Evanston aldermen are scheduled to approve modifications to the city's contract with the International Association of Fire Fighters Tuesday that will postpone raises in return for a no-layoff guarantee. The agreement was reached as part of efforts to deal with the multi-million dollar revenue shortfall the city is facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It calls for the firefighters to forgo scheduled 2.25% raises on Jan. 1, 2021, and on Jan. 1, 2022, but instead receive a 5% wage increase on Dec. 31, 2022, the last day of the current contract. In return, the city agrees to maintain the current minimum staffing level of 26 firefighters per shift, rescind the layoffs of three firefighters that had been imposed late last month and to not impose any additional layoffs for the duration of the contract.  

One of the two shuttered fire houses in the city could come back online until March 2021 under a proposed agreement by the local firefighters union. But whether City Hall, which took two engines offline as a way to save money during the pandemic, accepts the deal is unknown. Ryan Brady, the head of Local 50 which represents the Peoria Fire Department, said the union would drop an unfair labor practice lawsuit and use the anticipated $500,000 judgment they had won to help replace one fire engine. "We would use that exposure, the money that we are owed, and use that to put an engine back on the street. We are willing to do that as we want it back in the neighborhood," he said. The deal would also call for the addition of seven firefighter positions which could be staffed through overtime or the hiring of new employees. Brady said he wasn't sure which option would be chosen.  

A firefighter was injured battling a blaze Friday in University Village on the Near West Side. A fire broke out about 8:25 p.m. at a three-story building in the 1100 block of West Taylor Street, Chicago Fire Department officials said. The blaze was "very intense" and was extinguished about 8:40 p.m., officials said. One firefighter was taken with unknown injuries to Stroger Hospital, where they were stabilized, officials said. Other firefighters who were showing signs of fatigue were evaluated at the scene, officials said.  

A car wash on the city's West Side was badly damaged in an early morning fire Saturday. It happened at the Stingray Auto Spa, in the 4700-block of West Chicago Avenue in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, about 1 a.m. Flames were shooting through the roof when firefighters got there, and the roof had collapsed. One bystander said the flames appeared to be at least 20 feet high. Nobody was hurt, and the fire was put out by about 2 a.m., Chicago fire officials said in a tweet early Saturday.  

A vacant house was damaged by fire early Sunday. Firefighters responded about 5:10 a.m. to a report of a tree on fire at 1000 North Greenview Ave. Upon arrival they found the house on fire and additional engine companies were called. ComEd also was called to the scene turn off the power to the structure when firefighters encountered arcing powerlines in front of the home. Due to the unsafe conditions of the home, a demolition company also was called to the scene. Damage was estimated at $20,000. The cause of the fire is undetermined.  

The Atlantic City firefighters union, saying the city has shown "blatant disregard" for the health and safety of its members, has sued the city and state after six firefighters tested positive last week for the coronavirus, potentially exposing 65 firefighters to the pandemic. The union's complaint, filed Friday in Superior Court, alleges that the department's policy of directing firefighters to return to work after they were exposed to infected coworkers, but tested negative themselves for COVID-19, risks spreading the coronavirus among firefighters, their families and the public. It asked the department to require exposed firefighters to self-quarantine for 14 days on paid leave regardless of the outcome of tests. Fire Fighters Local 198 asked for an injunction to force the city to professionally disinfect each station between shifts, and to postpone the training of new hires scheduled for this week.  

Almost half the US is reporting increased numbers of new COVID-19 cases as health experts warn of a potential coronavirus surge in the fall and winter. As of Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases has increased by at least 10% or more compared to the week before in 21 states, most of them in the West, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. Cases are rising in Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington state, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Eighteen states were holding steady. Only 11 -- Arizona, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire -- saw decreases of new cases of more than 10% compared to the week prior.  

PHOTO: Three China Grove firefighters were injured Friday morning after the firetruck they were riding in overturned while responding to an emergency call. The firefighters — George Stewart, Cameron Harwell and Adam Wingler — were all taken to the hospital with minor injuries, said Town Manager Ken Deal. He said at least one of the firefighters was taken to Atrium Health Cabarrus and another to Novant Health Rowan Medical Center. "We're very fortunate nobody was hurt worse," Deal said. The incident occurred shortly before 10:30 a.m. on N.C. 152 and Hope Lane at Interstate 85 and just a few yards from the roundabout at exit 68. It's not clear if the weather played a part in the crash. However, the rain led to other accidents in Rowan County around the same time. Firefighters were thought to be responding to one of those accidents when the fire engine crashed and overturned.  

VIDEO: A Naperville firefighter found a creative way to tell residents ‘Get Your Mask On'. You may have heard Florida Georgia Line's song 'Get Your Shine On', but one Naperville firefighter and paramedic has a different version. Billy Croft wrote 'Get Your Mask On' as a way to promote public safety and bring a little humor to life amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We all should be advocating for everybody's safety and that's why we're here, particularly to help the community that we serve and this is just part of it," he said. Croft, who moonlights as a country music singer, wrote lyrics including everything from going to the grocery store, "pray to God they have TP" to proper sanitizing techniques, "sanitizer smelling so strong, wash your hands to the bone." Croft hopes to bring awareness to coronavirus best practices with a touch of humor.  

Despite the cancelation of the annual Tunnel to Towers 5K run and walk due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some people still walked through Battery Tunnel on Sunday. Frank Siller, brother of fallen firefighter, Stephen Siller, showed up to honor the memory of those who died on September 11, 2001. "It's different this year, obviously, we should have 30,000 plus people running through the tunnel, coming out here, looking at all the banners and the pictures when you come out," said Siller at a press conference earlier today. "But it's still just as important. MTA and Port Authority personnel walked with the Siller family through the tunnel's catwalk, to do so. On the day of the Sept. 11 attacks, Stephen Siller was assigned to Brooklyn's Squad 1. Upon arrival at the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, it was closed due to security reasons. Siller put on his gear and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he ultimately died.