Tim Hart's life was too brief — but it was the one he wanted to live. Hart died this month at 36 from injuries suffered while parachuting to fight a forest fire in New Mexico. How a kid from Illinois ended up as a smokejumper out West is unlikely but seemed, to those who knew him, the inevitable result of him pursuing his dreams. Growing up in north suburban Wheeling and Beach Park, attending Zion-Benton Township High School, Hart always wanted to be outdoors. When he got a job at a grocery store, he bribed the other workers to always let him collect the carts, just so he could work outside. He joined the Youth Conservation Corps in Lake County, where he enjoyed his time fixing trails and foot bridges, hacking out invasive buckthorn, even swimming through muck to unblock culverts.  

VIDEO: A fire broke out at early Wednesday morning at a Citibank branch in the Loop. It happened at the Cook County office building at 69 W. Washington St. Advertisement The building houses many Cook County government offices. The fire started about 2:30 a.m. in the lobby, Chicago fire officials said. There were people working overnight in the building that initially were sheltered in place and were later evacuated by fire personnel. Some flames were visible, but they appeared to be mostly contained to the ground floor. It was a very active scene early Wednesday as firefighters worked to get the blaze under control. This is the same building that was the scene of a large deadly fire nearly 20 years ago. Back then, there was confusion during the evacuation that resulted in fire department policy changes, new strategies and new equipment to use, including high-rise rescue first, if necessary.  

A child was rescued from a pool in northwest suburban Palatine Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the Birchwood Community Pool at 435 W. Illinois at around 1:20 p.m., according to Palatine Deputy Fire Chief Scott Mackeben. When the fire department arrived, a lifeguard was performing CPR on the child, Mackeben said. The victim who is described to be a girl between five and eight years old, was conscious and talking before being transported to the hospital, said Mackeben. The girl is now at Lutheran General Hospital in an unknown condition.  

The Montgomery & Countryside Fire Protection District will receive $6,565 in small equipment grant funding to purchase critical equipment, State Senator Karina Villa (D-West Chicago) announced Tuesday. "Properly functioning lifesaving equipment can make the difference in a life-or-death situation, and our first responders deserve to have all the necessary tools at their disposal," Villa said. "Words will never be enough to thank the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities, but I'm hopeful that this critical funding will help extend our gracious thanks to Illinois' first responders." These grants are part of the Small Equipment Grant Program, under which 149 fire departments, districts and EMS providers across Illinois have been selected to receive $3.3 million to purchase new firefighting and ambulance equipment.  

No one was hurt after a Tuesday morning house fire in the 400 block of East Division Street. Fire Chief Jeff Abbott said crews were called to the scene at about 9:45 a.m. and saw smoke coming from the house when they arrived. A majority of the fire was found in the back of the structure, he said. The Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire. According to a WAND photographer at the scene, Decatur police and the Decatur Ambulance Service also responded.  

Theron Jenkins walked into his first bodybuilding competition already accomplishing the goals that meant the most to him. It wasn't to win first place — that never mattered to Jenkins — and it sure wasn't for the attention and recognition he received when he dominated the competition, earning a first-place prize and drawing comparisons to the eight-time Mr. Olympia champion Ronnie Coleman. All the 32-year-old Jenkins, a Jersey City firefighter, wanted was to learn how to live a healthier and more fit lifestyle, one that would help him deal with the one thing that has played on his emotions his entire life. "I only did this so I can learn how to lose weight and be happy and comfortable when I go to the pool, look at myself in pictures, and when I put my clothes on each day," said Jenkins. "Those things are first place to me, that's the real win, not the trophy."  

VIDEO: About four seconds was the difference between life and death on May 31 when an unconscious man awoke to Manatee County medical first responders trying to help him and pulled out a loaded gun. "I had no choice but to go for the gun," said Manatee County Paramedic Carlos Santos. Santos' quick reaction, along with his partner, EMT Joe Savasta, and nearby sheriff's deputies, prevented what could have been a tragic day. Santos and Savasta responded to a call about an unconscious man inside his vehicle at the traffic light at 2600 53rd Ave. W. After several failed attempts to get the man's attention with verbal commands, the two EMS employees got inside the vehicle by breaking the back window and immediately began to check if the man was having a medical emergency.  

VIDEO: Joe Saunier, a school resource officer in Frankfort is restoring old toy fire trucks for children in need. "When you get to see the children's faces. You know, it means a lot right there," Saunier said. For the past few years, Officer Saunier has been restoring old fire trucks for children who undergo difficult situations, with some of those fire trucks being over fifty years old. "And I'll call them and ask how many families you got that just got totally wiped out and do they have kids or do you know of any. I'll get an email back in a day or so, and off I go. I hand-deliver them," Saunier said. Saunier says he's always had a call to serve and understands just how hard life can be. "Everything is at my expense, you know I don't worry about it. Can't take it with you is what my wife says. For years we struggled with our son Ryan with cystic fibrosis. We were just flat broke, it seemed like we were living paycheck to paycheck, sometimes, beg, borrow and steal and you know I have a large family to help that," Saunier said.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The Waverly Fire Department has a new home for a truck previously used in the department 100 years ago. The American LaFrance was the first "new" truck used by Waverly Fire in 1921. After the truck retired service it was sold to Redfield, Iowa, who then later sold it to Dale Miracle. After that, it stayed with a family in Indianola for sixty years. After three years of negotiations the century-old vehicle finally wheeled its way back home to the Waverly Fire Department. Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Miller says it's about doing what you can to bring history home. "Anytime you can get your history back, you only get one shot at that," Miller said. "There's always another house or another car, but in this case, there isn't another truck. This is documented that this is our first piece of equipment." Miller feels this piece of history gives to the community as well as the fire department's families, as many of them have been involved for generations.  

VIDEO: New warnings from federal regulators have local fire departments rethinking their approach to electric car battery fires. The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has trained about 250,000 first responders, but there are 1.2 million firefighters nationwide. The lithium-ion batteries found in these cars burn differently than combustible engine fires. The fire chief for the Woodlands Fire Department, a suburb outside of Houston, called the batteries a "trick birthday candle." "When you add electricity to the mix, it adds a different dynamic," said T.J. Martin with the Parma Fire Department. "Training in the fire service has always been a challenge because no two fires are the same, and any fire department across the country will tell you the same thing."