The Peoria Fire Department is losing 22 firefighter positions. Thursday, councilman Denis Cyr explained why he voted yes on the proposal to decommission two engine companies, after voting no the previous week. Cyr said he chose the best option for his constituents who consistently tell him they are tired of paying higher taxes and fees. He said his goal is to be fiscally responsible. In order to keep the taxes low he Cyr said services needed to be cut. He was in favor of closing two engine companies, but he did not want to close the company in his district. However, Cyr said it was up to Peoria Fire Chief Tony Ardis. If two engines had to be closed, Ardis said it will be Engine Four and Engine 20.  

Emergency responders sobbed, grown men held onto each other and others reflected on treasured memories Thursday as they mourned longtime Rock Falls firefighter Bill Milby at a public park. Milby, 60, died Aug. 27 from complications of renal cancer. "He loved being a fireman," said RFFD firefighter, chaplain and Rev. Brian Tribley. "He dedicated years of his life to this city and we'll never know how many lives he's truly touched or saved through medical calls, accident scenes and fires involving smoking structures." A former Twin City Joint Fire Command Deputy Fire Chief, Milby retired from the Rock Falls Fire Department on Sept. 30, 2018, after serving 33 years. He had been an active Whiteside County Board member since 2006, heading its Judiciary and Wage and Salary committees.  

Aldermen advanced an agreement Thursday that would give Chicago firefighters $95 million in back pay, but puts off fraught negotiations over how fire stations should be staffed. Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 ratified the tentative agreement with 76% of the vote, chief labor attorney for the city James Franczek told members of the City Council's Workforce Development Committee, which unanimously endorsed the deal. The full City Council is set to vote on the deal Wednesday. The deal is retroactive to July 1, 2017, when the last labor agreement between the city and the firefighters union expired, and will last until June 30, 2021. The deal calls for firefighters to get a 10% raise during the term of the agreement, in keeping with pay hikes won by other unions that represent city workers.  

A firefighter battling a wildfire in Washington state near the Canadian border lost his wife and three children in an early-morning blaze that destroyed their new home. The family's single-wide trailer was almost completely consumed when firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded to the Green Acres Mobile Home Park in Benton City, Washington, just before 1 a.m. on August 27. "There was really nothing we could do," Ron Duncan, chief of Benton County Fire Protection District 2, told CNN. The radiant heat from the fire was so intense that a nearby trailer also caught fire, but deputies were able to rescue the residents of that home, Duncan said. Firefighters put out the fire and found the family members' bodies while searching the trailer. Marcaria Garcia-Martinez, 32, her daughters Luz Garcia-Martinez, 17, and Michelle Garcia-Martinez, 6, and son Luis Garcia-Martinez, 15, died from asphyxia due to smoke inhalation, Benton County Coroner William Leach told CNN in an email.  

VIDEO: If you came across this vehicle, you might have trouble deciphering exactly what it is. It's towering, it has wheels, but also, a propeller. "We pride ourselves in preserving the history of the firefighter," Joe Kufrovich of the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society said. "That would belong to the Reading Scuba Team in the city of Reading. Up until a few years ago, they used it for water recovery." The vehicle, built in the 1960s, is what you call a LARC, which stands for lighter, amphibious resupply, cargo. Over the weekend, it was given to the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society by the Reading Fire Scuba Team so that its history and the tradition of firefighting can be celebrated and preserved. "In 1976, we had 300,000 firefighters," Joe Kufrovich said. "In 2015, we were down to 7,000. When they teach the classes, the first thing is the history of firefighting, and the history of firefighting is what we do."  

The IAFC applauds the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) for recommending that all firefighters and emergency medical services (EMS) personnel be placed in the highest priority tier for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. While firefighters and EMS personnel need reliable access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 testing, vaccines are the ultimate form of defense for those serving on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health recently asked the National Academies to develop a prioritization schedule for administering the COVID-19 vaccine. Throughout the summer, the IAFC has been urging the CDC, through its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and other federal entities to ensure firefighters and EMS personnel receive prioritized access to the vaccine.  

VIDEO: When Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012, it changed everything New York City thought it knew about storms. The storm left behind a trail of damage that put climate change into sharp focus. Scientists say Sandy's catastrophic flooding was made worse by rising sea levels. The "Rising Risk" docuseries explores how those rising sea levels will play out in lower Manhattan of the late 21st century. Impacts include Sandy-like flooding during smaller storms and possible daily tidal flooding in some waterfront areas. Lower Manhattan is especially vulnerable to the problem of sea-level rise. It's the home of Wall Street and a large business district. It also has a large residential population. Many high-rise towers and NYCHA developments sit just steps from the water there. Nearby hospitals had to evacuate when Sandy sent water from the East River spilling into their basements. Eyewitness News Chief Meteorologist Lee Goldberg examines the efforts to protect this area.  

9/11 Day, the nonprofit that successfully worked to establish the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as a federally-recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance ("9/11 Day"), launched a major new initiative in response to COVID-19, called "9/11 Day At Home." This initiative features a new digital platform that enables millions of Americans to engage in a wide range of charitable service activities virtually, and from the safety of their homes, in observance of 9/11 Day, the nation's largest annual day of service. "Each year on the anniversary of 9/11, tens of millions of Americans have traditionally participated in 9/11 Day by volunteering or engaging in other in-person service activities," said David Paine, president and co-founder of 9/11 Day. "Because of COVID-19, we recognized the need to provide creative, virtual ways for Americans to continue to transform the anniversary of 9/11 from a day of tragedy into a day of doing good, and keep the solemn promise to 'never forget.'