with two heads going off" which held the fire in check to a small area in the kitchen and quickly extinguished the blaze, Pioch said. Sixteen firefighters were on scene for two hours, with four Quincy fire trucks responding because of the Holiday Inn's high-rise setting and mutual aid from Tri-Township Fire Department.  

Several explosions lead to a fire at the Timbuk Tree Farm in Licking County early Tuesday morning. Firefighters at the scene said explosions within one building happened at the farm located on the 2000 block of Timbuk Road in Granville around 2 a.m. Three buildings that have offices and products that were being shipped out are on fire, as well as the shipping area. Plastic and pallets in that area have all burned. Firefighters said the fire spans about the size of a football field. Greenhouses next to the buildings that caught fire have not yet been affected. No injuries have been reported. Several fire departments have been called to the scene.  

DNA from more than 200 Nashville firefighters was used to study the long-term health of 9/11 first responders at the World Trade Center. A new study featuring research from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) used the samples to determine 9/11 first responders were more likely than their peers to have a genetic mutation that can cause blood cancers or cardiovascular disease. Why it matters: The study, published last week, harnessed the power of VUMC's massive DNA database that includes samples donated by some 300,000 unique patients. How it works: Patients who opt to participate in the database program, called BioVU, have DNA collected from leftover blood samples. Samples are de-identified and cannot be traced back to an individual person, although some of the anonymous patients' characteristics, including occupation, are logged to help researchers track trends.  

A former Boston Red Sox pitcher who appeared in games during the club's run to a World Series victory in 2018 recently graduated from the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy, officials announced Monday. Justin Haley, who pitched in four games during that season, graduated from the academy on Feb. 28, according to West Newbury Fire Chief Michael Dwyer. "Firefighter Haley's commitment to his family helped lead him here, and he will be a great asset to our department and community here in West Newbury," Dwyer said. The 30-year-old California native who moved to Newburyport said that as his baseball career drew to a close he wanted to pursue work closer to the home he shares with his wife, son, and daughter.  

Equipment from Spring Mill Fire Company in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania is on its way to help firefighters in Ukraine by way of North Jersey. "It's our way to give back in some fashion. Volunteer fire companies, they want to give back to the community in any way that we can, and maybe this is giving back more than just the local," said Chief Wayne Masters of Spring Mill Fire Company. Masters said their company typically has used, but still usable, gear that they donate to other companies in need. "A new set of turnout gear today costs about $4,000, so instead of disposing of it or anything like that, we like to help out in the community," said Masters. They haven't been able to donate for the last two years due to the pandemic so the company has more than normal.