The union representing Chicago firefighters wants a Cook County judge to halt the promotion of more than a dozen department members to battalion chief. The Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 filed a motion for an injunction in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday that seeks to stop the promotions — set to take effect Dec. 16 — because 17 department members slated for advancement scored below 70% on the promotional exam. "In order to be promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief, an applicant is required to achieve a passing grade of seventy (70) or better. This requirement is based on the parties' mutually understood past practice" that has been "articulated" in prior arbitration awards, the union argues. However, 17 test-takers who scored below 70% on the exam, given in 2016, are set to be promoted next week, according to the union. There are 112 battalion chiefs in the fire department, according to city employment records.  

One employee and three firefighters were injured and four cats died Thursday in a large fire inside an auto repair shop in the 1200 block of South Main Street. The injured employee, one of several people inside the building at the time of the fire, was not seriously hurt and was not taken to the hospital, said Matt Knott, Rockford Fire Department division chief. The firefighters' injuries also were described as minor. The fire was reported shortly after 3 p.m. at Llanito's Auto Repair, 1231 S. Main St., which is on the city's south side across from the former Barber-Colman industrial complex. The cause of the fire is under investigation. An apartment is located above the auto shop. Firefighters searched the building but did not find anyone inside. The occupant, a relative of the business owner, was displaced and is being assisted by the American Red Cross, Knott said.  

With flames rising from the roof of a two-story house, Chris Lesniak stood in a neighboring driveway and kept saying it was "Tragic. Tragic." Lesniak couldn't believe or imagine what his friend, Matt Illman must be going through. Illman found his mother, 84, dead in the same house a few hours earlier. Lesniak said he and Illman were out to breakfast. Illman called his mom, and when she didn't answer, he drove to check on her and found her deceased. And now, just after sunset Thursday night, Illman's mom's house was on fire in the 600 block of Edwards Avenue in La Salle. Friends and family members had been calling on Matt at the house, and he had spent much of the afternoon tending to family affairs.  

A cute and curious puppy is relaxing at his Batavia home Thursday thanks to the quick response of local firefighters a day earlier. Opie, a 10-week-old Rottweiler puppy, gave his family quite a scare when he accidentally got his head stuck in a fence after something caught his attention, according to his owner, TK Schubbe. According to Schubbe, family members weren't able to free Opie without help due to the angles and placement of the nails in the wood fence. "We tried everything to free him," Schubbe said. "Hammers frightened him. Our last resort was to call 911." Schubbe said first responders from the Batavia Fire Department arrived at their house within minutes.  

Firefighters worked to put out flames at a two story home near Shirland early Friday morning. Around 7:30 a.m. Friday, multiple fire departments responded to 11831 Pearl Street for reports of a house fire. Smoke was showing coming from the second story of the home. Crews were able to contain the fire and no injuries were reported. No one was home at the time of the fire according to officials at the scene.  

Kevin Leago, the trailblazing Houston firefighter with cancer who fought City Hall to provide workers compensation benefits for his illness — and won — died Thursday. He was 40. Leago's victory in court over city lawyers who argued his illness was unrelated to on-the-job carcinogen exposure set a precedent for dozens of current and retired Houston firefighters stricken with cancer, Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton said. "Kevin's legacy will go well beyond his excellent service as a firefighter," Lancton said. "By working for insurance reform, Kevin and his family fought the good fight even while he was sick. He recently asked us to carry on the reform efforts so other firefighter families could avoid what he's gone through." Fire Chief Sam Peña called Leago a "damn good man" and dedicated firefighter who led by example. He said the department would name an award in his honor.  

VIDEO: A new public service announcement from the Honolulu Fire Department that began airing recently features a wake up call on the dangers of house fires. The PSA shows a boy, his father and pet dog asleep while actually succumbing to the impacts of smoke ? without even knowing it. "This boy is dying. He's dying because there's a fire in the house," the narrator says. "The smoke from the fire is already filling his lungs and killing him while he sleeps." "I think it's a great initiative by the fire department to push for working smoke alarms," said former Honolulu fire captain and public information officer Richard Soo, who was not part of HFD's campaign. He spent 27 years with the fire department. "It's the experience of a firefighter when you go to these scenes that what really kills is the smoke," he said. He says smoke alarms saved his own family when a fire erupted in his kitchen years ago.  

Every firefighter knows a call can come at any time. But the Rev. Dave Driesch and the Rev. Tim McGill serve a God as well as their community — meaning their pagers go off while they're praying or leading a service. Driesch, a veteran firefighter and Catholic priest who is prior of Daylesford Abbey, is helping newbie firefighter and Southern Baptist minister McGill, pastor of Paoli Community Church, balance both worlds. "If I heard the siren go off during Mass, and I heard one engine leave, and then a second engine leave, I'd speed things up a bit, cut that sermon short, and just get moving," said Driesch, describing how he has fine-tuned his personal fire gauge, developed over the last 30 years. "[McGill] will say, ‘I ran out of something at the church. Was that OK?,' I tell him, ‘You'll learn when you can leave and when you can't leave. Obviously, you don't leave during a wedding or funeral.' "  

The union representing Chicago firefighters wants a Cook County judge to halt the promotion of more than a dozen department members to battalion chief. The Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 filed a motion for an injunction in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday that seeks to stop the promotions — set to take effect Dec. 16 — because 17 department members slated for advancement scored below 70% on the promotional exam. "In order to be promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief, an applicant is required to achieve a passing grade of seventy (70) or better. This requirement is based on the parties' mutually understood past practice" that has been "articulated" in prior arbitration awards, the union argues. However, 17 test-takers who scored below 70% on the exam, given in 2016, are set to be promoted next week, according to the union.  

Unable to find a candidate willing to take on the role as their new fire chief, the city of Falcon Heights voted Wednesday to have Rose­ville's fire department assume the chief's responsibilities for one year. The unanimous vote by Falcon Heights' City Council comes several weeks after Roseville's council agreed to the $40,000 contract, in which they would take responsibility for all administrative and command services, as well as a department-wide audit. Nine months ago Falcon Heights fired its fire chief, Rich Hinrichs, after his clashes with the former mayor and city staff, including current city manager Sack Thongvanh. Wednesday's vote also resulted in the termination of two department veterans, Assistant Fire Chief Anton Fairinbach and firefighter and training officer Brian Sullivan, both of whom spoke up in support of Hinrichs during the March council meeting in which he was fired.