VIDEO: A massive fire broke out Sunday evening in a large hay barn in Bunker Hill at Jarden Farm and Trucking at 799 Illinois Route 159 about 2.5 miles south of Bunker Hill. The fire call came in at about 8 p.m. Sunday. The barn burned to the ground, but was controlled from spreading to other barns nearby by diligent efforts of various fire agencies. Agencies on hand included Bunker Hill Fire Department, Brighton, Dorsey, Prairietown, Holiday Shores, Gillespie, Benld, Dorchester, Bunker Hill Area Ambulance, Illinois State Police and Macoupin County Sheriff's Office. There could have been other agencies battling the blaze, but it was being done in darkness with the fire providing most of the visible light. Traffic was blocked outside Bunker Hill on Illinois Route 159 while firefighters battled the heavy blaze. Trucks hauled water systematically to battle the intense blaze in a clockwork team fashion through the evening.  

Chicago firefighters will get a wage hike and back pay but will contribute more toward health care under their newly signed union contract with the city. Union leaders signed a one year contact Friday afternoon alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Chicago firefighters and paramedics got $95 million in back pay but had to concede on healthcare contributions and other areas. However, union negotiators say under the circumstances, it's a fair deal. Firefighters will get a pay increase of 2% this year, a 2.25% increase for 2018 and a 2.25% increase for 2019. The mayor said she's grateful for the Chicago Fire Department, especially during the pandemic. "Even in the darkest days of the pandemic and social unrest this summer, we always knew in every neighborhood that we could count on the men and woman of the Chicago Fire Department," the mayor said. The city now faces a $700 million budget deficit due to loss revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's not clear how the city will be able to foot the bill on the firefighters' raises. City Council will have to approve the contract.  

The Channahon Fire Protection District said that a house on South Deal Avenue was destroyed by an overnight fire during the weekend. Firefighters were initially alerted to a blaze at a building across the street from 22516 South Deal Avenue around 3:20 a.m. on Saturday. However, Channahon firefighters later learned the fire was at the house on South Deal Avenue. "The home was unoccupied at the time of the fire. An elevated master stream supported by hand lines were used to extinguish the fire," Channahon's fire department reported. The blaze was under control around 5 a.m. Saturday. Fire agencies assisting at the scene included Minooka, Troy, Wilmington, Lockport, Elwood, Morris, Coal City, and Wilmington ESDA.  

The sound of an explosion. Windows shattering. And moments later, thick, black smoke billowing out of a condominium building. Other than those split-second observations, Glendale Heights police officers Bradley Lautner, Grzegorz Kapusciak and Robin Lambert had no context of the situation at hand or the dangers ahead as they ran into the Waters Edge condo complex where the blast had just occurred. They didn't have time to hesitate or contemplate their next steps. All they could think about was getting the occupants out safely. A father and 4-year-old son suffered gunshot wounds to their heads and were found dead inside the condo after the Aug. 24 fire, which authorities say is suspicious and under investigation. But Glendale Heights Police Chief Douglas Flint said the three officers prevented further tragedy by saving the life of a 6-year-old boy and successfully evacuating the burning building.  

Crews were called out to a fire at a Decatur bar overnight. Firefighters responded to Barb's Place at 421 N. 22nd St. around 1 a.m. Monday. The fire was put out around 5 a.m., but firefighters were still on scene as of 8 a.m. There was heavy smoke in both the front and rear of the building when crews arrived. The fire was discovered in the rear of the business in a storage room, as well as the restrooms. Fire had extended through the ceiling and walls on the back side, and was active in several void spaces within the building, the fire department said.  

A local craft fair supporting first-responders who put their lives on the line for zero pay. On Sunday, Bartonville hosted a craft fair to give back to local firefighters, who could use the extra funding. Vendors showed off their crafts, jewelry and TupperWare all available for patrons to purchase for a good cause. All proceeds from the event supported the Bartonville Volunteer Fire Department, who don't receive much funding. Samantha Sandford the event organizer is married to a volunteer firefighter and said the department could really use the funds, especially after their fish fry was canceled due to COVID-19. "They don't really get the funding that they should," Sandford said. "This can be used for maintenance, new gear for everybody, just about anything up there." Sandford said it was the first event she's ever hosted and is overwhelmed with the amount of support people showed. She hopes to make the event an annual fundraiser for the department.  

