La Salle's ambulance fund may receive $80,000-$150,000 more annually after city aldermen authorized a new agreement. Monday night at the city council meeting, aldermen approved an ordinance authorizing an intergovernmental agreement between the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the City of La Salle Fire Department regarding certain ambulance services. Fire chief Andy Bacidore explained that currently when billing Medicaid patients, the ambulance fund only gets so much money back and the money reimbursed back to the fund doesn't cover the whole cost of the ambulance service. This new agreement will help the ambulance fund capture more money; the number would vary by year, but this is an approximation that's estimated based on past numbers. Bacidore said the city has a lot of residents with Medicaid.  

A 9-year-old boy was arraigned Monday on five counts of first-degree murder regarding an April arson fire in Goodfield. Woodford County Circuit Court Judge Charles Feeney read a juvenile petition citing those charges against the boy, along with two counts of arson and one count of aggravated arson. The judge painstakingly and patiently explained the juvenile counts and legal processes to the boy, who at times indicated he did not understand the proceedings. Also Monday, the judge appointed Peter Dluski as public defender for the boy. The attorney spent most of the hearing with his arm around the boy's chair at the defense table, whispering into his ear along with the judge's explanations.  

Disaster struck for a family about 1 a.m. Thursday when a Malta volunteer firefighter and his family lost their home. Less than 48 hours later, the GoFundMe page set up to help them had raised more than $15,000. Park Ridge Fire Chief Jeff Sorensen, who has known Michael Isom since they joined the Park Ridge department in 1997, said the fire was a tremendous surprise. "We found out yesterday morning that he barely escaped the fire with his family," he said. "It was a very scary situation." The family's bloodhound, Earl, woke them up as smoke billowed through the single-family home in the 500 block of East Jefferson Street, according to the GoFundMe page started by Joe Ciske. Ciske is a Park Ridge firefighter and paramedic.  

VIDEO: A transformer exploded, causing the back of an apartment building to catch fire in Old Town. Flames were seen engulfing the back porch on Hudson near Blackhawk. The flames lit up the alley at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, as firefighters moved around dumpsters and garbage cans to put out the fire. One neighbor shared cell phone video he shot of the fire from his back porch. Other neighbors told CBS 2 they could feel the heat from the flames, inside their homes. According to Chicago Red Cross officials, two families were displaced and they will be provided with "immediate service." Chicago police provided an update saying the fire may have originated in a trash can. No injuries were reported.  

Mayor Bill de Blasio is being asked to do more to protect first responders in the wake of an attack on a 20-year-old emergency medical technician as he was transporting an emotional disturbed person to the hospital. The ambulance EMT Nicholas Cody used to transport an emotionally disturbed person on Friday night sat parked outside the emergency room at Lincoln Hospital on Monday, the decal warning that it's a felony to attack a first responder, apparently not much of a deterrent in a city where the number of of mental health 911 calls have nearly doubled in the last decade. Nicholas was bitten, beaten and attacked by the man he was trying to help. "He's hurt pretty bad right now. Right now, he doesn't have any mobility or feeling in his left arm," Jeffrey Cody, Nicholas' dad, told CBS2's Marcia Kramer exclusively.  

Pennsylvania's growing shortage of volunteer and career firefighters and EMS providers has reached a point where state lawmakers are calling for action to avert a crisis like the one Rep. Stephen Barrar described at a Monday news conference. "How would you feel if you had a fire or an accident or a life-threatening emergency and when you dialed 911, no one responded? These type of doomsday scenarios are not far-fetched," said Barrar, R-Delaware County, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee. "If this trend continues, there may be a day when no one is there to respond to your call for help." Standing before a line of emergency responders and supportive Republican and Democratic House members outside the state Capitol, Barrar urged his House colleagues to pass a package of 23 bills aimed at addressing the wellbeing of emergency responders and providing incentives to recruit and maintain volunteer and career firefighters.  

On the same day that a package of bills was introduced at the State Capitol to help Pennsylvania's fire and EMS workers, one midstate community is applauding the decision. The Middletown Fire Department is 100% volunteer, so for about two years now, they've been offering a live-in program for young firefighters. They live, eat, and sleep at the station full time; it's all about attracting quality workers and giving them a reason to stick around. It may sound easy, living rent-free, but these live-in firefighters earn their keep. "The trade-off then is they're here five out of the seven days a week, they respond to a majority of the calls," said Middletown Fire Chief, Kenny Whitebread. He said Monday his department relies heavily on its live-in staff; they must be full or part-time students or full or part-time workers to qualify.  

Gov. Kate Brown has appointed a financial oversight team and will hire an independent contractor to address a cash flow crisis caused by the Oregon Department of Forestry's failure to promptly bill and collect money it is owed for wildfire costs. The 13-member team, chaired by the governor's chief of staff, is tasked with identifying the structural changes needed to expedite and standardize how the agency processes financial transactions related to wildfires. It will also evaluate new ways for the agency to manage its seasonal borrowing needs. The cash flow problems, reported in an Oct. 6 story in The Oregonian/OregonLive, come as the agency is facing structural financial problems in its state forest program, and a $1.4 billion breach of contract by 14 counties that begins Thursday.  

Officials are urging residents throughout the San Diego region's most fire-prone areas to prepare for this year's peak wildfire season. The county is slated to mail out its "personal disaster plan" to roughly 200,000 homes and businesses starting next week. The recently updated 16-page document will be sent to those living in areas designated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as "very-high fire severity zones." The plans — which will be provided in both English and Spanish — will also be available starting in November up at any one of San Diego County Library's 33 branches. The document can also be downloaded at readysandiego.org. "This is the most dangerous time of the year. This is when some of our biggest wildfires have happened," Supervisor Dianne Jacob said in a news release.