VIDEO: Champaign firefighters responded to a fire at a house in the 914 block of West Beardsley Avenue just after 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning. According to the fire department, once on the scene, fire crews found smoke and flames coming from the side and back of the residence. Firefighters deployed multiple hose lines and entered the home to search for victims. Firefighters rescued four occupants from within the home and had the fire extinguished by 9:43 a.m. The four occupants were transported to area hospitals in critical condition. There were no firefighter injuries reported. The cause of this fire is undetermined as investigators remain on the scene conducting their investigation.  

There was a medical emergency at the Sangamon County Department of Public Health on Thursday after a person received their COVID-19 vaccine. Paramedics were called to the waiting area around 1 p.m. The health department, which is currently administering the Moderna vaccine, said the individual had a slight reaction to the vaccine, so an ambulance was called out of an abundance of caution. Officials say the person did not have to be transported to the hospital and was able to go home shortly after. Now, we are taking a closer look at how common reactions to the vaccine are. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) database that collects this information, there are almost 3,000 reactions reported to the COVID-19 vaccines in Illinois. The CDC uses a system called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).  

VIDEO: A firefighter was injured and hundreds of people were evacuated after a massive fire at Manor Chemicals plant Thursday afternoon. The Affton plant, located in the 6900 block of Heege Road near Tower Tee, had a fire break out around 2:30, and it quickly grew until smoke could be seen for miles. Officials on the scene said the mushroom cloud was 400 feet in the air. Police said when crews first arrived they saw up to 10 different chemicals involved, a tanker truck and the structure itself. All employees were evacuated and none of them were injured. By the time firefighters had foam on the fire, the call moved up to a 4-alarm. Preliminary reports show the fire could've started from an electrical short or static electricity. "I heard a couple of booms, not earth-shattering but you felt them," Richard Garcia said.  

PHOTOS: In looking over the burned district with the fire still raging fiercely on Bay Street, in the most important retail business portion of the city it's sad. The entire length of Beaver Street from Davis to the creek, over Liberty Street, have been totally destroyed. This is fourteen solid blocks of residences east and west. For the same distance Ashley and Church Streets have both been completely blotted out. When the fire reached Bridge Street, in its eastward course, it enveloped in flames three blocks, Duval, Monroe and the north side of Adams, burning up that entire section of the city and running fourteen blocks to the Duval Street Bridge. St. Luke's Hospital was saved. The conflagration had covered as far as is definitely known, a distance of two and a half miles, by a half mile wide. When the fire reached Julia Street it was a roaring furnace, without any prospect of being put under control.  

VIDEO: A fire at a Tempe duplex that left a nine-year-old boy dead is highlighting the need for mental health services for firefighters. "How do you prepare for someone to see something -- a child that's dead or dying or that's been injured," said Tempe Fire Medical Rescue Deputy Chief Mark Manor. Manor says fire departments have to be reactive when caring for a firefighter's mental health. "Over the course of a career you could see hundreds of things that just kind of bottle up. And one tragic event like we had yesterday could really set someone off and we want to do the best we can to keep that from happening." Fire departments across the Valley, including Tempe Fire Medical Rescue, are now offering mental health services to combat PTSD. "Employee assistance programs, that kind of thing, as well as another third-party provider we use to specialize in mental health and mental wellness and they specialize in public safety personnel," Manor said.  

A bill strengthening penalties for drivers endangering first responders working on Montana roadways was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Greg Gianforte. House Bill 264 was driven in part by testimony in both the House and Senate from family of Casie Allen and Nick Visser, two Hanser's Automotive tow truck operators who were hit and killed by a truck while clearing a crash on I-90 between Park City and Columbus on an icy morning in October. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ross Fitzgerald, R-Fairfield, and co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Hamilton, D-Bozeman. Among the supporters of the bill is Jerry Prete, a firefighter and manager for the Montana State University Fire Services Training school and the state coordinator for the federal Traffic Incident Management program that teaches first responders how to work safely on roadways.  

Millions of Americans are receiving their COVID-19 vaccines, and in a world of over-sharing on social media, that means Instagram and Twitter feeds are also being flooded with shots. People are not only sharing when they receive their vaccine, but also which vaccine they receive, often using hashtags like #PfizerGang or #TeamModerna. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they prefer a specific vaccine brand by name, according to a recent survey of 1,000 people by M Booth Health, a health communications consultancy, and Savanta, a market research and advisory company. The survey found the largest share — 36% — preferred Pfizer. Moderna came in second with 19%, closely followed by Johnson & Johnson at 17%. Among those who said Pfizer was their first choice, 21% said social media posts by family and friends contributed to the reasoning behind their choice. The most common reason given for their preference was the vaccine's efficacy, named by 45%.