A woman has died after a fire at a Springfield apartment complex left her seriously injured. At 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning, fire crews were called to Sangamon Towers for a fire inside one of the apartments. Fire officials on scene tell WAND News the fire caused two floors of the complex to fill with heavy smoke. Springfield Police and the State Fire Marshall‘s office were on scene after the fire Thursday morning. Mary Garlin, 68, went to a hospital and was pronounced dead by staff at 3:11 a.m. An autopsy completed Thursday afternoon suggests smoke inhalation was her cause of death. Fire crews say other residents were treated on scene for minor injuries. In an update sent to WAND News at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, firefighters said a cause has not yet been determined. They said the fire caused an estimated loss of $20,000.  

A mom and her child still have their apartment; after an early Friday morning fire call in La Salle. A fire crew traveled four blocks west to the apartments at 933 5th street. Smoke was coming from a kitchen in the southeast corner of the complex. Whatever fire there was, was knocked down quickly. Bacidore said there were no injuries and no structural damage. The mother and child living there warned others in the building to get out.  

A woman was in critical condition Thursday afternoon after being rescued from a fire in an Evanston apartment building. The fire broke out at 1:07 p.m. in the building at 319 Dempster St., between Judson and Forest avenues, according to the Evanston Fire Department. A sprinkler system stopped the fire from spreading beyond one apartment, but smoke did spread throughout the building, the fire department said. Firefighters rescued one middle-aged woman from the fire. She was not breathing and had no pulse when they found her in her unit, the fire department said. Firefighters carried the woman down three flights of stairs. First responders were able to resuscitate her, and she was taken to a local hospital in critical condition in the ICU.  

VIDEO: A massive, five-alarm fire broke out in Brooklyn Thursday evening, roaring through four buildings on one block as more than 200 firefighters battled the flames, officials said. The fire started just after 6 p.m. at a building on Montrose Avenue in East Williamsburg, fire officials said, as flames began on the second floor, shooting up to the third floor and going through the roof shortly after. Video from the FDNY shows firefighters on the roof of adjoining buildings attempting to put out the inferno, as huge plumes of smoke billowed into the night sky. By 8 p.m., the fire was under control, as crews at the scene were putting out smaller hotspots. The flames tore through three buildings, and a fourth also sustained damage. The fire was so intense it caused a wall to collapse inside one of the buildings. Approximately 30 apartments were inhabitable after the fire.  

A Georgia fire captain will deliver the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris next week. The International Association of Fire Fighters and the inauguration committee asked City of South Fulton Fire Capt. Andrea Hall to do the honors of reading the pledge. In a statement, Hall said she was honored to be chosen to participate in the inauguration ceremony. "I am thrilled and humbled to represent firefighters and other frontline workers in the state of Georgia and the City of South Fulton," she said. "It is a privilege and an honor to help usher in a new chapter of leadership for our country." Hall is the first African-American female firefighter to be captain of South Fulton's Fire Rescue Department. She was promoted to the position in 2004 by Fulton County before she joined the City of South Fulton.  

North Carolina is the first state in the country to implement a statewide voluntary registry to help combat the spread of COVID-19 among first responders, according to Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal Mike Causey. Causey's office partnered with RTI International to create a survey on the Fire Marshal website to allow fire departments, emergency service workers, and other first responders to report positive COVID-19 cases and quarantines. The goal is to provide real-time data for state leaders to understand how the virus is affecting first responders and what resources are needed to keep them safe. Current projections show increases of illness and death among first responders and members of the fire service due to the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses. The International Association of Firefighters has created a nationwide COVID-19 tracking tool on its website, but the state registry is focused on the statewide needs of North Carolina's first responders.  

VIDEO: A retired firefighter from Chester, Pennsylvania is accused of being the man seen on video throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three police officers at the Capitol during the riot in Washington, D.C. last week. Robert Sanford, 55, was arrested Thursday morning on four federal charges, including knowingly entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, civil disorder and assaulting officers engaging in their official duties. According to the charging documents, the extinguisher bounced off the heads of three officers, two of whom wore helmets. Sanford, 55, traveled by bus with other people to the Capitol, according to documents. He told a friend when he returned home that he had been on the grounds for 10 minutes before leaving but did not mention throwing anything at officers, authorities said.  

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the USA, vaccines have begun to be distributed across the country and its territories. Two different vaccines, one made by Pfizer-BioNTech and another from Moderna, have been authorized for emergency use and are part of the widespread distribution process. The first shots were given Dec. 14, and states are able to place new orders every week. More COVID-19 cases are being recorded this winter than at any previous period of the pandemic. Many states struggle to administer vaccines at the same rate the vaccines are shipped. Anyone age 16 or older can receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the Moderna vaccine is authorized only for adults. States prioritize at-risk populations to be vaccinated first, including medical staff, people in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities, essential workers, the elderly and people with medical conditions that put them at greater risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19.