VIDEO: Chicago fire officials are responding to a building fire, which sent billowing smoke through the city's Edgewater Beach neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. Just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Chicago fire officials tweeted that firefighters were at 1054 W. Hollywood responding to a "heavy fire." As of 1:45 p.m., officials said the fire was "still in progress." Based on photos from the Chicago Fire Department, "Stickney School" is written above the front door on the façade of the building. According to the Edgewater Historical Society, the school was established in 1893, but is no longer occupied. Officials did not yet provide information on any individuals impacted by the fire.  

At Tuesday night's meeting, city leaders voted to keep a clause in firefighters' contracts that would allow them to use marijuana on their own time. Alderman Chuck Redpath said this is in line with the state law which makes marijuana legal. However, a few residents spoke up during the meeting and said they feel as if first responders should be held to a higher standard. "They have a right to do this as long as it doesn't interfere with their duties," Alderman Redpath said. "It says you can't use it 36-hours prior to your duty." Alderman Redpath said this is very similar to how alcohol is handled. If aldermen and women didn't approve this, then the contract would have to be renegotiated.  

The city of Moline is planning some major changes to buildings and a new way for citizens to have easy access to everything they need, but there are a lot of decisions to be made to get there. The city administrator and fleet and facilities manager gave a two hour presentation to the council Tuesday. The main topics were the state of city hall, the central fire station, and the creation of a Moline "one stop shop." "There are very specific functions of government that serve those needs of the development sector," said City Administrator Bob Vitas. "That would help streamline processes and procedures not only for our residents, but would help our businesses." Vitas says the idea isn't a new one, tested and proven through use in other communities. The goal is creating a hub for developers and residents, everything from permitting to city payments, like utilities and garbage, under one roof.  

Fire officials were called to a 4-unit apartment building on North 57th St. in Washington Park, IL early this morning. Washington Park Mayor Leonard Moore said the fire started in an unoccupied unit. The Fire department arrived in a timely manner, and was able to get everyone out safely. Two units were occupied, and two units were not. When asking Mayor Moore how seeing this makes him feel, he replied, "…just praying that everyone get out safely. And then with just having this fire that took out our three central buildings a couple of months ago…it brings back a lot bad memories, and we're still in the process of trying to rebuild, and we're still waiting on aid which we havent' received yet. I don't even have a word for it. It's just sad."  

VIDEO/PHOTO: Firefighters from across southern Illinois got to test out some new equipment Tuesday. A technical rescue team used it to lift a practice dummy up a 45-foot structure. Firefighters said this training is essential. "We have to be sharp on our skills. We don't have time to sit around and think about things when a rescue is imminent. We've got to be sharp on our skills and the only way to do that is repetition. We take pride in everything we do, and we try and stay sharp for anybody who may need us," said West Frankfort Acting Chief, Derek Sailliez. Sailliez said firefighters do this type of training every other month for at least 4 hours.  

Smoke was visible miles away after a fire broke out Tuesday night in Milford, Massachusetts. Aerial footage showed massive flames engulfing a three-story building on Haven Street. Fire crews from Milford and multiple neighboring communities responded. No one was injured, fire officials said. Access to water was a problem for firefighters. "The challenge is that no hydrants are available, therefore we have to bring trucks in carrying thousands of gallons of water, and they rotate, and we pump their water and they go back and fill up again," said Milford Fire Chief Mark Nelson. "It's quite an operation, it's labor-intensive, and it takes more time." Crews managed to get the fire under control after about an hour, but continued to douse hot spots late Tuesday night.  

Researchers in Washington are updating a database on different types of fentanyl to keep first responders safe when they arrive to the scene of an overdose or crime scene. The idea is to put that information into a handheld device that officers or firefighters can use so they know if the substance they have found is dangerous. The Department of Homeland Security funded this project at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington State. Just like variants of COVID-19, there are different forms of fentanyl. Enterprise chemists work on analogs of the deadly opioid that are more addictive and easier to make. Overdoses from the opioid has become a big problem recently in Colorado. The state's health department found nearly half of the overdose deaths in 2021 involved fentanyl.  

It was March 25, 2018, and then high school standout Bones Hyland was in his room in his family's Delaware home after an AAU game. He was watching the Kansas vs. Duke Elite Eight game on his laptop and talking to a friend when his room started to fill with black smoke. The home was quickly engulfed in fire and Hyland was forced to jump from his second-story window to safety on the ground. In the fall, Hyland smashed his right knee into a brick staircase, tearing his patellar tendon and jeopardizing his basketball career. It could have been much worse, his grandmother and young cousin did not survive the fire. Those losses hit Hyland hard. Hyland formed a tight bond with the firefighters and first responders who helped save him and another cousin that day. When the Nuggets rookie came to Philadelphia Monday, Hyland met pregame with the firefighters from the station that helped him. They gave him a Wilmington Fire Department jacket.  

Sometimes, a life-changing experience can come from seemingly out of the blue. At least it appeared that way for Joshua Everetts, age 43, of Jenkintown. He lived in South Philly with his wife, Jovanna, for 15 years, but the two had decided that once their son, Raylan, was of school age that they would move out of the city to Jenkintown. They moved in October of 2019 and after a few months of settling in, the pandemic hit. The family suddenly found themselves unable to enjoy and venture out into their new community. While staying put in the house on lockdown, Everetts would unknowingly stumble upon an opportunity that would change his life forever. "One day I came across a post for ‘volunteers needed' for the Jenkintown Fire Department, so I jumped on the opportunity to get out of the house." Upon volunteering, Everetts was initially accepted into the department as a volunteer fire police officer, "which in itself, took quite a bit of training and also being sworn in by the mayor," he said.  

VIDEO: The BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant now makes up nearly a quarter of new COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Tuesday, up from around 1 in 10 new cases just a week prior. Since January, Omicron has made up virtually all new infections in the U.S. Like in many countries abroad, most cases in the U.S. had been caused by a sub-lineage of Omicron known as BA.1. But while both BA.1 and BA.2 can be traced back to some of the earliest samples gathered of Omicron, BA.2 has only recently begun to climb in prevalence. BA.2's prevalence is the highest in the Northeast, according to the CDC's "Nowcast" estimates published Tuesday. In the region spanning New York and New Jersey, the agency estimates 39.0% of circulating viruses are BA.2.