A Chicago firefighter was hurt while battling a blaze Monday morning at a home in the Chatham neighborhood. Crews were called to the fire around 11 a.m. at a three-story apartment building at 8220 S. Maryland Avenue, according to CFD officials. A firefighter at the scene was transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center with "elevated vitals," officials said. They were listed in fair condition. The blaze was struck out around 12:30 p.m. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire or how the firefighter was injured. There were no other reported injuries.  

The Peoria Fire Department responded to a car accident at 1108 W. Loucks Avenue at approximately 3:12 a.m. Sunday, which required extraction. The first crews on the scene reported one occupant was trapped inside the vehicle and requested a rescue box for additional companies. Battalion Chief Ryan Calhoun said the occupant was the driver of a vehicle that had struck a parked truck. That being said, there was extensive damage to the front passenger side of the occupant's vehicle, which resulted in entrapment. Crews worked using the ‘Jaws of Life‘ tool to remove the occupant's door and were successful. The driver suffered possible serious injuries and was transported to a local hospital.  

VIDEO: Every second counts in a trauma situation. Critical patients need critical care, and sometimes time isn't on your side. "I wanted to give our paramedics one more tool in the toolbox to take advantage of, and to hopefully save a life out there," said Coconut Creek Asst. Chief Tony Chin. A procedure typically reserved for emergency room hospitals is moving right out onto the field. It's called a finger thoracostomy and Chin said it's a game changer. "We open up the chest cavity with a small incision, about one inch, to let all the air out so that the heart can re-expand and also produce a pulse," Chin said. The goal is to try and relieve the pressure that can build up from blunt force trauma to the chest after a serious car crash, a shooting or even a stabbing.  

Sandy Springs is changing the inspection process for apartment communities. A new code of ordinances is requiring apartment complexes to hire a third party to inspect units annually. Before updating regulations, only 20% of apartment units were required to be inspected each year. The new policy will help the city better address water and structural damage, mold, fire hazards and other issues — particularly in older complexes that don't have sprinkler systems for apartment fires, a statement said. There are 98 apartment complexes in Sandy Springs and two more are under construction. The existing properties collectively have 25,000 units. Only 28% of the apartment building structures have sprinkler systems, according to Sandy Springs officials.  

VIDEO: John Gasper spent 23 years as a volunteer firefighter and that's what drew him to his unique current job title. Gasper, who is the owner of the namesake Gasper's Automotive Restoration in Manchester, brings old firetrucks back to life for a living. "We do everything from an oil change to a full truck restoration," said Gasper. "We preserve fire history, these fire trucks come in as antiques from the 1920s, '30s, or 40 and they want to get them restored or repaired, so we make that happen." Opened for seven years, the word is getting out about Gasper's Restoration and its niche services. Gasper said he's getting calls from across the country from either private collectors or departments looking to restore their antique firetrucks to their former grandeur.  

In movies, when we see fiery car crashes or flaming planes on runways, we know they are not real. But in the real world, fuel fires must be quenched with special kinds of chemicals, and the ones that have been most commonly used are known as aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs). However, environmental and health concerns about AFFFs have launched widespread efforts to detect, monitor and eventually eliminate them. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have released new reference materials to expedite these efforts. What makes the foams so effective are chemical compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), enabling them to suppress fuel fires much more quickly and efficiently compared with other alternatives.