Several people escaped a home explosion in Belleville with no major injuries. Judging from the damage to the structure, they are lucky to be alive. It is still not clear at this time how the fire started. The home was fully engulfed in flames, and explosions were reported coming from the scene. The structure is located in the 8900 block of Highway 163. The fire started at approximately 6:45 a.m. As of 7:15 a.m. crews were on the scene putting water on the structure. Flames were seen coming from the roof. There were eight to nine people living in the home. None of them appear to be seriously injured. No one was taken to the hospital but several of them were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and other maladies. The Illinois State Fire Marshall is calling the fire suspicious. An investigation will be launched into what caused the fire.  

The Alton Fire Department responded to an active brush/old scrap blaze in the old quarry area at 17th and Alby Street around 4:50 p.m. Monday. The department encountered a fire that created a huge amount of black smoke in the air. However, the firefighters contained it in a very quick period of time. Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison said smoke poured out of the brush/scrap and it appeared to be set before their arrival. The chief said there are some older buildings on the property, but said they were not damaged.  

VIDEO: A Chicagoan's wedding day was saved by the Chicago Fire Department in Gold Coast over the weekend. Anthony Serritella had just gotten married Saturday afternoon and was showing off his new wedding band to a friend when it slipped from his finger and went into the sewer. Firefighters ended up going into the storm drain and found the ring! Serritella said he's thankful for all the firefighters of Engine 98. In addition to saving his wedding band, they also saved some family history. The wedding band was Serritella's father's as well.  

Police, firefighters and paramedics from Des Plaines responded about 10:30 a.m. Monday, November 8, 2021 to a report of a crash with injuries at Rand Road and Golf Road in Des Plaines. Upon arrival a fire crew reported victims trapped with a vehicle fire. Paramedics also reported five victims with serious injuries (Code Red). The fire was immediately extinguished. All trapped patients were extricated by about 10:43 a.m. A MABAS Division 3 EMS Box Alarm was activated about 10:40 a.m. Firefighter, paramedics and/or command officers were assigned from Chicago, Morton Grove, Mountain Prospect, Niles, and Prospect Heights and we're on the scene. Patients were transported to Level 1 Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital and Northwest Community Hospital.  

VIDEO: Firefighters with the Pasadena Fire Department and Houston Fire Department worked to put out a blaze at an apartment complex located in Pasadena, officials said Tuesday. Officials said the two-alarm fire broke out at an apartment complex located at 4201 Fairmont. According to officials, a building began to collapse as firefighters worked to put out the flames. Firefighters were still working to put out hot spots around 5 a.m. Residents who live at the apartment were seen standing outside, many of them saying they lost everything but are thankful they got out in time. "I didn't hear anything. I just smelled smoke. The atmosphere was full of smoke and that's what woke me up," one man told KPRC 2's Brittany Jeffers. So far, officials said no injuries have been reported. Red Cross is helping residents that were impacted by the fire.  

More than a decade ago, Hartford Fire Department rookie Ashley Shapiro was sitting in the South Green fire station waiting for the next call when his captain dropped a rusty, sickle-shaped blade on his desk. "I hear you like this tool," Tom Dalton told Shapiro, a history buff who had recently arrived at Engine Company 1 Ladder 6. "Here's the head. Play around with it." Dalton had brought Shapiro an original Hartford hook, forged as early as the 1920s in the department's original machine shop behind their Main Street fire station. It had been a decade or two since Hartford firefighters had carried the tool, though it was once so widely used a stone carving of the hook embellishes the bay doors of the century-old fire house. Now, Shapiro is bringing back a modern version of the capital city's unique fire hook.  

Thomas Pomplin was 28 when he died from the effects of overheating and exhaustion from fighting the Storm's Cedar Tub and Pail Factory fire in Nyack in July 1854. He died eight days later. It is believed that he was the first line of duty death of a firefighter in Rockland County, but because he was black, that designation never happened. Former Piermont fire chief and now lieutenant in charge of the dive team, Daniel Goswick, is hoping to change that. "Based on our research that we have compiled, I believe that Thomas Pomplin should be recognized as the first line of duty death in Rockland County, but because of his skin color back then, I am sure he was never recognized for his heroic acts," Goswick said.  

When the alarm sounds for an emergency, blood pressure among firefighters often soars, according to preliminary research funded by the American Heart Association and presented at the Association's Scientific Sessions 2021. The meeting will be fully virtual, Saturday, November 13 through Monday, November 15, 2021, and is a premier global exchange of the latest scientific advancements, research and evidence-based clinical practice updates in cardiovascular science for health care professionals worldwide. From 2019-2021, 41 volunteer and municipal firefighters from the suburban Philadelphia area and from the Dover, New Hampshire, area wore ambulatory blood pressure monitors during an on-call work shift lasting at least 12 consecutive hours.  

Emergency response agencies across Missouri now have a goal of clearing an accident scene on state highways in less than 90 minutes. A handful of other states already have something similar in place, like Washington, Florida, and Tennessee. The goal is to have the roadway clear 90 minutes after a first responder arrives on the scene. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) say this is doable, but for serious accidents, it could take longer. Tow truck drivers across the state saw they are on board with the new initiative. "It's different but it can be done," said Michael Scott, owner of Scotty's Carriage Works in Cameron, Missouri. "Depending on whether it's a truck wreck or an automobile accident, we can quickly grab something and relocate it to the shoulder and now we've reopened that part of the road." Scott has been a tow truck driver in northwest Missouri for more than 60 years.