Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson and Fire Chief Andy Borkowski reassured the public Sunday emergency responses and law enforcement will undergo no changes other than the introduction of enhanced cleaning procedures. Roalson and Borkowski acknowledged the severity of the coronavirus but also said their departments deal with the potential of viruses on a regular basis. Roalson said Ottawa Central Dispatch has been asking additional questions of callers since February in preparation of coronavirus. "That's better to assess and give information to our responding emergency services personnel to handle the situation," Roalson said. He added police reports and Freedom of Information Act requests can be done electronically if preferred, by calling the department at 815-433-2131.  

A man was seriously injured Saturday in a fire in Marquette Park on the Southwest Side. The blaze started about 6:15 p.m. at a home in the 7100-block of South Artesian Avenue, Chicago fire officials said. Firefighters were able to extinguish the house fire. One man, who is about 50 years old, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious-to-critical condition, fire officials said. Five other people, including four children, were displaced, officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

An industrial fire broke out in Bedford Park. Smoke was seen pouring from the Nickel Composite Coatings, a nickel plate processing company. Due to materials on scene, crews were concerned about hazardous materials. This led crews to call in a second alarm fire for extra help. Firefighters broke down doors and had to cut a hole in the roof. The cause of the fire may have been a faulty electric heater. Officials said the fire may have caused around $50,000 in damage.  

Even in cities with big hospitals, the novel coronavirus is testing the limits of the modern health care system. But fighting the virus in rural Alaska presents additional challenges: Some of Alaska's remote villages can be 100 miles from the nearest hospital, and many are disconnected from the road system and only reachable by plane. That isolation could make treatment more challenging, and epidemic disease has devastated rural Alaska before. But the remoteness of many of Alaska's villages can also be an advantage, making it easier to control people moving in and out and to quarantine or isolate them if necessary. "There's potential for this to be contained and not to be catastrophic in rural Alaska. But if it's mismanaged, it could be considerably worse," said Kevin Berry, a University of Alaska Anchorage economist who's studied epidemic disease and response.  

A South Florida elected official is facing some backlash from emergency workers after he appeared to propose exposing firefighters to the new coronavirus as a way of ensuring there are more people with immunity to help fight the spread of the disease. Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola on Friday at an emergency city meeting asked if there were doctors in the audience. Nobody answered. He suggested that if people who survive the coronavirus then have immunity — like the chicken pox — then the city can take steps to help others. "Assuming you make it through," Arriola said, before describing what he called a "dangerous but bold" idea: "First responders voluntarily taking one for the team" and then developing immunity. Arriola did not elaborate what he meant by the "taking one for the team" phrase.  

The IAFC is continuing to monitor the spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) inside the United States. As your agency likely is preparing to care for potential patients and protect firefighters and EMS personnel from exposures, please know that the IAFC stands with you and is ready to help. In addition to continuously updating the Coronavirus resources page, the IAFC Coronavirus Task Force held their first meeting last week. Over the next few months, the Task Force will be monitoring COVID-19 and developing recommendations for ways that fire departments can protect their members while continuing to serve their communities.  

When the call came across the pagers, there was something in the dispatcher's voice that signaled it was serious. "Her voice sounded distressed." "I knew I had to put on real clothes for this one." "You could tell the panic in the page." "We could hear it, the seriousness, but the average person probably wouldn't." When firefighters respond, they do so because it is their job. It's what they signed up for and what they trained for. They don't do it for pats on the back or recognition. So it wasn't easy to find firefighters willing to sit down and talk about their experiences in fighting the Feb. 25 fire that destroyed a portion of historic downtown Alexandria. However, with just a little bit of convincing, seven members of the Alexandria Fire Department were willing to chat about that day – the day that destroyed four buildings, wiped out six businesses and displaced more than 20 residents.