Two people died after a fire in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. According to the Chicago Fire Department, a fire broke out in the basement of a building located at 1434 West Garfield Boulevard. Two victims were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. Fire officials confirmed the two victims, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s, have both died. A firefighter was treated for minor injuries. Officials said there were no working smoke detectors.  

A Marshall County firefighter has died after suffering severe burns in a fire at a family property over the weekend. The Lacon-Sparland Fire Protection District says Chaise Mangold died from his injuries Thursday morning. He was receiving care in the burn unit at a Springfield hospital. Mangold's father was also injured in the Saturday fire. Mangold was a firefighter with the department for more than three years. Nearly $25,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe for the family's expenses. Funeral arrangements haven't yet been announced.  

At least five people sustained injuries Thursday evening in a house fire in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, according to authorities. The fire was reported before 8 p.m. in the 9300 block of South Oakley Avenue near West 94th Street. Five people suffered smoke inhalation and were transported to the hospital in fair-to-serious condition, the Chicago Fire Department tweeted. At least two people were displaced following the fire, fire officials added. Information about what caused the fire wasn't immediately available.  

By a two-thirds margin, voters in the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District supported a bond referendum that will provide funding to make improvements to the district fire station and purchase new apparatus. Of the 1,381 ballots cast in the April 6 election, 882 were in support of the referendum compared to 440 against. Fire Chief Richard May said the approval will provide the fire district with $2.2 million for capital improvements to the 20-year-old station, and the purchase of newer apparatus. According to May, Station 36, located at 35 Ela Rd. in Inverness, needs a new roof, floor repairs, and heating and air conditioning replacement, with those being a few examples of what improvements are needed. He also said the fire district will be replacing an ambulance, a fire engine and a water tender.  

Real Green People is a monthly feature that puts a spotlight on folks who are being the green change they want to see in the world. There are teachers that you remember and then there are teachers that change the course of your life. Dr. Charles Ruffner is a teacher who has changed the course of many young lives. As a professor in Southern Illinois University's Forestry Program, Ruffner doesn't just teach. He is passionate about forestry, and fire, and conservation (among other things) and his enthusiasm is more than just contagious. The fact that so many of his former students are working in forestry and conservation, right here in Southern Illinois, speaks to the impact he has had on them.  

A Harrisburg business temporarily is closed after a Friday morning fire caused damage to the building. Harrisburg Fire Department received a call about a fire at Midwest Cash at 305 N. Commercial St., according to Fire Chief John Gunning. Firefighters remained on the scene until about 2 p.m. Friday. Gunning said no injuries were reported and that the cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office. On Midwest Cash's Facebook page, the business temporarily is closed to assess damage, but plans to reopen.  

VIDEO: Most San Diego firefighters spend the majority of their career fighting house and brush fires, but this week, dozens are practicing for something very different - a plane on fire at the airport. "In a house is what we call a Class A fire, typically materials, linens, and wood," Capt. Derrin Austin with San Diego Fire-Rescue said. "With aircraft firefighting, it's the fuels, which are different than vehicle fuels, and more than likely hazardous materials that are part of the cargo." Also different, planes can be packed with people who are panicking to get out. "One of the challenges is balancing getting in to put the fire out and staying out of the way of the passengers and crew that have to evacuate from the plane," Capt. Austin added. San Diego Fire-Rescue has a station at the airport and the crews there have to go through Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighter training every year.  

VIDEO: All lanes of SR-112/Airport Expressway are back open after a fiery crash involving a tractor-trailer and a Florida rapper shut them down early Thursday morning. The accident happened near NW 12th Avenue shortly after 3:30 a.m. The driver of the tractor-trailer, who lost his shoe escaping his burning truck, said the other vehicle involved had been speeding on the shoulder when the crash happened. The tractor-trailer ended up hitting a concrete barrier. Officials said the tractor-trailer carrying about 100 gallons of fuel and erupted into flames after the crash. "I kicked the door and then I was able to throw myself from the cab," said the truck's driver Reynier Acosta. The four people involved in the crash were not seriously hurt, according to Miami Fire Rescue. One of the people in the SUV was North Miami rapper Tafia, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. He posted on his Instagram Thursday morning that he was leaving the hospital.  

Chattanooga city leaders came together Thursday afternoon to discuss their commitment to public safety and emergency response. This project is called Power to Protect. It's a joint initiative between the city and EPB. Mayor Andy Berke said he doesn't know of another community in the country doing this. The project is using solar energy and pairing it with different technologies to increase the resiliency of our power supply to our public safety agencies. This will pay dividends when catastrophic events happen in Chattanooga. "Extreme weather events are more and more common than ever before," Mayor Berke said. The Tennessee Valley knows that well. Last year's Easter tornadoes highlighted just how devastating bad weather events can be. The city has been working on a plan to have better communication with first responders in those terrifying moments for the past few years. They did that by partnering with EPB to build a microgrid.  

They sit behind multiple computer screens their entire shift, but they could save your life. They are the operators of 911 dispatch. And although National Public Safety Telecommunications Week is under way, their jobs have not become any less stressful. Longview Police Department Communications Manager Matt Ainsworth says if anyone deserves a week named for them, it's 911 telecommunicators. "It's a week that we set aside every year to acknowledge who do this very, very difficult job," Ainsworth said. He agrees that it's right up there with air traffic control. "High stress, technology dependence, shift work, long hours; it's definitely something else," Ainsworth said. That something else has gone from two monitors to six over the years, and they keep an eye on everything. "You're monitoring the phones, you're monitoring GPS, you're monitoring radios. Multi-tasking is absolutely the heart of what we do back there," Ainsworth said.  

The Cleveland Fire Fighter's Association said it has safety concerns when it comes to the city's aging fleet of fire trucks. Fire union President Francis Lally pointed to Cleveland's latest annual report on the fire department, which indicated 13 of the city's 42 fire trucks are listed in "poor condition," with eight of the trucks having more than 120,000 miles on them. "I'm not only worried about the safety of our crews out on the streets, but for the citizens and the residents out there, because we have more and more people living downtown, we have more and more people living in high-rise buildings," Lally said. "It is a safety issue, some of these pumpers that are out there right now have failed their annual inspection. Which means they can't pump at the pressures that are needed, say for high-rise fires." "By the city's own metrics they're in poor condition. It's not just one, it's not just two, it's not just three that need to be replaced on an annual basis, it's over a dozen."