If you get into a wreck – and, really, you shouldn't be out and about – don't be surprised if the firefighter helping you is wearing a mask. Not an oxygen mask, but a surgical mask. Spring Valley fire chief Todd Bogatitus huddled recently with his fellow fire chiefs and returned with some new orders for his company. From now on, everybody wears not only fire gear but latex gloves, surgical masks and goggles. One first-responder is to go in ahead of everybody else to assess the risk of coronavirus. More changes are on the way. "When we go into a scene we proceed with the assumption that coronavirus is there," Bogatitus said. "Coronavirus is new to everybody, and every other day it's changing."  

Officials from the McHenry Township Fire Protection District said Monday they were grieving the death of longtime board member and former district first responder firefighter/EMT Mark Justen. "I am at a loss to find the words to describe the great void left both in our hearts and in our building with the passing of Mark Justen," Fire Chief Tony Huemann said. "Mark has been a part of the MTFPD family for 49 years -- serving first as a firefighter/EMT for 29 years and for the past 20 years as a member of the board of trustees. Mark's complete dedication to the mission of our firefighters and paramedics is unmatched and it is hard to imagine our firehouse without Mark in it." Justen, 66, was the fourth generation of his family to run Justen Funeral Homes. For the past 43 years, he has been with the business operations of the three facilities -- Justen Funeral Home and Crematory in McHenry, Justen's Wonder Lake Funeral Home and Justen's Round Lake Funeral Home.  

The driver of a pickup truck who nearly hit a fire truck was located by the Decatur Police Department. The Decatur Fire Department shared the news on Facebook hours after the original story aired on WAND-TV Thursday. The department said they have visually checked locations on the road in front of Fire Station 5 to make sure the fire truck can be seen by people traveling south on Greenridge. They say it s clearly visible. DFD said, Engine 5 was coming out of the new fire station located just north of Mound Road. The driver, with sirens and lights on, spotted a pick-up truck just in time to come to a complete stop. The pick-up truck driving at a high rate of speed slammed on its brakes and swerved to get around the fire apparatus.  

Firefighters extinguished a blaze at a soybean silo Tuesday morning on the Far South Side. Crews responded shortly before 8 a.m. to 11700 S. Torrence Ave. in an industrial corridor along the Calumet River, according to Chicago Fire Dept. Deputy District Chief Walter Schroeder. The fire was put out quickly, but crews remained on scene to ensure hotspots don't rekindle, Schroeder said. No one was injured or evacuated, he said. The damage from the fire was limited to inside the silo, which was 70% full of soybeans, he said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, Schroder said.  

The three largest public safety agencies in Franklin County will no longer release the number of personnel who have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the agencies said Monday. The Columbus Divisions of Fire and Police and the Franklin County sheriff's office all cited consultations with legal counsel. "It has been determined that the impact of COVID-19 on staffing numbers is considered part of our critical infrastructure, and therefore protected information," the sheriff's office said in a release. Representatives of the police and fire divisions echoed the sheriff's office stance. As of Sunday, the fire division had eight firefighters who had tested positive for the coronavirus. Of those, six were recovering at home, and two had returned to work after they were no longer considered contagious.  

If you go outside at sunset, listen in the distance and you may hear something you don't hear too often. Each night at dusk, bagpipes and drums will echo through neighborhoods across the country. "You should listen at sunset -- there are pipers and drummers all across the area," Thomas Johnson, a captain with Aurora Fire Department told FOX31. The movement is called "Sunset Solidarity" and encourages Scottish drummers and bagpipers to play outside their homes at sundown. "The pipes have a centuries-long tradition of inspiring courage and resolve to people in times of distress," Johnson said. Johnson is a piper with the Colorado Emerald Society. The band is made up of first responders from 24 police and fire agencies across Colorado. Their primary mission is playing at line-of-duty death funerals for police and firefighters.  

Sometimes miracles happen because every little thing goes right. And people involved are smart and creative and fearless. This is the story of a hairstylist, a team of automotive prototype designers and a massive global company that in just a few days went from creating high-tech cars guided by artificial intelligence with the use of robots to old-fashioned built-by-hand assembly the way things were done back in the 1900s. It sounds like a Hollywood movie script. It was, in fact, real life in Detroit in the time of the novel coronavirus. Ford Motor executives issued a call to action March 19, after receiving an alert from the Mayo Clinic. Ford immediately assembled a task force to address the personal protective equipment shortage.  

In a joint letter, members of Staten Island's political delegation today called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to work with relevant pension boards to ensure that first responders and other essential employees who die as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) be guaranteed contractual line-of-duty death benefit and payments. "There cannot be any uncertainty about death benefits as we are sending our first responders and essential workers into potential danger," said Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore). "We must at least take this stress off their shoulders." The letter, signed by Borelli, Borough President James Oddo (R), Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid Island), and others, comes as the FDNY reported the busiest five days for the EMS in its history last week. The coronavirus has also deeply affected the NYPD, which has 930 employees who tested positive as of Monday.  

After the recent signing of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act by President Donald J. Trump, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President, Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, expressed mixed emotions about the stimulus package. "While I am pleased that Congress and the President took action to help those who are suffering economically by allocating federal money for hospitals, law enforcement, educational institutions, airlines, and drug companies, I am extremely disappointed that federal funding desperately needed by the American fire and emergency medical services was largely overlooked," Chief Ludwig said. Law enforcement agencies, by comparison, received $850 million in the stimulus bill versus only $100 million for the fire service.