A 6-year-old boy died in a fire after being left home alone with his siblings Wednesday night in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood. A neighbor noticed the blaze in the Far South Side row house about 9:45 p.m. and rescued four children before crews arrived, according to the Chicago Fire Department. But the neighbor was unable to enter the second-floor bedroom where the fire started, fire department spokesman Larry Langford said. Firefighters quickly doused the flames and searched the room's top bunkbed, where they found the 6-year-old unresponsive. Ron Johnson, 6, was rushed from the home in the 13000 block of South Evans Avenue to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said. The child had burns on the majority of his body, Langford said.  

Robert Dean Forney died Tuesday afternoon after battling COVID-19 for weeks. Forney was a member of Brimfield Community Fire Protection District for 25 years and served as chief for five years. "If you ever needed help, dad was the one you called first," Jacob Forney, Bob's son, said. "He wasn't just a dad, he was a mechanic, he was a carpenter, he was the maintenance guy." According to his son, Forney was very involved in his kids' lives. Forney has four sons. He was a 4H leader, enjoyed the robotics program, and encouraged his sons in sports. Forney was originally from Elmwood, but raised his sons in Brimfield. "He had his hands in everything," Jacob Forney said. Three of Forney's four sons became firefighters. Greg Walters, Peoria Heights fire chief, is a friend of Forney's. They met when he attended one of Walter's classes.  

Jacksonville Fire Department is expanding its paramedic services after receiving a secondary, temporary license from the state for its substation. Currently, the main station's crew responds to calls for paramedic services, regardless of where the call originates. That often means calls in the substation's district require both stations to respond, tying up both crews, Chief Doug Sills said. "Depending on how a call comes in, how it is coded and how serious it is, the substation will respond because it is in their district, but the main station will also have to respond," Sills said. Because the department is not always able to fully staff four paramedics — two at each station — for each shift, only the main station has a license to respond to paramedic calls, Sills said.  

A smoke detector likely saved the life of an east Urbana man early Wednesday as fire made his house unlivable for a while. Urbana Fire Division Chief Mike Wallace said the resident of the 2100 block of East Pennsylvania Avenue called to report a fire in his attached garage at 3:07 a.m. Crews were there in minutes and found heavy fire coming from the garage, Wallace said. "The resident was alerted by a working smoke detector and he was out by the time we arrived," Wallace said. The fire destroyed his car and left his house with "significant smoke and water damage," Wallace said. The man was the only occupant. About 17 Urbana firefighters helped put out the fire and had it under control in a short amount of time. They had to remain there for more than a couple of hours to wait for a professional cleaning service to board up the house. There were no injuries.  

VIDEO: An intense fire early Thursday morning caused significant damage to the New Light Church in Pleasant Grove. Dallas firefighters were called to the church in the 9300 block of Elam Road just before 1:30 a.m. and found flames burning through the roof. The fire was moving so quickly through the large one-story building that firefighters were forced shift to a defensive attack, fighting the fire from outside. About 40 firefighters were dispatched to the fire because windy conditions brought the concern of danger to nearby homes. No one was injured, but the building sustained significant damage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

VIDEO: An appeal filed on behalf of Wilmington firefighters killed and injured in a 2016 Canby Park arson has been denied by a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge. The lawsuit, filed against Wilmington and two previous mayors and fire chiefs, sought compensatory damages, including for loss of life, lost wages and emotional injuries. While recognizing the case "involves a tragedy," the appeals court's three-member panel said the "plaintiffs failed to allege a deprivation of a constitutional right." In other words, they contend the appeal didn't contain enough factual matter to seek relief and damages. The panel's Wednesday decision is the second time in a year that a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. In February, U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika said in her 21-page opinion that the federal civil lawsuit failed to "allege the necessary underlying constitutional violation" for the claims brought forth by the families of three dead firefighters and the surviving firefighters.  

VIDEO: Firefighters in Alachua County have created new coins to honor the accomplishments of crew members. The first recipient of the Chiefs Challenge Coin was Lieutenant Larry Stewart who advocated for the creation of the awards. He has served the department for more than 30 years. The second recipient is Captain Karem Scott-Kotb who designed the coins. He was honored for his work to train and recruit new employees. From now on, the coins will be given to department members who go above and beyond.  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday that at least 21 people have had a severe allergic reaction after receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. All of the patients have recovered. The reaction, called anaphylaxis, can be life-threatening, and must be treated immediately with an emergency injection of epinephrin, often given via EpiPen. The report included data from 1.9 million people who got the shot in the first week and a half it was available last month, from Dec. 14 to Dec. 23. That puts the rate of anaphylaxis at 11.1 cases per million doses given. For comparison, the rate of anaphylaxis following the flu shot is 1.3 per million, the CDC said. "This is still a rare outcome," Dr. Nancy Messonnier, head of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a media briefing Wednesday. "Right now, the known and potential benefits of the current COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the known and potential risks of getting COVID-19."  

From simple beginnings, starting with three hose companies and 75 volunteer firefighters, the Hollister Fire Department can now boast of four dedicated fire stations, each filled with specialized firefighting equipment. The department recently reached its 145th anniversary on Dec. 27. The city was founded when Colonel William Welles Hollister split with his partners in the Flint-Bixby ranch, with Hollister taking the area of the ranch that became the city of Hollister in 1872. The first fire companies in Hollister started immediately after. "Hollister was a sheep rancher and this area was great for growing cattle feed," said Hollister Fire Chief Bob Martin Del Campo. "When the farmers were storing the grain, alfalfa, and hay, there were a lot of fires because of spontaneous combustion. You just did not have the same kind of fire protection that you have now. They needed to be ready to fight fires at the ranch."