The Peoria Fire Department said Tuesday night one of its fire engines was damaged in a crash that happened as first responders headed to another crash a couple of blocks away. The fire department was called about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday to a three-vehicle collision on NE Randolph and Hamilton Boulevard in which one of the cars rolled on its side. A fire engine on its way to the crash scene was hit by another vehicle at Columbia Terrace and North Street, fire officials said. The fire department said four of the seven people injured in the initial collision were taken to a local hospital. They were expected to be treated and released. Three others declined hospital treatment, according to the fire department.  

A passerby called the Champaign Fire Department after seeing a fire outside a house that was starting to spread to the house itself. The Champaign Fire Department responded to a fire outside a home in the 1200 block of Hollycrest Dr. Tuesday at 10:47 a.m. Firefighters quickly put out the fire outside the house, but it was starting to spread to the attic of the home. They were able to use a hose to knock that fire down. The cause of this fire has not been determined yet. No one was home at the time the fire started.  

VIDEO: A fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at a townhome in Lakemoor in the far northwest suburbs. Fox Lake fire officials said the fire appeared to have started in the garage of a multi-family home in the 32000-block of N. Rushmore Ave., but the cause is still under investigation. Fire officials said no one was injured in the fire, and one animal was rescued. Nine different departments responded to the scene. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.  

The Savoy Fire Department along with other local first responders took part in a rescue training task force on Monday at First Baptist Church in Savoy. Carle emergency, Champaign and Urbana Police departments, and the Tolono Fire Department were a few that were a part of the rescue training focusing on high-risk situations when all departments will have to work together. The group of first responders had a staging area just down the road, at the Savoy iMax theater, where they waited for their emergency calls and when they arrived on the scene they were briefed on the training situation at hand just as if the danger was real. The group went through three training scenarios all focusing on active shooters and mass shootings. As the scenarios went on, they increased with intensity. The second scenario had more injured victims, and the third had two active shooters.  

The Paris Fire Department (PFD) had two fires in one morning. On Tuesday, PFD responded to a morning fire at 1:07 a.m. on Monday at 620 Browning Ave. We're told that the house is a complete loss. About five hours later, while PFD was returning from the Browning Avenue fire, crews found a garage on fire at 827 Maple Ave. The fire was extinguished by the PFD. There were no injuries reported in either fire and both are under investigation.  

A juvenile trial in Tulare County that was expected to last about two weeks wrapped up in just four days, catching families from both sides and attorneys off guard. Two teens were accused of setting the Porterville Library fire in February of 2020, which led to the death of Porterville Firefighters Captain Raymond Figueroa and Patrick Jones. Minors are not entitled to a jury trial, only to a Jurisdiction Hearing in front of a judge. But four days after the hearing began, the proceedings took a sharp turn on Monday evening - Judge Loza felt he had heard enough to make his determination. He determined that two counts of arson were committed by one of the teens, a 'delinquent offense.' The petitions for counts of murder were dismissed, as was the arson charge for the other teen.  

Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than 280,000 SUVs over fire risks, and telling owners of the recalled vehicles to park them outside and away from buildings. The recall includes more than 245,000 Hyundai Palisade and 36,000 Kia Telluride SUVs in the U.S. with model years 2020 through 2022. In a news release posted Tuesday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said debris and moisture can accumulate in the vehicles' harness modules after attaching an accessory tow hitch, which are sold at dealerships. The debris and moisture can cause an electrical short, and may spark a fire while the cars are driving or parked. The Korean automakers reported 25 fires or melting incidents in the U.S. and Canada, but no crashes or injuries.  

Joe Arico has earned bragging rights in the Eureka Fire Protection District's houses. The 59-year-old volunteer firefighter set a Firefighter Challenge world record earlier this month with his tandem race partner Lianne McAuley, a firefighter from Ottawa, Ontario. In the challenges, which are held throughout the year, firefighters complete five drills of technical skills they use to fight fires. Arico and McAuley completed the challenge in 2 minutes, 32 seconds on Aug. 6 at an event in Ocean City, Md. The previous record was 2:51. "It was really surreal," Arico said of setting the record in only the second event he competed in with McAuley, who had held the record with a different partner. Arico has competed in challenges since 2019, capturing two national championships and a bronze medal three times in world competitions.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: I'm a bit of a history buff. I love looking at old pictures of Maine in the days of passenger rail with steam-powered locomotives, old photos and postcards of the town I grew up in and seeing how things used to be done before the age of computer chips, smartphones and electric vehicles. Firefighting has changed over the centuries as well. With the invention of the automobile, fire trucks replaced horse-drawn firefighting equipment which became a thing of the past. Many fire department's throughout Maine have vintage fire equipment that you often see in Fourth of July parades and other festivals. The Limestone Volunteer Fire Department in Aroostook County is one of those departments and they have a 1928 American Lafrance pumper.  

The state launched a new Emergency Services task force bringing together experts from across Colorado to evaluate the current state of the EMS system and make recommendations for improvements. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Emergency Services Division, it's the first system review in over two decades. He says it's timely as the state struggles with a lack of paramedics and resources. "We're losing EMS agencies in our rural communities at a rate that I've never seen in my four plus decades of EMS service," said Randy Kuykendall, the Division Director. He says the dissolution of rural agencies and manpower shortage is just one thing the 20-member task force will tackle. Additionally, it will work to identify the individual needs of rural communities to determine where the state resources should go.