VIDEOS: The Dixon City Fire Department is celebrating 125 years of service to the community throughout October. The department was established as a paid department in 1898. This department is the 3rd oldest in the state of Illinois. The Dixon City Fire Department transitioned to their current building in 2006, leaving behind the original, which had been in operation for 100 years. Although the department has grown greatly since its establishment and original three staff members, the current Dixon City Fire Department said they still face challenges experienced by others as well. For the department, they said staffing concerns remain ongoing. "Recruitment and retention, that's not just an issue in the public sector, it's an issue in the private sector. It seems here in Dixon that it's kind of a rollercoaster, good years, bad years.  

A natural gas leak occurred Monday afternoon just houses away from where a gas leak-fueled explosion occurred earlier this month in Woodstock that damaged 20 buildings. The Woodstock Fire/Rescue District and Woodstock Police Department responded around 1:20 p.m. Monday to the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue for a report of a natural gas odor. Firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes and met with several citizens, according to Woodstock Fire/Rescue District Communication Specialist Alex Vucha. Firefighters were advised of a natural gas odor across from the parking lot at St. Mary's Catholic Church. A faint odor was noticeable but was difficult to pinpoint due to moderate winds, Vucha said. Representatives from Nicor Gas had been notified prior to firefighters and arrived a short time later.  

VIDEO: At least seven people were killed Monday in a slew of crashes along Interstate 55 in Louisiana's St. John the Baptist Parish that involved at least 158 vehicles, state police say. More than 25 people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, Louisiana State Police said in an evening news release. And many victims sought medical help on their own, authorities said. Meteorologists earlier said "super fog" had heavily impacted the area, just west of New Orleans, around the time of the pileups. Super fog is a thick fog that develops in damp, smoky conditions and can send visibilities plummeting to less than 10 feet, according to the National Weather Service. Some of the vehicles caught on fire after the initial crash, authorities said.  

PHOTOS: The old hose reel on its tall, spindly wheels was state-of-the-art fire equipment when it first hit the streets in about 1879. It responded to its last fire call more than 100 years ago, and largely disappeared from view. Today, following a full restoration job, it occupies a place of honor in the Fort Dodge firehouse. It is a reminder of a time when hose reels like it were key to saving lives and property when fire broke out. Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter said it had been in storage at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. He said he talked to museum Director Tim Morris about it. Morris, he said, "saw value in us taking it and restoring it." It was moved to the firehouse at 1515 Central Ave. in the spring, where it sat in the garage behind some of the modern fire trucks. Hergenreter contacted Curt Bacon, owner of Curt Bacon Body Shop in Fort Dodge, to get his input on restoring the wooden and cast iron reel. He said Bacon volunteered his services to restore it.  

VIDEO: By the time the scuba dive boat sank off the Southern California coast after catching fire, 34 people had been killed in the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. The Labor Day tragedy in 2019 spurred changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and civil lawsuits. Now four years later, a federal trial for the Conception's captain, Jerry Boylan, is set to begin Tuesday with jury selection in Los Angeles. It's been a long, frustrating wait for the families of those who perished. They say a judge's ruling that their loved ones should not be called "victims" at trial has only added to their pain. "The past four years have been like living in a nightmare that you don't wake up from," said Kathleen McIlvain, whose 44-year-old son Charles was killed. The 75-foot boat was anchored off the Channel Islands, about 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, on Sept. 2, 2019, when it caught fire before dawn on the last day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet from shore.