The Old Swanson's Apartment Building in Bethel lies in rubble. The city tore the building down on Oct. 6 after the structure continued burning for its second day, and after the fire had spread next door to the Old Swanson's Furniture Store. The fire started the morning of Oct. 5. Throughout that day, Bethel firefighters hosed down the flames. During the night, firefighters monitored the building. "There was a couple rekindles reported, so we had the engine come back out here and put out the hot spots," Acting Fire Chief Darren Solsebee said. Just before 9 a.m. on Oct. 6, the fire rekindled. "And it was fairly large and started creeping into the Quonset hut, the Old Swanson's Furniture Store," Solsebee said. Just before 9 a.m. on Oct. 6, the fire rekindled. "And it was fairly large and started creeping into the Quonset hut, the Old Swanson's Furniture Store," Solsebee said.  

Police arrested five people from Switzerland County Monday on numerous theft-related charges after a six-month Indiana State Police investigation into theft from the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department that allegedly included a secret meeting and filing fake state paperwork to take over department accounts. State police said the investigation began in March, after they were notified that a group of people was attempting "to fraudulently gain control of the equipment and assets of the fire department," which had closed in 2017. Investigators said on March 16, 37-year-old Christopher See filed fraudulent paperwork with the state to take control of the fire department. Then See, along with Christopher Miller, 32, Caitlyn Staat, 19, Jacob Parker, 35, and Lewis Fritter, 42, held a meeting without giving proper public notice and without telling the remaining members of the Patriot Volunteer Fire Department.  

The Mattoon City Council and the firefighters union may temporarily reduce the emergency medical technician (EMT) certification requirements for new firefighters to expedite hiring. The council will consider approving a memorandum of understanding with Mattoon Firefighters Local 691 during the council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The council also will consider allocating more than $90,000 in midtown tax increment financing fund grants for exterior improvements to three buildings in this business district. Regarding the memorandum, this proposed document will temporarily reduce the minimum certification requirement for newly hired firefighters from EMT-paramedic to EMT-basic. The union has called for the city to bring staffing back up to 30 firefighters as required by the current contract, which was set to expire in 2018 but is still in place until a new contract is reached.  

In May, doctors announced they were seeing a new and rare coronavirus complication in children. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta warns, it's appearing in adults, too. Called MIS-C, which stands for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, the complication manifests roughly two to four weeks after a coronavirus infection. Experts suspect that children who develop this syndrome were exposed to the virus and that their bodies mounted an exaggerated immune response, the AJC's Helena Oliviero wrote. Symptoms are similar to toxic shock and Kawasaki disease: fever, rashes, swollen glands and, in severe cases, heart inflammation. Since June, several case reports have described a similar syndrome in adults. The CDC's review describes 27 patients who had cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermatologic and neurologic symptoms without severe respiratory illness and who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.  

VIDEO: Crews are at the old Royal Coach building in Hastings Wednesday morning battling a massive fire. Due to the fire, thousands in the Hastings area are without power. According to Lt. Lani Forbes with the Freeport Fire Department, Barry County Central Dispatch alerted authorities around 3:30 a.m. that an odor and smoke were coming from the building, located on N. Hanover Street and the former E.W. Bliss Landfill near Bliss Riverfront Park. When law enforcement arrived on scene, they found flames, Lt. Forbes explained on the scene. The Hastings Fire Department is on scene, but additional help from Freeport, Woodland, and Thornapple townships were called to the fire as well. "We could see the glow, as we were coming out of Freeport," Forbes explained. "It's a very large, intense fire."