Renee Watts describes her younger brother – Stephon – as nerdy and God-fearing. "He enjoyed talking to anyone who would listen about computer games, philosophy, and love having conversations about the Bible," she told Illinois lawmakers at a recent hearing. Stephon had Asperger's syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum. When he was struggling, his medical providers and school counselors instructed his family to have the teen taken to a nearby hospital, transportation that required an ambulance and law enforcement, Watts said. On one occasion in 2012, Watts said her father called the police. Three officers entered the house to check on Stephon. He appeared to have a butter knife and ran for the door. The officers shot and killed him. He was 15. ..Federal and state governments, and mental health advocates want to use the number change as a catalyst to build an emergency response system for people who are suicidal, or experiencing a mental or behavioral crisis.  

Multiple fire departments have responded to a chemical release in Wood River. On Wednesday afternoon, Norfolk Southern responded to a stationary rail car containing spent sulfuric acid that had become over pressurized and was venting, according to Jeff DeGrass of the railroad. The car was part of a group of five cars originally picked up from the Phillips 66 refinery and staged while awaiting pick up by KCS Railroad, he said. Late Wednesday and early Thursday, Wood River police and fire were joined at the scene by the Madison County Emergency Management Agency Command Post, Norfolk Southern personnel, hazardous material contractors and first responders from multiple communities were on-scene assessing the situation, monitoring air quality and developing containment plans.  

The Immanuel Lutheran Church parsonage and office at 209 Congress St. in Golden, Illinois, caught fire Wednesday morning shortly after 11 a.m. Pastor Jeffrey Corson said his three daughters were home at the time of the fire, heard smoke alarms, looked out the back of the home, and saw the garage on fire. They were all able to get out of the home without injury. The fire destroyed a garage and damaged the home and office. Two cats perished in the fire. The Golden Fire Protection District chief said they had the fire out in about an hour. The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services were on scene to help the family. Fire officials have not yet ruled on a cause of the fire. The pastor did speculate that several older freezers were recently plugged-in in the garage The freezers were brought in for an upcoming ice cream social. The Camp Point Fire Protection District, Golden Fire Protection District, Central Adams Fire Department, and Clayton Fire Department all responded to the fire.  

Police, firefighters and paramedics from Mount Prospect responded about 8:52 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, 2021 to an apartment in the block of 1100 South Hunt Club Drive a report that a 2 year-old locked his family out of a fourth-floor apartment unit while the oven was on inside the apartment. Firefighters set up ladders so that a firefighter could access the apartment unit from the balcony. Firefighters used the exterior ladder route to the balcony instead of the forcible entry option at the interior door, which would have damaged the interior door. No injuries were reported.  

A 2-year-old has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inflicted with a weapon belonging to his father, suburban Chicago police said Wednesday. Joliet Fire Department crews responded to a call early Wednesday of a child suffering a gunshot wound. The toddler had found a gun legally owned by his father in a TV stand and accidentally shot himself in the head, according to Joliet police. The father was at home at the time of the incident. "I can attest as a parent, with my colleagues up here: things can go bad in a split second," said Joliet police Lt. Joe Egizio. "You have to be conscious of where you're placing firearms if you own them. I, as a police officer, have to make that conscious decision every night." Fire Chief Greg Blaskey said the child was treated at the scene and taken to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in critical condition, where he later died. Police said the shooting was an accident, but the case remains under investigation and no charges have been filed.  

Flashover is a very dangerous phenomenon, in which all of the exposed combustible materials in an enclosed area near-simultaneously ignite. Thanks to a new AI-based system, however, firefighters may soon receive warnings when flashover is imminent. Typically, flashovers occur when a structure fire causes the temperature in an enclosed space to reach at least 593 ºC (1,100 ºF) – this is the approximate autoignition temperature of many commonly used organic materials. As a result, they will emit flammable gases and ignite at more or less the same time, even if they haven't been directly exposed to flames. Needless to say, firefighters do not want to be in a building when a flashover occurs. Given the chaos and limited visibility inside burning structures, though, it can be difficult for them to spot visible warning signs such as flames rolling across the ceiling.  

PHOTOS: For 30 years, Ramon Barreto has worked as a San Francisco firefighter, responding to calls within the city and facing down some of the region's most challenging wildfires. But by night, he brings that blazing energy into the ring as one of the Bay Area's most legendary wrestlers: Chicano Flame. Born in Ensenada, Mexico, Barreto immigrated to the Mission as a child. He'd sit on the floor of his living room watching wrestlers on TV while his grandfather screamed along, rooting for Mexican stars like Mil Mascaras as they crossed over into American wrestling leagues. In the '80s, Barreto's family moved to Visitacion Valley, putting them in the shadow of one of the hotbeds of Bay Area wrestling: the Cow Palace. "I've got to wrestle in the Cow Palace several times," says Barreto. "It's such a great honor, from being a kid in the seats seeing it, to actually being in the ring under the lights and in the dressing rooms. That was a great accomplishment, to go full circle from the seats into the ring."  

It all started after a furniture factory burned down. The factory, once located at the end of Putnam Street in the Chesterfield community, caught fire at a point when fire service was provided in the area by a joint effort from the city of Morganton, Oak Hill Fire and what later became Triple Community Fire Department, Chesterfield Fire Chief James Robinson said. That fire highlighted the need for a fire department closer to home, and on June 6, 1971, Chesterfield Fire Department officially was chartered, Robinson said. It was a humble beginning, when the community rallied together to purchase used fuel tankers and have them retrofitted to carry and pump water, Robinson said. "That was the start of the original fire department," Robinson said. "They were yellow in color, and we've slowly, as fire service likes to go, we've slowly evolved and ripened from our yellow fruit to our red fruit fire trucks that we've got now."  

VIDEO: The St. Louis Fire Department is showing off its newest fire truck, all thanks to Ameren Missouri. The truck costs about $1 million dollars and it took 9 to 10 months to design and another to build. Ameren Missouri helped with the design and donated the truck to the fire department. St. Louis City has two to three significant underground every year that can burn for hours, which can extensive damage and outages. The new truck puts those fires out in a matter of minutes by cooling everything down. It has a new fire suppression system which uses carbon dioxide to extinguish underground electrical fires. The truck has already been used on two manhole fires and helped fight the recent chemical fire in Affton. Chief Jenkerson says the city never would have gotten this truck without the donation from Ameren.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Firefighters were able to return a woman's American flag from her apartment after losing her home to a 4-alarm fire in Myrtle Beach Wednesday morning. The flag was all she had left. It was emotional devastation for firefighters, and the people who stood watching the fire destroy their homes. Vinnie Nudo-Frazier lived in the top floor unit for 7 years where firefighters focused most of their efforts in the early morning hours. "I'm feeling very emotional. Up and down. Crying one minute and laughing the next minute. But everyone is safe. That's the most important thing. Everyone got out. And we're just going to start over." Her American flag was flying high as crews worked to save what they could. Nearly 8 hours after the initial call, fire crews were forced to demolish the damaged units to put the fire out.