While evading police, a vehicle narrowly avoided colliding into a team of firefighters battling a three-alarm fire, putting a dramatic end to the chase and resulting in their apprehension Friday night, Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale said. The chase began when Paterson police stopped a sedan around 9:30 p.m. It's unclear what initiated the stop. The two unidentified suspects drove away on Fair Street and turned down Rosa Parks Boulevard where fire officials were removing their oxygen tanks, sitting and drinking water at the rehab tent. "This could have been catastrophic," Speziale told NJ Advance Media, explaining how firefighters quickly moved out of the way and no one was hit. The car attempted to make a quick left into a driveway in order to turn around, but at that point the suspects were surrounded by police, as well as officials from the Fire Department and Passaic County Hazmat Team.  

Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have been awarded a five-year, $10 million grant from the National Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health to study the long-term, longitudinal impact of COVID-19 on first responders, healthcare workers and the general population. "This is one of the largest grants ever awarded to the College of Medicine," said Peter Mohler, chief scientific officer for Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and vice dean for research for the Ohio State College of Medicine. It will fund the Center for Serological Testing to Improve Outcomes from Pandemic COVID-19 (STOP-COVID) at Ohio State, a new Serological Sciences Center of Excellence. With this funding, researchers will learn more about the interactions among exposure risks, transmission, immune responses, disease severity, protection and barriers to testing/vaccination, with the goal of improving population health and clinical outcomes in the face of COVID-19.  

VIDEO: A father and his son were rescued off a cliff at Fort Funston on Saturday, San Francisco fire officials say. Firefighters used ropes and pulleys to rescue the toddler and his dad from a steep and sandy cliff just after 11:30a.m. The father described what happened, after they stepped off a marked trail, near the cliff's edge when they realized they were 70 feet below. "Just hiking around and you take one wrong turn, and the next thing you know, the sand takes away leaves your feet, and the next thing you know, you're halfway down the cliff," he said. Lt. Jonathan Baxter praised the father for knowing exactly where he was when he called 911. Lt. Baxter advises residents not to walk down the cliff even if it might appear safe. "Although this resulted in no injuries and a successful rescue, it could also in injuries or death," he said. "We ask that you please stay on the trail." Firefighters told ABC7 News a Highway Patrol helicopter was standing by just in case the father and son needed to be lifted off the cliff. Both individuals are uninjured.  

As authorities in two D.C.-area counties investigate a flawed emergency response to a June drowning, new documents show the 911 center in Montgomery County had an automatically generated map that showed precisely where the call for help had come from. Emergency dispatchers in Maryland sent firefighters to the Potomac River after a teen called to say her friend had slipped underwater while the group was swimming in a "river." The caller went on to say her group had been in an "inlet" off the river and that they were in Virginia. It took 36 minutes for rescuers to reach the teen, 16-year-old Fitz Thomas, who by then had been pulled to a dock by his friends and a passerby who stepped in to help. Fitz, who was preparing to enter his senior year of high school, died. Emergency centers have long been faced with the challenge of responding to 911 cellphone callers who may not be able to provide a precise address or may be in an open space such as a park or along a highway.  

When a fellow Glendale firefighter in despair approached Ashley Losch on the job about struggles with mental health, Ashley found herself in an unfamiliar place. Firefighters are highly trained and highly skilled thinkers and problem solvers by trade. Not this time. "I didn't feel prepared. I didn't know how to help them in a way that would be effective other than listening," Ms. Losch, a Glendale firefighter, remembered on Sept. 15, during a break at Station 101, at 6851 N. 52nd Ave. "It just didn't feel like enough." Mental illness and the safest, most effective ways to support it among firefighters has been in sharp focus of late. A 2018 study by the Ruderman Family Foundation -- a non-partisan, philanthropic organization advocating "for and advance the inclusion of people with disabilities" -- revealed that firefighters across the U.S. statistically are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty. In 2017, there were at least 103 firefighter suicides and, in contrast, 93 firefighters killed in the line of duty.