Two people were taken to a local hospital after a fire broke out Tuesday morning at a Peoria apartment complex. Peoria Firefighters received reports of a structure fire on N. Linn St. near W. Republic. When crews arrived on the scene they located fire coming from the second story of a four-story apartment complex. Multiple fire crews searched the apartment floors for victims, rescuing two from the third floor. Their condition is unknown at this time. Additional companies were called to assist with the fire. Around 28 residents were displaced during the fire, and half were allowed back into the building on the side not impacted by the fire. The Red Cross provided housing for the remaining displaced residents. The apartment fire was under control within 20 minutes, and Fire crews remained on scene for another two and a half hours.  

The Jacksonville Fire Department is in the process of redistricting fire protection boundaries. Residents who have received their annual Notice of Fire Protection Due from the City of Jacksonville, are advised to disregard. A new notice with an adjusted balance due will be issued to those who continue to fall within the city of Jacksonville's fire protection boundaries.  

Crews responded to a reported fire at a University of Illinois Springfield residence hall Monday. According to the Springfield Firefighters Local 37 union on Facebook, a caller reported multiple fire alarms had been activated in the Founders Residence Hall, located at 4800 Eliza Farnham Drive in Springfield. The building was evacuated before responders arrived. Crews said heavy smoke was reported in the building. Responders had the fire out within about 10 minutes. After 3:15 p.m., smoke conditions on the third floor of the building had been cleared. WAND News learned from UIS the cause was a small fire in a bathroom garbage can, which caused a heavy amount of smoke. Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough said the person put a cigarette they believed to be out in the can, leading to the fire. Smoke was in the second floor and part of the first floor. There were no injuries.  

Some of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications staff were honored for their extraordinary work Monday - including the dispatchers who were on the police radio when two officers were shot in August. Keith Thornton Jr. heard the 10-1 call meaning an officer needs help. He coordinated officers to stop traffic for the injured officers to get to the hospital while staying on top of the investigation. "Number one priority is officer safety and when I heard those two officers were down I wanted those officers to the hospital right away," Thornton said. Thornton said his years of experience as a volunteer firefighter and a police officer prepared him for that moment. "I had my own 10-1s and scared for my life and the only person on the other end to save me when I didn't even know where I was at was a dispatcher," he recalled. "All of that kicked in that day." Officer Ella French died from her wounds. Her mother was at Monday's ceremony.  

Evanston firefighters extinguished a fire in an apartment building at 2215 Central St. early Monday afternoon. Fire Division Chief Kimberly Kull says first arriving companies found moderate smoke and flames visible from the street. Several units in the apartment building suffered smoke and water damage, Kull says, but the fire to the unit where it began. Units from several neighboring communities helped fight the fire. The American Red Cross provided emergency services for two displaced residents. There were no reported injuries, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Two firefighters were injured while battling a massive house fire in Salisbury Township, Lehigh County early Tuesday. The firefighters were taken to the hospital with burn and trauma injuries, though their injuries are not life-threatening, according to officials on scene. Multiple other firefighters have been treated at a paramedic staging area on scene as the 3-alarm blaze in the 3000 block of Barrington Lane continues to burn hours later. It was first reported around 5:30 a.m., and flames and smoke billowed from the massive, castle-like structure. Most of the fire was centered in the ballroom portion of the mansion, said officials at the scene. Crews have been attacking the fire from the outside and trying to stop it from spreading to other parts of the home.  

VIDEO: A crew assigned to film a Harford County Volunteer Fire & EMS Association training session captured a rescue mission when a man drove his vehicle into the water in Havre de Grace on Sunday. The First Arriving film crew was filming Susquehanna Hose Company's rescue boat and dive team for HCVFA when a man drove his vehicle off the marina parking lot and into the water next to the fire boat. The fire department rescue diver, already in his suit, was able to immediately get into the water and rescue the trapped occupant. The driver is stable and expected to fully recover, officials said. The video shoot is part of a larger volunteer recruitment and public awareness initiative for HCVFA.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: When the Huntersville Fire Department sent out letters asking the community for donations to cover the cost of new equipment for firefighters, a 5-year-old broke open his piggy bank to help. Literally. Huntersville fire posted on Facebook that 5-year-old Brian wrote back and included $3 from his piggy bank. His 3-year-old brother Luke threw in another $1.25 for the cause. A drawing was also included with the earnest offering. "I hope this buys you a new fire truck," Brian wrote. As a thank you, the boys and their family were invited to a fire station where they got to meet firefighters and had their pictures taken with the team.  

Jerry Sanford retired to Naples, Florida, after a 29-year career as a New York City firefighter, but the city managed to call him back to help his brothers right before one of the most critical times in the history of the United States: 9/11. Although Sanford later developed cancer potentially associated with the fumes and toxins surrounding Ground Zero, he felt it was important to recount his experiences from the weeks leading up to and following 9/11 in his book, "It Started With a Helmet: A Retired Firefighter's Return to New York City the Day Before 9/11." Within the pages of the book, which was published soon before the 20th anniversary of the attacks, readers will also find stories about Sanford's time as a New York City police officer before starting with the city's fire department, as well as his own diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, a type of lung cancer found in the glandular cells in the organ's tissues, which likely developed from his exposure to the toxic air.  

A Sioux City woman was arrested early Saturday and charged with causing thousands of dollars of damage to vehicles parked at a Sioux City fire station. According to court documents, firefighters at the station at 2630 Third St. heard a car alarm going off in their parking lot at 6:53 a.m. When they went outside to check the alarm, they found Dominique Carman in the lot damaging the vehicles. Damage included broken windows and scratches and dents on vehicle doors, roofs, hoods and quarter panels. Damage is estimated at approximately $11,000 to seven vehicles. Police called to the scene found Carman inside one of the vehicles. She also is suspected of breaking the windshield and windows in a car parked outside a house in the 2500 block of First Street earlier that morning, causing about $1,000 in damage.