VIDEO/PHOTO: Six people were killed Friday when a portion of an Amazon building collapsed in downstate Edwardsville during a severe weather outbreak, state and local officials said Saturday, as the operation shifted to a recovery mission. Multiple workers were killed when a portion of an Amazon warehouse, located in the 3000 block of Gateway Commerce Center Drive South, collapsed during what the National Weather Service confirmed as an EF-3 tornado, according to local fire authorities. At a news conference Saturday evening, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford stated that one person was injured, and 45 people were rescued. At least one person was taken to an area hospital, and others suffered minor injuries that were treated at the scene.  

Aledo's fire chief retired Sunday after more than four decades of serving the community. Dennis Litwiler's career spanned a total of 44 years, and he was a fire chief for 20 of those years. Litwiler grew up in a firefighter family — his father a part of the Aledo Fire Department family as well. He and his family saluted by the community he cares so much about. "I look around this room today, and there's firemen from all over the county," said Litwiler during an open house Sunday at the Aledo Fire Station. "It's just a great brotherhood of firefighters, and we support each other, and I appreciate their support today." Litwiler says he'll be enjoying retirement by spending more time with his family. Tony Myers, a 27-year department veteran, will take over for Litwiler as fire chief in Aledo.  

A Rockford family was left without a home after their house caught fire Saturday. The blaze happened around 2:19 p.m. at 1423 15th Ave, according to the Rockford Fire Department. Firefighters arrived within three minutes of the call and found smoke showing from the second story of the residence. All of the occupants were outside when firefighters arrived. Within 10 minutes of arrival, firefighters had put out the fire in two bedrooms and looked for any additional fires. No firefighters or residents were injured. Damage to the residence was estimated at approximately $45,000. The Red Cross is reportedly assisting the ten family members that were living in the residence. The Rockford Fire Department fire investigator is looking into the cause of the fire.  

A detached garage was left in ashes and burnt remains after an early morning arson on Monday. Peoria Battalion Chief Clint Kuhlman says Peoria crews received reports of a structure fire around 2:00 A.M. on Brehends Ave. near E. Ravine Ave. When they arrived on the scene they found a detached garage fully engulfed in flames. Fire crews worked for 15 minutes to knock down the fire and continued working for another 45 minutes to eliminate any hotspots in the area. The owners of the garage noticed the truck inside the garage on fire. Another garage near it sustained damage to the siding, alongside a shed nearby. Both the garage and truck were determined to be a total loss. There were no injuries.  

A massive emergency response was called to a marina in Rhode Island on Friday after two large boats went up in flames. Crews responding to a report of a blaze at Hinckley Yachts in Portsmouth found two boats engulfed in heavy flames. The vessels, a power boat and a sailboat, had a combined value of $10 million, officials said. Video from the scene showed a massive plume of black smoke billowing into the air as the fire raged and firefighters scrambled to stop the blaze from spreading. "We did have water issues at first. We had some water and then we lost our water supply," said Portsmouth Fire Chief Paul Ford. "We had to call Newport water and they came down and did some adjustment that greatly helped." Onlookers watched in disbelief as the blaze transformed the boats into a raging inferno.  

People who had their lives ripped apart in mere moments by violent and unforgiving tornadoes over the weekend are now dealing with a new reality -- seeking the basic needs of food and shelter while surrounded by devastation and uncertainty over the fate of their neighbors. In the small town of Dawson Springs in western Kentucky, about 75% of the community was wiped out and replaced by "chaos," Mayor Chris Smiley said Sunday. "It's the worst thing I've ever seen," said Smiley, who's lived in the town for 63 years. "It's just devastating." The line of severe weather that moved through the central and southern US late Friday into Saturday left at least 100 people feared dead. The storms spawned at least 50 tornadoes reported across eight states, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.  

Six people were killed Friday when a portion of an Amazon building collapsed in downstate Edwardsville during a severe weather outbreak, state and local officials said Saturday, as the operation shifted to a recovery mission. Multiple workers were killed when a portion of an Amazon warehouse, located in the 3000 block of Gateway Commerce Center Drive South, collapsed during what the National Weather Service confirmed as an EF-3 tornado, according to local fire authorities. At a news conference Saturday evening, Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford stated that one person was injured, and 45 people were rescued. At least one person was taken to an area hospital, and others suffered minor injuries that were treated at the scene. Officials have not yet determined how many victims were hurt in the collapse or how many are still unaccounted for as workers were in the midst of a shift change when the tornado struck at about 8:30 p.m.  

A Northern California state senator plans to introduce legislation that would add 356 permanent firefighters and 768 seasonal firefighters to the state's force. Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said Friday that the legislation would set new per-engine minimums at Cal Fire and would launch a staffing study to help prepare the department for fire conditions that are projected to keep getting worse in the years ahead. At a cost of $214 million, McGuire called the proposal a "critical first investment." "This is a down payment," he said. "More is needed." McGuire announced the proposal Friday morning on the north steps of the state Capitol, flanked by a few dozen firefighters wearing black t-shirts identifying their union, Cal Fire Local 2881. The senator and union leaders said firefighters often spend 40 days or more deployed at fires, harming mental health and impacting families while driving up state overtime costs.  

In the feud between two famous New York institutions, Marvel has officially chosen a side, and the result is not surprising for anyone who's read up on current Marvel continuity regarding Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the greater Marvel Universe at large. It's no secret that plenty of Marvel's major heroes are based out of New York City (and plenty of villains appear in NYC as well), which means both the police and firefighters of the city regularly come into contact with the Avengers, the X-Men, etc. But in Devil's Reign #1, it's clear that not all of these interactions are positive. In the past few issues of Daredevil, the Man Without Fear recently uncovered drastic corruption within the New York Police Department. Even so, he was still under arrest (even after his heroic actions), but the Avengers interfered in a very public manner. In particular, Spider-Man called out the police for attacking a hero when they should've been investigating their own organization.