A 58-year-old man was rushed to the hospital Tuesday night after a fire tore through a home in Woodlawn. Firefighters were called for a blaze on the second floor of a building on Cottage Grove Avenue near 64th Street. The building has two stories of apartments and storefronts on the ground floor. The man at last check was listed in critical condition with second-degree burns. Information on the cause of the fire was not available Tuesday night.  

The Danville City Council Tuesday night, with a 12-0 vote, approved purchasing a new radio system for the fire department that will replace "outdated and obsolete" equipment, according to Fire Chief Don McMasters. Ward 1 Alderwoman Brenda Brown was absent and no appointment has been made yet to fill the vacated seat in Ward 6 after Aaron Troglia moved out of the ward. The cost is $331,946 for five simulcast repeater sites on towers in the city, 50 handheld portable radios, 20 mobile radios, three base radios, all necessary supporting components and a five-year maintenance agreement from Supreme Radio Communications Inc. McMasters said the cost likely will come down about $2,500 due to a couple fewer needed pieces of equipment. The city only received one bid, and estimates had been $310,000 to $325,000, according to McMasters.  

Dave Hohner was adamant about the color scheme on the new Kankakee Township firehouse. "I wanted people to take their focus off the stacks (at NIPSCO's power plant)," he said, "and onto our firehouse." So the building, which was finished in 2020 and sits to the south of the NIPSCO plant, features a cherry apple red color. "This is God's country and all you saw was beautiful green grass," Hohner said. "It's nice to be able to add some color out here." Besides the color, anyone driving east or west on State Road 10 will also notice the large white cupola on top of the building. That, too, was a Hohner touch. "That cupola looks much bigger when you see it up close," said township board member Dave Whitaker. "When it sat in the firehouse, I thought it would be way too big to put on the roof. But when you see it after it's put up there, it goes great with the rest of the building."  

The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal is reminding Illinois Fire Departments that time is running out to apply for the Illinois Fire Department COVID Relief Grant. Applications for this one-time funding opportunity must be received by close of business, Friday, August 13, 2021. A total of $1,000,000 will be available to assist approximately 80 impacted fire departments that operate in diverse communities throughout the state. Under this one-time grant opportunity, eligible Illinois fire departments could receive up to $15,000 in order to make up for lost donation revenues stemming from their inability to host local fundraising events during 2020. These fundraising events pay for necessities like fuel for fire trucks, utilities, and insurance. "The COVID-19 pandemic really put a strain fire department budgets across the state but impacted smaller combination or volunteer fire departments/districts the hardest," said Illinois State Fire Marshal Matt Perez.  

At least four fires were ignited near North Park overnight, according to San Diego police. The costliest of the fires, most of which were sparked between 1-2 a.m., involved a Tesla parked near Utah and Capps streets. In that fire, someone lit a car cover on fire, resulting in the destruction of the vehicle. That fire was caught on video and was believed to have begun shortly after 1:30, with the car burning for several minutes before firefighters could extinguish the flames. The video captured a series of small explosions, at one point creating a fireworks-like burst of white-hot material. Investigators think the series started about 10 minutes earlier in the 3800 block of Pershing Avenue, when the arsonist lit a pair of trash cans on fire, causing some minor damage to a nearby fence.  

Many pet owners teach their dogs how to sit, roll or shake hands, but rarely do they ever train their pets to guide firefighters out of a burning building. A group of doctoral students led by Eric Jing Du, a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Florida, have trained and developed robotic dogs with the intent of helping first responders virtually see through walls in situations that they would otherwise be blindsided by. Firefighters who have trouble navigating through fires in an unfamiliar environment would be able to escape these situations with the help of the dogs. Since 2015, Du has aimed to understand how the robotic dogs can impact human interaction and possibly prevent unnecessary deaths of future first responders. "Human beings cannot go into these dangerous rooms with fire and hazardous substances, but they can send this robotic dog there," Du said.  

It was an honor that was years in the making on Tuesday for one special local hero. On Aug. 3, 1939, John Harris — who served in the latter part of the 19th Century as the first Black firefighter with the Kokomo Fire Department — died and was buried on a small plot of land at Crown Point Cemetery, just north of Carter Street. And for 82 years, no one but cemetery record keepers even knew where Harris' final resting place was, as there was no headstone or grave marker highlighting the exact location. But that's not the case anymore, thanks to a group of local historians and first responders. It all started earlier this year when KFD Division Chief Glenda Myers was doing a bit of background research on Harris and went out to the cemetery to look for his burial site.  

My name is Lieutenant Roger Bayne, Jr. I have been a firefighter/paramedic with Addison Fire Protection District No. 1 for 25 years. Giving back to my community has always been something I have been very passionate about. About 10 years ago, I knew I wanted to do something more, something bigger than only supporting my local community. I was asked by a friend to get involved with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, which honors firefighters who have paid the ultimate sacrifice of laying down their life while in the line of duty. I knew this was my calling to support not only my local community, but to also be involved in helping my firefighter family that crosses state lines. I signed up that day, and for the past 10 years I have had the honor and privilege to be a volunteer as an Honor Guard Commander, representing the Addison Fire Protection District No. 1 and the Associated Fire Firefighters of Illinois Honor Guards.  

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's lockdown-inspired single, "Stuck With U," has now raised over $3.5 million for the First Responders Children's Foundation, going directly to thousands of first responders' families around the U.S. The single, which released on May 8, 2020, was recorded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and donated 100% of its profits from streaming and sales to the foundation. A collaboration between Grande, Bieber, Scooter Braun's SB Projects (which manages both Grande and Bieber), Republic Records and Def Jam Recordings, the song's profits will be used to help the families of first responders — healthcare workers, EMTs, paramedics and firefighters — who remain on the front lines of the pandemic.