Multiple fire departments joined forces Thursday morning to battle a large junkyard fire in west suburban Stickney. The blaze broke out before 6 a.m. at the junkyard in the 5000-block of 40th Street. The fire appeared to be contained to the junkyard, but firefighters were having a difficult time controlling the flames due to a lack of hydrants, Stickney police said. Several fire departments were assisting, including Berwyn, Riverside, Cicero and Summit. The Chicago Fire Department was also called upon for their water boats. The junkyard is located next to the I & M Canal. Large flames and smokes were visible from the Stevenson Expressway during rush hour Thursday morning.  

A man in his early 80s died at a hospital after firefighters were able to remove him from a home that was on fire in Plainfield Township. Firefighters with Plainfield Fire Protection District responded to a call about 10 p.m. Thursday and pulled up to a home in the 2500 block of Gael Avenue that was on fire, said Plainfied Fire Chief Jon Stratton. Neighbors informed the firefighters that there was an elderly person inside the residence, Stratton said. The firefighters were able to quickly find an elderly man inside the home and he was the only occupant, he said. The man was taken to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he succumbed to his injures, Stratton said. He said he didn't know how the man died and he was waiting on information from the Will County Coroner's Office. As of early Friday morning, the coroner's office's Facebook page has not released any information on the incident.  

Police and firefighter/paramedics from Arlington Heights responded about 11:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2020 to a report of an apartment fire at 2415 North Kennicott Drive in Arlington Heights. Upon arrival firefighters reported smoke showing from a 2-story apartment building and upgraded the fire to a working fire response by 11:07 p.m. Residents evacuated the building on their own. There were initially no injuries reported at the apartment fire scene. Firefighters from Buffalo Grove, Palatine and Prospect Heights were assigned with a mutual aid response to the scene of the working fire. A primary search on the first floor was clear by 11:26 p.m. A primary search on the second floor fire unit and hallway was also clear by 11:26 p.m. Firefighters were pulling ceiling on the second floor and checking for extension by 11:27 p.m.  

No injuries were reported after a car drove through a BMO Harris Bank in Fox River Grove on Saturday. The Fox River Grove Fire Protection District and Fox River Grove Police Department responded around 11:20 a.m. Saturday to BMO Harris Bank, 860 Northwest Highway. Firefighters arrived and found a 2019 Buick Regal sedan that drove through the front of the bank. The Buick went fully into the building and the driver was trapped in the vehicle. Firefighters extricated the driver from the car and assisted them out. Paramedics evaluated the driver, who was uninjured and did not require hospitalization. There were five employees inside the bank but none of them were injured, officials said. The cause of the crash was not immediately released and it is unknown if police cited the driver.  

Compared to the general public, New York City firefighters and emergency medical workers were 15 times more likely to be infected with the new coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic, researchers reported on Thursday in ERJ Open Research. They studied nearly 10,800 firefighters and 3,500 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. From the beginning of March to the end of May, 36.2% of these front-line workers were either confirmed as having the virus with a positive PCR viral test or suspected as having COVID-19 due to their symptoms. During the same period, the rate was 2.4% in the city's general population. Compared to the firefighters, the EMTs and paramedics were more likely to contract the virus and to develop severe COVID-19. Everyone in the study had previously undergone tests to assess their lung health, and those with declining lung function before the pandemic had higher risks of severe COVID-19.  

A Delray Beach firefighter is sharing his story of survival from cancer in an emotional post on Facebook. Throughout November, the agency is telling stories about firefighters who have battled cancer. They said it part of an effort to increase awareness of the disease and the importance of prevention for everyone. Firefighter Robert Pastor, now 36, was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 after an ultrasound technician noticed a small nodule on his neck. "The minute you are told you have cancer, the first thought in your head is 'I'm going to die.' You think the worst," Pastor said in the Facebook post on the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Facebook page. "I'm like, 'I'm married. I have two kids. I am going to die. Who will take care of my kids?" he said. It was an emotional battle for Pastor, but he said his wife's strength helped him through the process. "Not once did my wife ever show she was scared," he said. "Honestly, she was my rock."  

The Rutgers School of Public Health received a $1.5 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to support cancer research for volunteer firefighters. The funding will enhance research already being done in collaboration with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as part of the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study. The assessment and prevention study works with fire departments across the state to assess how to understand and prevent exposure to cancer-causing agents in New Jersey firefighters. "With this Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, the Cancer Assessment and Prevention Study will engage with volunteer firefighters and stakeholders in New Jersey and nationally to address the knowledge gap in cancer causing exposures and risk factors among volunteer firefighters and inform cancer prevention strategies," said the grant's principal investigator Judith Graber.  

For the past 24 years in Haskell, Texas, Steel Fire Apparatus has been transforming trucks into firefighting machines. "But we take it and add the bed, the tool boxes, the pump, the water," Wes Steele, owner, said. But before they're ready to fight brush fires, everything starts with Wes designing the truck on the computer based on a fire department's needs. "We take their ideas and try to build the best truck that works for them," he said. After cutting sheets of metal and having them bent into the desired shapes, they're welded together. He said it's typical to find a truck made entirely of aluminum because the lighter the truck, the more water it can carry. "Sometimes they have to travel 20, 30, 50 miles just to get water," he said. It's then over to their body shop for final touches and an extra layer of paint protection. "The heat that they're exposed to, it's an industrial coating, it's a lot thicker, it's a little bit harder than just your automotive coating," he said.