VIDEO: Over 100 firefighters worked overnight Wednesday to extinguish a fire at a boat storage facility in Waukegan. About 8 p.m., firefighters responded to an automatic alarm that was set off and found flames inside a boat storage facility, 3 E. Madison St., the Waukegan Fire Department said. Battalion Chief Mark Pietraszak upgraded the fire to a fourth alarm due the freezing temperatures and difficulties navigating through the facility, which stored about 70 large boats, fire officials said. Fire crews were able to put out the fire about 2:30 a.m., fire officials said. No injuries were reported. "The crews did an exceptional job in very extreme conditions. The nature of the boat storage is difficult to navigate in smoke and fire conditions. The multiple alarms allowed Command to rotate crews to keep them safe during a difficult fire," fire marshal Todd Zupec said.  

Chatham Fire Chief Philip Schumer is officially retiring from the department. Schumer has served the Chatham community for more than 22 years. He started as a firefighter with the Illinois Air National Guard in 1985 and came to the Chatham Fire Department in 1999. A few years later he took over as chief and became the second longest-tenured Chief of the department. Chief Schumer says the job of being the Fire Chief has been very rewarding and fulfilling.  

As a winter storm roars through Illinois, first responders in Peoria are going from call to call. Some weather reports show snow accumulations as much as one foot, with more snow on the way Wednesday night into Thursday. "It's business as usual. Crime doesn't stop 'cause of the weather," said Captain Chris Watkins, Peoria County Sheriff's Office. Watkins said deputies have responded to nearly 30 reports of drivers stuck in the snow. "The way there's still a lot of traffic out right now, so I imagine that it could double by tonight, but that's why we're just asking people to stay home," he said. If you get stuck, Watkins said to stay in the car until help arrives.  

Plainfield firefighters helped deliver a baby in a parking lot during the snowstorm Wednesday morning. A couple from Joliet were on their way to the hospital but the treacherous conditions from the winter storm meant they were traveling very slowly. On their way, the mother's water broke, fire officials said. The couple pulled off into the parking lot of a Jimmy John's near Route 59 and Fort Beggs Drive and called 911 around 7:30 a.m., according to fire officials. Nearby firefighters responded to the scene and just minutes after they arrived a healthy baby girl was born. "No, the baby wasn't waiting, it was a very quick delivery," said Lt. Bryan Gallup. "The chief said, I believe, it was only about 10 minutes or so." Dad even got to cut the umbilical cord.  

VIDEO: Officials held another media briefing as they entered the 60th continuous hour of the Weaver Fertilizer Fire. According to officials, a passerby was the first person to call in the fire. Then a flood of dozens of calls followed that minutes later. The evacuation recommendation remained in place as of Thursday morning. Even with the overnight rain, they still call it an active fire with the potential to explode. Wake Forest University has canceled classes for the remainder of the week. People are still strongly discouraged from staying in the area within a one-mile radius of the plant. Battalion Chief Patrick Grubbs said that the rain expected Thursday and Friday will help fight the fire. Smoke is still an issue across a large swath of Winston-Salem.  

A new bill that would require the installation of heat sensors at every federally funded rental home was introduced by New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Wednesday. The legislation, named "Housing Temperature Safety Act of 2022," came weeks after a fire in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx that killed 17 people, including eight children. The fire at Twin Parks was caused by a space heater, according to an investigation conducted by the NYPD and FDNY. The bill would allow federal, state, and local housing administrators to assess heat levels in real-time, which would prevent future fire tragedies, and improve fire safety and housing quality, according to Gillibrand's office. The push already received early support from Mayor Eric Adams, who co-authored a similar city law as Brooklyn borough president with then-Council Member Ritchie Torres, a spokesperson for the senator said. Torres, now a congressman, leads companion legislation in the House of Representatives.  

Law enforcement authorities in three Western Washington counties were searching Wednesday for burglars who have broken into multiple fire stations, stealing valuable and life-saving equipment that could hamper firefighters' effort to save lives and preserve property. Sheriff's investigators in Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties told KOMO News that they all currently have active investigations within their jurisdictions into the thefts of vital fire department tools that has impacted -- or could impact -- the response to thousands of people served by the fire departments. Officials say the thieves have struck within the past two months and six different fire stations have been burglarized. Fire officials are resorting to unprecedented steps to thwart the thefts while some of the volunteer departments said they may have to go without their stolen tools for the time being.  

The house in the small town of Granville, Ohio, that Lea Ann Parsley-Davenport grew up in was located just a couple of blocks from the fire department, close enough to hear the town's emergency sirens sound whenever there was a fire. On those occasions, she would hop on her bike and pedal as fast as she could down to the station. Being only 11 at the time, Parsley-Davenport wasn't allowed to fight fires, but she could watch her two older brothers in action as they prepared to go out on the call. And when they returned, she could help wash down the trucks and hoses. "It was an easy thing to get involved in, and I just loved it," said Parsley-Davenport, a University of Virginia alumna who still lives in Granville. "It was kind of our way of contributing to our community. A lot of people around here do Scouts or Kiwanis or other community organizations that are part of life in a little town. For us, it was being on the fire department and giving back that way."  

"It's premature for any country either to surrender, or to declare victory," said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus about the fight against Covid yesterday. "This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes," said Ghebreyesus in opening remarks at the organization's weekly Covid update. "WHO is currently tracking four sub-lineages of the Omicron variant of concern, including BA.2." Preliminary findings seem to indicate that BA.2 is more transmissible, but not more virulent, than the original Omicron. The Director-General and other WHO officials sought during the briefing to warn countries not to let their guards down, particularly with respect to Omicron. While not designated as such on the WHO web site yet, the WHO Covid-19 technical lead said on Monday that, since BA.2 is Omicron, it is a variant of concern.