The Peoria Fire Department is having a busy year as fire-related incidents, calls, and arsons are increasing. Between Saturday and Sunday, Peoria firefighters responded to four structure fires, three of them have since been ruled an arson by investigators. "It was a very chaotic weekend, this is not the norm. You know, for us to have this level fires. It seems like it's been the norm most the summer and now leading into the fall," said Shawn Sollberger, assistant chief of Peoria Fire Department. Sollberger said in 2021 the Peoria Fire Department is expected to receive more than 20,000 calls. This figure could put the department on pace for its most calls in a single year.  

More than 40 fire trucks pulled into the Peoria Civic Center Sunday. Different fire departments across the state lined up for the Illinois Fire Chiefs 70th annual Conference. Fire Service In, manufactures fire trucks across Illinois and the county. The Vice President, Jim Castellano said the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted its focus to biological issues. He said to help clean the air that firefighters breathe, they're putting in filters and UV lights in trucks to get rid of certain microorganisms. "It's an evolution and process you even see in departments that have multiple trucks through multiple generations… the trucks change as the needs change. Now, the need lately has really been pushing the health and safety of the firefighter," said Castellano.  

Illinois State Police, and firefighters and paramedics from Hoffman Estates responded about 6:13 a.m. Tuesday, October 19, 2021 to a report of a truck fire in the westbound lanes of I-90 near Barrington Road in Hoffman Estates. Firefighters discovered a fully-involved fire on a Pepsi truck in westbound Lane 4 and/or Lane 5 near Barrington Road. Barrington Countryside FPD firefighters were assigned to the vehicle fire with a tender crew (water tanker crew). Only the cab was involved with the fire. Initially, no injuries were reported at the Pepsi truck fire. The two lanes of the exit ramp to Barrington Road were also closed as of 7:00 a.m.  

PHOTO: A driver escaped a fully engulfed car fire around 8 a.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of Oakwood Avenue in Alton. The Alton Fire Department arrived quickly to extinguish the out-of-control blaze. The driver was reported outside the car and appeared to be OK after the firefighters arrived at the scene.  

A special board meeting in Pope County wanted to resolve the search for an ambulance provider for the area. The Pope County Board of Commissioners says they will move forward with one emergency service who sent a them a proposal. The Pope County Volunteer Ambulance Service ceased operations Monday morning after claiming county leaders are withholding tax dollars. The board tells News 3 the company demanded a nearly $50,000 advance with no required paper-work of how the money is being used. "The fear was or is that even if we gave them that money, they wouldn't continue in operation. And then shortly after that contact was made, contact was made with one our board members and told even if we get a second installment of property taxes, we're going to shut down on December 1st," said Pope County State's Attorney, Jason Olson.  

Boulder Fire-Rescue (BFR) tweeted Tuesday morning that they are working a large apartment fire in the 2300 block of Pearl Street. BFR said that multiple agencies are helping put out the fire that has affected 83 units in three buildings of the apartment complex. Two minor injuries were reported, BFR said, but those injuries did not require either person to be hospitalized. Fire crews said they were able to knock down most of the fire since they first called to the scene shortly after 3:30 a.m. Video from SKY9 showed heavy smoke in the surrounding area. BFR said the fire was considered under control at about 5:40 a.m. The Red Cross is working to help residents affected by the fire. Fire crews are asking people to avoid the area as they work to knock out hot spots from the fire.  

It looks something like a cross between a robot, a bus and an RV. Until it lights up and moves. Then it's a fire truck. An electric-powered fire truck. Empire Emergency Apparatus of Lockport Road in Niagara Falls hosted a demonstration of the pumper on Old Falls Street in Niagara Falls for firefighters from Niagara Falls, Buffalo and North Tonawanda on Friday. Todd McBride of Rosenbauer America showed off the advanced technology on the truck, a 7-year old demo model. LED lights ringing the back light up work areas with glare-free, shadow free illumination. Ladders and hoses are stored internally. North Tonawanda Fire Chief Joe Sikora was there for the demonstration. "It is quite a change from what we are used to," Sikora said. "Times are changing. Fire trucks have been the same for a long, long time."  

The historic rise of calls for service from first responders across the country has opened the door for deeper training for law enforcement in Greensboro to help EMS and firefighters identify medical-related situations. Guilford County EMS and Greensboro firefighters reported that they have seen a sharp increase in calls related to people having a stroke, seizure, dealing with dementia or another unknown medical problem. Those calls have begun to bleed over into the Greensboro Police Department with citizens calling for police assistance when someone begins to act out. Greensboro firefighters explained to a group of rookie police officers on Monday that "a lot of people are either delaying or postponing or canceling medical diagnosis or treatments that they need…the chances have never been higher that you will have to respond to a scene that is actually caused by a medical-emergencies."  

The types of places that carry the biggest risk for COVID-19 transmission have changed over time - partly because experts have learned more about how the virus works and partly because the virus itself has changed. The delta variant is more than two times as contagious as previous strains, which has obvious implications for transmission. Also, nearly 60% of the population in the United States is now fully vaccinated, which impacts the virus's spread. Fully vaccinated people are not only less likely to become hospitalized or die, they're also far less likely to spread the virus (despite some confusing public health messaging around this second point). So here's what we know about the places where transmission is the highest right now, and places where the spread isn't as bad as people might think.