Memorial across the Chicago area are being held to mark the 19th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Fire Department observed e a moment of silence at 7:46 a.m. "We need to honor our first responders, we need to honor their sacrifices and we can never, ever forget the tragedy, but never forget the lives that were irreparable changed as a result of what happened on 9/11," Mayor Lightfoot said. In Evanston, the fire and police departments are holding a memorial ceremony from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Fire Station 3, 1105 Central St. The city of Aurora's ceremony will feature a moment of silence, as well as a wreath-laying ceremony. That starts at 8:40 a.m. and will be live-streamed on Facebook. Palatine will hold a memorial ceremony at the Palatine Firefighters Memorial at the corner of North Brockway and West Slade streets at about 9 a.m.  

Alton Fire Department performed a rescue of a man off in a ravine at 20th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard in Alton around 11 a.m. Thursday. Alton Deputy Fire Chief Brad Sweetman said an Illinois American Water worker slipped on the hillside while inspecting that area and suffered a leg injury. "We brought him underneath the road through a culvert and used chain saws to cut a path up the other side and brought him up through there," Sweetman said of the rescue. "He does have non-life threatening injuries and does have a leg injury, but I don't know to what extent." Alton firefighters also used a tagline to assist with steadying the backboard in the rescue attempt up the hillside. Traffic on Martin Luther King Boulevard was blocked by the Alton Police Department during the rescue.  

The 28th annual Elgin Area Firefighter Memorial Service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at the George Van De Voorde Firefighter Memorial Park at the Fire Barn #5 Museum, 533 St. Charles St. in Elgin. Fire departments from Elgin and 15 surrounding communities will gather to honor and remember Illinois firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past year, as well as any active duty or retired members of participating departments who have died off-duty over the past year, a news release said. The ceremony will hosted by Elgin Fire Chief Robb Cagann and the Elgin Fire Department, with a proclamation from Elgin Mayor David Kaptain and a memorial message from Barrington-Countryside Fire Chief Jim Kreher.  

Americans are commemorating 9/11 with tributes that have been altered by coronavirus precautions and woven into the presidential campaign, drawing both President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden to pay respects at the same memorial without crossing paths. In New York, a dispute over coronavirus-safety precautions is leading to split-screen remembrances Friday, one at the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center and another on a nearby corner. The Pentagon's observance will be so restricted that not even victims' families can attend, though small groups can visit the memorial there later in the day. Trump and Biden are both headed — at different times — to the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Trump is speaking at the morning ceremony, the White House said. Biden plans to pay respects there in the afternoon after attending the observance at the 9/11 memorial in New York.  

A chemical plant fire just south of Walburg prompted shelter-in-place orders that were lifted after about three hours Thursday afternoon. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter the fire is at a plant on FM 1105. A CPI Products facility is located there. No one was hurt, the sheriff's office said. The county previously asked all residents within a one mile radius of 4100 FM 1105 to shelter inside, close all doors and windows and shut off heating and air conditioning. Around 6:30 p.m., the county said those north of the location and upwind of the fire do not need to shelter in place. By 8:30 p.m., the shelter-in-place order was lifted for all residents, according to the county. The fire is now under control, but firefighters will continue to monitor hot spots overnight. Assistant Fire Chief with the Weir Volunteer Fire Department Kevin Gehrig gave an update Thursday night. He said it was one of the largest fires they've had in the area because of the building size and its contents.  

Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those days where most people can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the terrorist attacks that Tuesday morning. For those in the fire service today, and especially if they were in the fire service on that particular day, the memories run deep. Firefighter Bruce Meier, now a 23-year veteran of the Scottsbluff Fire Department, had just finished his shift that morning, and was at home watching the events unfold. "‘Wow. Unbelievable that something like that's happening in the United States,'" was Meier's reaction, he said. "Once the second plane hit, you could tell there was something else going on, and it wasn't a freak accident. I sat there with my kids and watched it. "The firefighters there, I cannot put into words what I would think they were going through. Obviously, ‘How in the world are we going to rescue this many people this quickly?' They surely knew that they didn't have very much time to get everybody out."  

Researchers are working to develop and test a tool to help COVID-19 responders in mental distress. The project was one of 14 at the University of South Florida to receive funding. "The key idea is developing this thing that will interact between people in need and all the resources that exist, it will be that go-between," said assistant professor Jerome Galea. The researchers said they plan to create a prototype of a chatbot to help break down barriers to access to mental health care. Through things like text or social media messaging, the Tampa Bay Area Treatment & Health Advisor (TABATHA), will help screen the level of mental distress in responders and their service preferences. "This chatbot will integrate screening and basically referral into one product. And why that's so important is people are going to be at different levels in terms of stigma surrounding care-seeking and also their readiness to engage with care," said assistant professor Kristin Kosyluk.