The Decatur Fire Department responded to 11,115 alarms in 2020, according to Fire Chief Jeff Abbott. In the monthly report on for the Decatur City Council meeting, Chief Abbott wrote there was an increase of 147 alarms over 2019. As for structure fires, the department responded to 393, which was an increase of 60 over the previous years and the highest total in the last 10 years. During June of 2020, Decatur firefighters responded to 11 structure fires in 48 hours.  

Urbana firefighters rescued a 69-year-old woman from a burning apartment Tuesday morning. Urbana Fire Division Chief Kyle Hensch said the woman was on a bed in a bedroom next to a bedroom where firefighters found flames and heavy smoke. "We did a search and found a woman in an adjacent bedroom and rescued her out the window," Hensch said. "There was heavy smoke throughout the whole complex, so that was the quickest and easiest way to get her out." The fire was reported at 9:58 a.m. at in a garden-level apartment of a three-story unit in the 900 block of East Harding Drive. The garden level is slightly below ground but has windows at ground level, Hensch explained. Hensch said the woman was breathing as she was placed on a gurney to be taken to OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana. Her condition was not immediately available.  

The Sterling Fire Department is still working to put out the fire at a recycling plant a day after it started. At approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, 18 fire departments firefighters responded to the fire at Cimco Recycling located at 13509 Galt Road. Sterling firefighters asked residents to avoid the area to help emergency services assist on scene at the time of the fire. Crews left the scene and there were no injuries reported. On Wednesday morning, the Sterling Fire Department announced the fire was burning again. According to a news release, crews were alerted the waste pile smoldering from Tuesday's fire had started again due to winds Wednesday morning. Firefighters from the Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments were dispatched to the scene again at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday. As of 8:15 a.m., crews were still on the scene.0  

"I'm honored to be a veteran and I hope I can help honor others," Wapella Fire Chief Nelson Thorp said. The pandemic has made it hard to honor loved ones who die. That's why one town is trying to go above and beyond to remember a veteran. Flags were put up and down streets leading from the funeral home to Illinois 54 to honor local veteran James Dolly who passed away Thursday. The Clinton and Wapella Fire Departments put up a giant flag when the funeral procession drove by. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it hard for families to give their loved ones a proper send off, but they wanted to make sure Dolly wasn't forgotten. "I think it just means more. We need to do this and we can't all get together. When we can't be where we sometimes need to be just to show our honoring them as much as possible anyway possible," Chief Thorp said.  

A firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries Wednesday morning at a blaze in a commercial building that houses a Chase Bank branch in the Hyde Park area and burned for 90 minutes before being extinguished. Part of the building collapses during the fire, reported at 12:24 a.m. at 4401 Crenshaw Blvd., near Vernon Avenue. Firefighters found fire burning through the roof of the two-story building, according to Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The address corresponds to a Chase Bank branch inside the Bakewell Building. A total of 160 firefighters extinguished the Major Emergency fire in 90 minutes while protecting a nearby three-story building from fire damage. A knockdown was called at 1:54 a.m., Stewart said. The firefighter sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital, Stewart said.  

PHOTOS: Waterville firefighter Ryan Johnston embraces the fact that those in his profession cannot work remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic. Johnston, 48, founded MAINE-IAC Training a half-dozen years ago after local fire departments learned of his unique extrication class. Now, more than ever, the region's often short-staffed departments look to get the most out of whom they've got, and that's where Johnston's business comes in. "One of the things to remember during COVID is that the fires don't stop, emergencies don't stop," Johnston said. "We've got to keep our firefighter skills as sharp as we can, so we do it as safely as possible." In recent months, MAINE-IAC Training reached a countrywide audience. In November, Johnston published an article in popular outlet Firefighter Nation about firefighting while short staffed. In his article, Johnston wrote about the importance of training with ladder trucks in real-world settings with modern tactics.  

Firefighter Hunter Space left his Beemverville Fire Department in Wantage with a pick-up truck full of firefighting gear. After a 14-hour ride, he arrived at the firehouse in rural Vance, Alabama. The trip was to donate the gear his fire department in Sussex County could no longer use to the southern department in need. The gear included breathing apparatus, resistant hoods, turnout gear (pants and coats), flashlights and alarms to alert others when a firefighter "goes down" while battling a fire. "A lot of stuff which was expired up here was golden to them," Space said Tuesday after his return. A fourth-generation volunteer firefighter, Space is a member of the family that owns Space Farms and is the son of Assemblyman Parker Space, a former chief of the Beemerville Fire Department. The rural Alabama town's Fire Department was grateful for the equipment. "We have different standards down here than you have up there," said Vance Fire Chief Harold McAdory in a telephone call on Tuesday.  

VIDEOS: Clark County firefighters battled a three-alarm fire in the southwest valley near Fort Apache and Tropicana Monday night. According to Clark County Fire, crews responded to the intersection of south Fort Apache Road and west Tropicana Avenue around 11:50 p.m. for a reported fire at an apartment complex that was under construction. Upon arriving, crews elevated the call to a third alarm as the fire grew due to windy conditions. "Compounding the emergency, there were strong winds that was spreading the fire through the complex and sending embers to nearby neighborhoods," Clark County deputy fire chief Warren Whitney said. The fire was officially considered "knocked down" around 1:50 a.m. Tuesday but the scene remained unsafe later Tuesday morning.  

VIDEO: Amid the pandemic, it's been some time since the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums band performed publicly. On Wednesday, that will change when members take part in this year's Inauguration Day festivities . "It was a great honor to be asked by the department to participate in this inauguration parade," said band manager and FDNY Captain Kevin Haugh. It's the opportunity of a lifetime for Haugh, who spoke with NY1 about the experience on Tuesday at EMS Station 18 in the Bronx. Haugh said it's the first time the band will participate in an inaugural parade. In 2017, their NYPD counterparts went to Washington D.C. to perform when they were asked participate in President Donald Trump's inaugural parade. Now, it's the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums band that gets an opportunity to shine. "It's actually going to be nice for us," Haugh said. "COVID has affected a lot of things. We haven't been out to any parades. All the parades have been canceled."