Pieces of flammable material inside a Rivian Automotive smokestack caught fire during demolition Friday afternoon. The stack at Rivian's Normal production facility was being removed from the roof of the plant's paint shop area as part of scheduled demolition, said Rivian spokesman Zach Dietmeier. While construction crew workers were cutting off the stack, pieces of material inside the stack caught fire. "It was the kind of material that makes a lot of smoke and burns really quick," Dietmeier said. "There was no damage, but they weren't expecting it to flare up." Parts of the plant are under construction as Rivian refits the former Mitsubishi Motors North America plant in west Normal. A water suppression system extinguished the fire before the Normal Fire Department arrived at the scene about 2:30 p.m.  

Authorities are searching for an arson suspect who they said set fire to an Airbnb home. A Monday press release from Champaign County Crime Stoppers said the fire happened on Sunday, March 8. Firefighters came to the 800 block of West Vine Street, where they found a fire began in the kitchen of a home. Responders learned the fire was sent intentionally. According to the release, security video showed an unidentified black man who was wearing a black stocking cap, black zip-up sweatshirt, black sweatpants with white stripes down the side and brown boots was inside of the home prior to the fire department arriving.  

Smoke filled the air on Chicago's South Side as several tires burned in a fire outside an auto shop Friday. Firefighters battled a large blaze outside an auto shop in the city's Englewood neighborhood. The fire erupted Friday morning near W 59th Street and S Sangamon St. Chopper 7HD flew over the scene as firefighters worked to put out the flames. The fire was extinguished Friday. No one was hurt in the incident, according to officials. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

The virus did not creep toward San Jose firefighters. It lurked among them. It was March 6, a week after the country's first community-transmitted COVID-19 case at a Vacaville hospital. Exposure to the virus remained largely linked to overseas travel. California's case count had just scraped triple-digits. Quietly and without realizing it, a busy San Jose firefighter had carried coronavirus to his fire station. He covered a shift for a buddy at another firehouse, exposing colleagues there. He attended a career development course at the department's training center — and the disease spread further. Within the week, about 10 percent of the workforce had been exposed. Fifteen San Jose firefighters tested positive — the largest known cluster among Bay Area first responders and a wake-up call, even for those who thought they'd seen it all.  

New York City paramedics and emergency medical technicians must wear medical-grade face masks while treating any patient during the coronavirus outbreak, FDNY honchos have announced. The FDNY last month said first responders should only wear N95 respirator masks while performing up-close "aerosol-generating" procedures like CPR, but remain unmasked during less critical jobs. Now the front line workers must wear surgical masks during every call, and strap on a more protective N95 for close-up "proximity work." "We must now consider all patients, (including trauma call types) to be infected and all persons (even coworkers and family members) to have been exposed due to community spread," said a Saturday memo distributed to FDNY EMS staff.  

As the coronavirus continues to spread and send many patients to the hospital, ambulance crews are balancing a thorough disinfection process with getting back on the road as quickly as possible. It's a situation that has led to an uptick in business for cleaning and restoration companies that have a specialized disinfection process in their repertoire, such as Pittsburgh-based G.S. Jones Restoration and Consulting. The cleaner, called SteraMist, can get the disinfection process done within 30 minutes. "That's the key," said Lloyd Lane, director of business development for G.S. Jones. The process was developed by the U.S. Defense Department in the aftermath of 9/11 in response to possible anthrax attacks. Lane explained the process: A handheld spray unit ionizes a solution of hydrogen peroxide into a mist, and the ionized hydrogen peroxide activates when it lands.  

Starting next week, city workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic in Carmel, Indiana will be tested weekly for the virus. In the first week, the city of about 100,000 people just north of Indianapolis expects to test about 350 police officers, firefighters and EMS personnel, as well as city staffers who still have to physically show up to work, like those in charge of code enforcement on construction sites and sewer utility workers. "Having the ability to regularly test our frontline employees will be very helpful," said Mayor Jim Brainard. "The U.S. should have been flattening the curve eight weeks ago, but we're now doing what we can locally to prevent our resources from being overburdened. This will help us slow the rate of infection and keep people alive."  

VIDEO: A fire that spread across 15 acres destroyed more than 3,500 rental cars at the rental car overflow area of Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) on Friday, Lee County Port Authority said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It drew a response from every Lee County fire department with assistance from aviation and fire departments in neighboring Collier and Charlotte counties. Multiple law enforcement agencies in Southwest Florida were also on scene to assist and manage the roads. The fire was fully contained and extinguished Saturday as crews worked through the night Friday, putting out the flames to ensure it did not continue to spread or cause further damage. More than 3,800 rental cars, belonging to the various rental car agencies that serve the airport, were undamaged and relocated.