The City of Springfield is looking to make a payment to the city's growing fire and police pension funds. An ordinance states the city can put $589,323 towards that pension fund. During the Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9, Springfield City Council members were in favor of doing this, including Ward 7 Alderman Joe McMenamin. "I'm glad we're bringing this out for discussion and I think the mayor [Jim Langfelder] has been looking for this for some time," McMenamin said. "I think it's a good move." The city's budget director, Bill McCarty, recently said the pension payments are up $2.3 million for Fiscal Year 2022, which starts on March 1. The reason the council can make this move is because their corporate fund balance was over 20% after closing the books on FY2020 last August.  

At least two people are dead and one person is seriously hurt after a crash on the Dan Ryan Tuesday night. All lanes of the Dan Ryan at 65th Street were closed for hours after the overnight crash. Illinois State Police confirmed two people are dead after the incident, and a third person is seriously hurt, after the driver of the SUV was traveling at high speed, lost control, slammed into a concrete barrier, flipped and hit a pole, crushing the vehicle and pinning those inside. The two killed in the crash were taken to St. Bernard Hospital before being pronounced deceased. It happened just before 11 p.m. in the southbound express lanes of the Dan Ryan near 65th.  

After a comprehensive study by outside consultants with input from fire personnel, village trustees instructed Village Manager Matt Formica and Fire Chief Tony DeRose to implement changes to fire department operations at their Tuesday, Feb. 2 meeting. One of the more significant changes trustees gave specific direction to implement would lead the village to "reallocate resources" from Fire Station No. 13 at 831 E. Lake Ave., near Wagner Farm, ultimately leading to the permanent closure of the firehouse. Recommendations from a report created by both consultants and a working group of fire and village personnel, expected to be implemented soon, made other recommendations including instituting medical call prioritization protocol in which public safety dispatchers ask targeted questions allowing them to dispatch a single ambulance to a minor call or more resources to a major call. Currently, an ambulance and fire engine respond to every medically-related EMS call in Glenview.  

No one was injured after a fire broke out Wednesday morning at a Bridgeport apartment building, displacing about two dozen children and adults. The fire was extinguished "pretty rapidly" after crews arrived at the three-flat in the 1000 block of West 32nd Street, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The fire started on the third floor, but it was unclear what caused it, Langford said. Residents of the home took shelter at the nearby 9th  

VIDEO: A familiar red glow encouraged Dwayne Ivey to make a beeline for the landmark Krispy Kreme on Ponce de Leon Avenue early Wednesday morning. When he neared the store, however, he realized the doughnuts weren't the only things hot. Flames were shooting from the back of the building, an Atlanta institution for more than 60 years. "I had seen the hot doughnuts sign on, and as I got closer, that's when I notice the place is on fire," Ivey told Channel 2 Action News from the scene. Fast-moving fire broke out at the Midtown doughnut shop about 1 a.m. Two employees working the drive-thru told the news station they were able to make it out safely after seeing wires smoking. Atlanta fire officials have not confirmed the cause of the blaze but said the building is likely "totally destroyed."  

The Spirit of Liberty Foundation, a local 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, recently unveiled the soft-launch of a national campaign "Operation Thumbs Up!" with the first "Thumbs Up" billboard installed in San Diego. The Spirit of Liberty Foundation's Operation Thumbs Up campaign provides an opportunity for Americans to positively recognize and thank first responders, healthcare professionals, members of law enforcement, firefighters, Armed Forces and veterans whenever they see them by just giving them a big smile and an "enthusiastic Thumbs Up!" "These are very difficult times and now more than ever we need to bring America together for positive causes and one that almost every American can embrace when recognizing and thanking America's real heroes — our first responders, healthcare professionals and military, the people who have kept us safe 24/7," said Richard Rovsek, chairman of the Spirit of Liberty Foundation.  

"Brotherhood." That's one word that's used a lot around a firehouse, or when talking about the fire service. But within these tightly-knit groups of brothers are sisters, too, scattered throughout the ranks of career and volunteer fire departments across the country. According to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), women made up eight percent of the more than 1.1 million firefighters in the United States in 2018—most of them volunteer, and just over 11,000 career staff. At Harmonville Fire Company in Plymouth Township, there are just a few female firefighters. Though they may be small in number, each of them are more than up to the challenge of protecting the residents in their service area. "I've always been treated as one of the guys," says Amanda Hoade, one of only two women on Harmonville's career firefighter roster. "I didn't want to be treated differently." Hoade started serving in a volunteer capacity when she was 14, alongside her father.  

Lawmakers have reintroduced legislation which aims at protecting firefighters and the communities they serve from PFAS and other dangerous chemicals. The Protect Firefighters from Adverse Substances (PFAS) Act was introduced in the Senate Feb. 4 by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, and other lawmakers. The PFAS Act was also introduced in the last Congress and was passed by the Senate, but didn't pass the House. The bill would direct federal agencies to develop training and best practices to limit exposure to PFAS in fire departments nationwide. PFAS are often referred to as "forever chemicals," since they are extremely difficult to break down. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are contaminants that can cause health concerns such as thyroid disease, kidney and testicular cancers as well as higher levels of cholesterol. According to the EPA, PFAS can be found in stain- and water-repellent fabrics, nonstick products, polishes, waxes, paints, cleaning products and fire-fighting foams.  

Even though the pace of vaccination has picked up dramatically and the number of daily new COVID-19 cases continues to decline in all regions of the United States, the emergence of new strains of the disease remains cause for serious concern. The COVID Tracking Project has reported that seven-day average cases in the U.S. are down nearly 50% since their peak in the middle of January while the number of people hospitalized has fallen for the 28th consecutive day. Meanwhile, 44.4 million doses have now been administered and the daily average last week was 1.53 million. Despite the progress, a clutch of more infectious COVID-19 strains have arrived in the U.S. and the CDC has warned that one of them, B.1.1.7 or the so-called "U.K. variant", is likely to become predominant by March.