Harrisburg Fire Department gave West Frankfort a helping hand when several members of that city's fire department couldn't work due to COVID-19. Harrisburg Public Safety Commissioner Raymond Gunning said recently the fire department learned that several West Frankfort firefighters either had tested positive for or been exposed to COVID-19 and would be unable to report to work. Harrisburg Fire Department gave West Frankfort a helping hand when several members of that city's fire department couldn't work due to COVID-19. Harrisburg Public Safety Commissioner Raymond Gunning said recently the fire department learned that several West Frankfort firefighters either had tested positive for or been exposed to COVID-19 and would be unable to report to work.  

VIDEO: The Fire Marshall is investigating an early morning house fire in Alorton, Illinois . The fire started just after 1:00 a.m. in the kitchen of this home on McCasland Avenue at South 48th Street. The flames spread to the ceiling. Fire crews said working smoke detectors woke the home owner who escaped safely.  

It was a normal Saturday night in Johnston City, until about 9:30 p.m., when lights glared and sirens blared through the downtown, stopping in the center of Broadway where dozens of friends and relatives, observing social distancing, to welcome home Sgt. Josiah Banks from his military deployment. One of those waiting was Josiah's 5-year-old daughter, Kaidence, who had no idea she was greeting her daddy. There was no holding her back when the car stopped and her dad sprang out to catch her as she jumped into his waiting arms. Josiah has been serving with the United States Army is Hohenfels, Germany for the past three years. His wife, Amber, Kaidence, and his younger daughter, 1-year-old Sophia, were already stateside. Josiah is part of a large extended family that is well-known in the small town they call home, so setting up a quick "hero's welcome" was a matter of a simple phone call by Banks' older brother, Isaac.  

VIDEO: A massive fire at a plastics facility in Grand Prairie is likely to continue burning for several days and could knock out electricity in the area for some time, firefighters say. Meanwhile, officials are urging people to stay indoors because of the "toxic plume" rising from the scene that could be an irritant for people with respiratory issues. At about midnight Wednesday, an overhanging power line fell onto plastic sheeting in a storage area at the Poly-America manufacturing plant, starting a fire, according to Bill Murphy, assistant chief of operations with the Grand Prairie Fire Department. The materials ignited and spread throughout the storage area, Murphy said, an area about 300 yards wide along the 2000 block of West Marshall Drive near Texas Highway 161. One rail car exploded and supporting towers for electricity lines are expected to collapse under the heat of the flames. At least three of Poly-America's freight rail cars had caught fire.  

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, motorists each day drove about 8.8 billion miles on American roadways, while the U.S. railroad system carried 85,000 passengers and 5 million tons of freight. Though travel habits have shifted since the coronavirus outbreak, transportation infrastructure remains vital to the health of the U.S. economy. Despite the importance of a reliable transportation network, upkeep of critical infrastructure is being neglected across the country as roads, bridges, and railroads age. Nationwide, 21.8% of roads are in poor condition, 7.6% of bridges are in need of replacement or repair, and there have been 4.8 derailments for every 100 miles of train track from 2015 to 2019, the most common cause of which are broken rails or welds. In some states, these figures are far worse, indicating a threat to not only the economy, but to public health and safety as well.  

Funding commitments are now in place for the Rescue Hose Co. to add paid firefighters for the first time in its 140-year history. Greencastle Borough Council agreed to develop a budget to support paid firefighters using a fire tax during a joint meeting with fire company representatives and Antrim Township supervisors last week. The borough can enact a fire tax up to 3 mills, but that much will not be needed to cover the funding request, according to Borough Manager Lorraine Hohl. Township supervisors had pledged their support months ago, with the money coming from the general fund. The timeline calls for a paid firefighter/EMT supervisor to be on staff by Jan. 1, 2021, with a probationary salary of $20 going to $21.50 per hour on July 1. Three part-time firefighters/EMTs will be hired around July 1 at $18 an hour.  

On Aug. 17, the United States recorded its fewest COVID-19 cases in nearly 2 months, with 35,112 new cases and 445 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The new cases raise the total to 5,469,604 cases and 171,344 deaths. Though the decrease in cases is a sign that early summer hot spots, including Arizona, Texas, and Florida, are showing falling case counts, reports from schools that have opened across the country, as well as nursing home data, show congregate living is still a major contributor to COVID-19 outbreaks. There is no official tally, however, on outbreaks in public elementary and high schools, NBC News reports. Though schools that have opened in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Indiana, have had significant outbreaks, no data are being collected about how reopening has led to outbreaks, quarantine protocols, and number of cases.