A man has died and his girlfriend remains hospitalized following a house fire in west suburban Maywood, authorities said. Maywood Fire Chief Craig Bronaugh, Jr. said firefighters received multiple calls about a fire at a residence in the 100 block of 9th Ave. Sunday around 1:55 a.m. As firefighters battled flames on the ground floor of the home, they discovered a man and a woman, both unconscious, Bronaugh said. Both victims were transported to Loyola University Medical Center, fire officials said. But family members said that despite doctors' best efforts, 54-year-old Cedric Brown did not survive. His girlfriend remains hospitalized in critical condition, suffering from severe smoke inhalation.  

The DeKalb Fire Department responded to more calls in 2019 than any other year in their 150-year history. According to an end-of-year report by the department, DeKalb firefighters responded to 6,700 emergency calls for service in 2019, marking a 20% increase over the last three years. In 2018, the department logged 6,107 calls, and in 2017, 5,586 calls. Calls for service are steadily increasing over the years as residents continue to use unconventional means to combat the rising cost of health care, DeKalb Fire Chief Jeff McMaster has said. The department responds to more medical calls than fires. In 2018, 2% of calls for service were for actual fires, while 76% were for EMS calls, the 2018 report shows.  

One man is dead and a woman is suffering from smoke inhalation after an early-morning fire at a mobile home at 2044 W. Galena Ave., Lot 23, in Freeport. The call came in around 5:30 a.m. Saturday. Firefighters arrived to find flames and smoke shooting from the home. They also discovered a woman outside the trailer and a man trapped in a back bedroom. Both victims were taken to the hospital, where the man was pronounced dead. The name of the victims have not been released. A preliminary investigation shows the fire started in the kitchen and unattended cooking could be to blame. The trailer is a total loss. There were no working smoke detectors inside the home.  

A Chicago firefighter was injured during a rescue of a resident from a blaze on the South Side on Saturday. The firefighter was being treated at University of Chicago Medical Center and is in serious to critical condition, according to dispatch reports. A witness said he appeared to be overcome by smoke while entering the home. Firefighters on the scene indicated he should be OK. Three people, including a woman rescued from the second floor of the home, were sent to Jackson Park hospital. Their injuries were not believed to be serious. The fire happened on the first floor of the home in the 8700 block of South Constance Avenue in the Calumet Heights neighborhood around 12:30 p.m. Fire department officials say their colleague was injured trying to save an elderly woman trapped on the second floor.  

When now-former Elgin Fire Chief Dave Schmidt started his career in Elgin in 1989, he was "happy like a kid in a candy store" whose only goal was to make a difference. Thirty years later, during his retirement ceremony Friday afternoon, Schmidt said he was honored to have worked for what he called "the best fire department in the country." "I've never worked for or with a more dedicated group of men and women," he said, later adding, "We've had bad times. We've had good times. But at all times, we've been professional. I can't stress that enough." Family members, residents and colleagues showed up to say goodbye to Schmidt during the open house and retirement flag ceremony held at Fire Station 1 on Summit Street. South Elgin Fire Chief Steve Wascher said he's known Schmidt, a resident of South Elgin, for about 20 years. The two earned their bachelor's degrees in fire science management in 2005 at Southern Illinois University.  

The Lemont Fire Protection District will be purchasing an assortment of technical rescue gear thanks to a grant from Illinois American Water. The Illinois American Water Firefighter Grant Program provides financial assistance to fire and emergency organizations serving communities in its service areas. The program awards grants to provide personal protective gear, communications equipment, firefighting tools, water handling equipment, training materials and classroom programs. The grant winners were announced in conjunction with National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 6 – 12, 2019, to raise awareness about the importance of fire prevention and emergency planning. This year, over $88,000 will be shared by 90 Illinois fire departments through the grant program. Since the program was created in 2010, over 590 grants totaling over $582,000 have been awarded.  

VIDEO: Karina Figueroa and her family likely lost everything in a Sunday morning house fire that claimed the life of a metro firefighter. Right now they are not thinking about themselves. "We can start over again, the firefighter's family can't. All they have left is the memories," Figuroea said. Officials have identified the West Peculiar firefighter who was killed as 30-year-old Chuck McCormick. The fire started shortly after 11 a.m. at a home near Deer Run Road and 221st Street / Peek Road in Peculiar. Grandview Fire Chief Ron Graham says McCormick fell through the floor near the front door of the home as firefighters entered the home. McCormick fell into the basement and was critically hurt. He was airlifted to the hospital where he died. Officials said McCormick was a husband and father of three young boys, ages 4, 5 and 7-years-old. He died responding to what would normally be considered a fairly routine call.  

When Carol Brown joined the Boulder Fire Department in 1991, she was one of roughly a dozen female firefighters. Today a shift battalion chief, Brown is one of seven. Though Boulder was among the earliest to admit females to its force — the first two women were hired in 1978, according to Brown — the number of women in the city's firefighting force has fallen over the years as older employees have retired. Their ranks have not been refilled due to a dearth of new recruits, leaving just seven females among 99 firefighters. Boulder will have to more than triple that figure if it hopes to reach its goal, recently added to the fire master plan update: that one-quarter of city firefighters will be women by 2030. "Seven percent is not good," said Michael Calderazzo, Boulder's fire chief. "In the '80s we were cutting-edge. Over time, we've sort of drifted backwards."  

In 2009, when Fire Chief Tom Burgasser was told to cut 20% of his budget, he knew exactly what to do. Transporting patients to the hospital instead of handing them over to a private ambulance company seemed like a no-brainer, the chief recalled more than 10 years later. It cut out the middle man. It would decrease the department's spending while increasing revenue. It would save the residents money. The Massillon Fire Department reached its 10th anniversary of transporting patients at the beginning of the year. In a decade, the Fire Department generated more than $7.3 million in revenue and saved residents nearly $2.8 million in EMS fees. "We did everything," Burgasser said. "We treated the patient. We responded to the scene. We did all of those things. The only thing we didn't do is put them in the back of the ambulance and take them to the hospital."  

As he stood in the third-floor corner room that served as his office from 2000 to 2009, retired Hartford Fire Chief Charles Teale reflected on some of the more historic moments that had taken place at the Pearl Street headquarters during his tenure. He recalled firefighters coming into the room after the 9/11 attacks and dumping piles of money they had collected for the 343 firefighters who perished at Ground Zero out onto the long conference table that dominated the room. Teale also remembered the meetings held in the aftermath of the 2003 Greenwood Health Center fire that claimed the lives of 16 people. Investigators concluded the fire was started by a resident with a history of mental illness and substance abuse who had been playing with a lighter in her bed.  

VIDEO: An internal investigation has been opened to look into the procedures and training protocol of the Saint Joseph County Dispatch Center. ABC57 is still following the New Year's Eve tragedy that killed four-year-old James and his sister, two-year-old Natalie Kleven and left mother, Brook, and her 3-month-old son in critical condition. Now the question is did the 9-1-1 confusion cost precious minutes--and possibly lives. Looking into the scanner recordings from that afternoon, you can hear that the first call about a black Toyota minivan sinking into a retention pond on East University Drive in Mishawaka, came into the Saint Joseph County Dispatch Center at 2:46 p.m. Sound from the Saint Joseph County Police and Fire scanner, "Fir and University Drive at the City Center see if a vehicle has gone into the pond Fir and East University Drive at the City Center."