Crews were on the scene of a fire at a monument company Tuesday afternoon. Vienna Police Chief James Miller confirmed a major fire at JW Reynolds Monument Company on S. 5th Street on the Vienna Courthouse Square. He said the call came in around 2:34 p.m. on Tuesday, November 1 when a worker reported the back of the building on fire. According to Miller, the area in the back is a work area for the monuments, while the front of the building is used for their office and showroom. He said multiple crews were on scene, including the Vienna Fire Department, Goreville Fire Department, Cypress Fire Department, Lake of Egypt Fire Department, Pope County Fire Department District and Buncombe Fire Department.  

To honor late first responder Paul Miller, a blood drive is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Prospect Heights Fire District, 10 E. Camp McDonald Rd., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The "Paul Miller Blood Drive" was made to honor firefighter/paramedic Miller who lost his life after a driver hit his motorcycle in April 2019. He succumbed to his injuries and passed away two days later on April 23. Miller was prized as a hero in his communities, who began his journey with Prospect Heights and Highwood, continuing his journey with fire departments in Des Plaines and McHenry. One recipient's life was saved because of Miller's organ donation. A man is currently breathing because of Miller's lung donation, who remains in contact with the family today.  

The Peoria Fire Departments' newest additions arrived on Monday from North Carolina. Two 14-month Belgium Malinois, a girl and a boy, will serve as accelerant detection dogs who assist arson investigators with fire investigations. The female dog is named Molly after the nation's first female firefighter, said Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger. The male dog does not have a name yet. Both dogs were purchased using private donations.  

With Halloween over, residents can say goodbye to those carved, rotting jack-o-lanterns, but why not have some fun at the same time? Smashing pumpkins is definitely one way to dispose of those rotted jack-o-lanterns, but for the Byron Fire Protection District, the "Annual Pumpkin Drop" is about bringing the community together. The department teamed up with the Byron Park District to host the annual event on Tuesday evening. It has been done annually for more than 16 years. "It just gives the community a place to dispose of their pumpkins the day after Halloween," said Byron Fire Chief Andy Politsch. "It's a fun event. The kids get to come out, they get to climb up to the top of our training tower. We have a target down there, and they try to hit the target and smash the pumpkins."  

San Antonio firefighters battled a fire at a permanently shut down bar on the city's Northeast Side early Wednesday morning. The fire was called in just before 4:30 a.m. at what was previously Midnight Rodeo, not far from both Thousand Oaks and Nacogdoches Road. Firefighters said when they arrived they found the 25,000-square-foot building covered with heavy smoke. At this time, is unclear exactly what caused the fire. San Antonio Fire Department Chief Charles Hood said the business has been shut down since 2019 and that they found evidence of people living inside. The two-story building has undergone various renovations and remodeling projects over the years, so there are several layers of wood inside, Hood said.  

VIDEO: The Tulsa Fire Department (TFD) introduced a brand new team of firefighters equipped to respond to emergencies on bicycles. It's all in an effort to help firefighters cut down response times getting to victims in rugged terrains and crowded places. The two TFD firefighters behind the push to start the team have a passion. "If it has two wheels and pedals, I've raced it my entire life," Tulsa Firefighter Dave Weaver said. A passion for hitting the trails. "I've fallen in love with the sport of mountain biking," Tulsa Firefighter Kayle Greiman said. And now, Greiman and Weaver are putting their passions to use—saving lives. "I'm gonna combine two things I love… working at the fire department and riding bikes," Weaver said. The two head up the new bike response team. Including them, the team is a group of 24 firefighters trained to ride bikes through rugged terrain, especially at Turkey Mountain, Tulsa's wilderness park in west Tulsa. TFD responds to numerous calls to help hikers every given week.  

We've seen it happen at soccer games, concerts and other large scale events like the Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea. Crowd surges can sweep up revelers, causing major injuries and even deaths -- more than 150 people were killed in Seoul alone. How do people die in situations like this? The fire chief said what tends to happen in these large crowds is that something triggers a wave, like someone falling or a fight. This wave then creates a large movement of people to the point where they are crushed against each other or a building, and the deaths usually occur by compressive asphyxia. What can you do before you go into a crowd? Is there a way to prevent getting caught up in a surge while also enjoying the event you're at? The best thing you can do is to understand the event, the chief emphasized.  

Just over a month ago, Chris Husbands' backyard in North Portland was on fire. The 32-year-old builder of custom vans was in Florida on Sept. 17 when a blaze broke out in a homeless camp behind his house in the Portsmouth neighborhood. It tore through dry blackberry bushes, climbed his wooden gate, and lit his bamboo plants up like a torch. As the inferno spread, it engulfed a 75-foot pine tree nearby, sending panic through his quiet cul-de-sac. Firefighters rushed to the scene near North Juneau and Attu streets and put out the flames—just yards from Husbands' modest maroon bungalow. He learned about it in a text from a neighbor. As he vacationed with his wife, Haley, and year-old son, a ball of stress rose in his chest. "I don't give a shit about material things—that's what insurance is for," Husbands says. "But I have a kid now and a wife, and I worry about their safety."  

Hyundai has issued a recall for certain model-year 2018 Santa Fe sport utility vehicles as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issues a consumer alert – park these vehicles outside – due to the potential for under-hood, ABS-based vehicle fires. This recall is in addition to another one issued in February 2022 for certain 2016-2018 Santa Fe models for the same issue. This recall adds 44,396 additional Hyundai and Kia vehicles to the list of those recalled (which includes hundreds of thousand vehicles) in the U.S. and other markets to deal with this issue. According to the NHTSA announcement, "To date, there have been four fires in the United States associated with this defect, but no injuries."