A Chicago Fire Department lieutenant who was critically injured fighting a house fire near O'Hare International Airport earlier this month died on Tuesday, the department announced. Kevin Ward, 59, died at Loyola Medical Center on Tuesday surrounded by his family, officials said. Ward joined the Chicago Fire Department in 1996. Ward was injured while fighting a fire on Chicago's Northwest Side in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue on Aug. 11. Two other firefighters were injured in the blaze. Officials said Ward was in the basement of the home at the time. A procession to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office took place about noon Tuesday, fire officials said "Let us keep Truck #9 and all of our dedicated first responders in our hearts as we honor Lt. Ward's life and memory."  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Two Decatur firefighters were taken to the hospital after responding to a third-alarm fire at ADM's East Plant. A statement from an ADM representative said that a fire was detected by employees in the feed house of the corn processing plant at ADM's Decatur complex during some maintenance activities Monday. The plant was evacuated, and all employees were safely accounted for. First arriving crews from the Decatur Fire Department found heavy fire and smoke from the industrial structure that contained process tanks. Crews accessed the fire area and discovered heavy fire in a processing tank that was spreading into adjacent tanks. Large attack lines were deployed from a ladder truck to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the structure while ADM employees injected steam and water into tanks.  

A fire broke out in a two-story building in downtown Los Angeles' Fashion District, sending flames and clouds of black smoke into the air Wednesday morning. The fire was reported just before 6 a.m. in the 1100 block of South Los Angeles Street. A large plume of smoke could be seen across the downtown LA area. The LA city fire department was trying to enter the building to knock down the flames. The flames quickly spread through other parts of the building, breaking through the roof. The building was said to be Ruby Textile, a textile business that sells items like towels, blankets and rugs. There was a partial collapse of the building, as cracks began to appear on another corner where smoke could be seen. Shortly before 7 a.m., firefighters were able to enter the building.  

VIDEO: One of the biggest challenges of putting out an electric vehicle (EV) fire is trying to get inside the battery to flood the battery. "They're very difficult to put out," said Avondale Fire Department Battalion Chief Garry Siler. Now, there is a new device that punctures holes in an EV's battery, and floods it with water. "It goes right through it. It's pretty amazing," said Battalion Chief Siler. Arizona-based Velocity Fire Equipment is calling the device the BEST (Battery Extinguishing System Technology) system. Fire crews would push the device under where the car battery would be, and then, using air pressure, they jam the piercing nozzle through the bottom, and flood it with water. "It's a lot of pressure. About 600 psi that comes out of that piercing nozzle," said Michael Todd with Velocity Fire Equipment.  

VIDEO: A long-time firefighter in Lancaster County has created an epic book highlighting firefighters of New York City. Glenn Usdin hopes the photographs and stories are inspirational to first responders and anyone who might need their help. "This is a very unique profession in American society, that when everybody else is running out of burning buildings, firefighters — whether they be professional or volunteer — firefighters are running into the building," Usdin explains about the men and women featured in the pages. It's a story Usdin has wanted to tell for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic gave him the chance to start the project that ended with a nearly 300-page book. "This is something you can hold in your hands," Usdin remarks. "This is basically becoming an heirloom." Full of stories, and portraits Usdin took, many are about families in the FDNY.  

VIDEO: Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning as a powerful Category 3 storm in Keaton Beach, located along Florida's Gulf Coast near Tallahassee. After rapidly intensifying on its path through the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and briefly registering as a Category 4 storm, the hurricane hit Florida's Big Bend area with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour. The storm was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane about 2 1/2 hours after landfall, as wind speeds decreased to 90 mph. The hurricane rating was previously changed to Category 2 roughly an hour after landfall. Meteorologists warned "damaging winds" were already spreading into southern Georgia. The center of Idalia was crossing over the border into Georgia by 11 a.m. ET, the hurricane center said, adding that the storm continued to drive up water levels along Florida's Gulf Coast.