A beloved Chicago 911 dispatcher for the last 33 years has passed away from COVID-19. Guadalupe "Lupe" Lopez passed away Monday after contracting COVID-19 a few months ago. The father of three passed away Monday. OEMC is incredibly saddened to confirm that one of our 9-1-1 Dispatchers, Guadalupe "Lupe" Lopez (PCOII), passed away. Lupe was not only a beloved employee of the OEMC family for over 33 years, but also a wonderful friend to many, including many at the Chicago Police Department. He was a kind-hearted man, a genuinely caring person, and a trusted confidant to those he worked with. His contributions to 9-1-1 and the City of Chicago will not be forgotten. Our sympathies are extended to his family and friends as well as his colleagues. He will be deeply missed.  

Springfield Fire Chief Allen Reyne said he will be retiring in late November. Reyne confirmed with WAND News his last day will be Nov. 30, 2020. He became the fire chief in March of 2018, when Mayor Jim Langfelder appointed him to the position. He had joined the Springfield Fire Department in 1999 before becoming a captain in 2009. Reyne is a certified fire investigator at multiple levels. He holds numerous certifications, including Hazardous Waste Operations, Fire Service Management I, II, III and IV, and Fire Service Instructor I & II.  

There are over 1,000 volunteer fire departments across the state of Illinois, and many of them dot the rural towns across Central Illinois, including in the Canton area. Within each of those departments are brave hometown heroes, who regularly drop everything to help a neighbor in crisis. However, if my 20-plus years in the fire service have taught me anything, it's that sometimes firefighters don't feel there is room for that image of a courageous firefighter to co-exist with someone reaching out for mental health help. Sadly, this misperception has led to far too many firefighters to take their own lives after bottling up all of the stress from the job inside for too long. In fact, firefighters are more likely to die by suicide than in the line of duty.  

VIDEO: On the surface, Bob Halberstadt's roles as a volunteer EMT and firefighter in his native Blairstown are not all that unusual. But considering he is old enough to be the father or even the grandfather of his fellow first responders, the 80-year-old stands out for his service and his sense of duty to keep his community safe. Halberstadt's unique situation and generous spirit caught the eye of celebrity chef Rachael Ray, who honored him on her namesake television show last week as part of her "Thanks for Giving" series leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. "What I love most about him is that he's living all of his life," Ray said of Halberstadt, whose segment on the show aired Thursday. "Not only is he living all of his life, he sacrifices his life for others. I have tremendous respect for that on so many levels."  

A South Carolina lawmaker has partnered with a fellow congressman from Illinois to introduce a bill to designate October 28 as "National First Responders Day". Republican Congressman Ralph Norman who serves South Carolina's 5th District partnered with Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush of Illinois to introduce the bill. If passed, the bill would add it to the current list of ten "legal public holidays" under current law. Right now, New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day are all recognized. Both congressmen say they believe the selflessness and heroism of first responders should be honored and celebrated with a legal public holiday.  

VIDEO: The NYPD is investigating after a video on social media surfaced showing a man shooting a flamethrower into the air as he was on top of an MTA bus with people inside — but it may have all been a part of an unsanctioned stunt. The incident took place Nov. 8 along the B-26 bus route near Franklin Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Flames come shooting out from the weapon and high into the air, and later onto the ground, as the man jumps around on top of the bus. There were about two dozen people inside the bus at the time, the MTA said, who were later evacuated. "We don't even need to say how absurd, dangerous and just plain stupid this was. The reckless individual who torched over the top of an occupied city bus put New Yorkers, including the bus operator, in life-threatening peril," said MTA Communications Director Tim Minton.  

Coronavirus cases have increased in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam over the past 14 days, the latest NBC News data showed Tuesday. And in a dozen of those states — Vermont, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Kansas, Pennsylvania and New York — infections have spiked in the last two weeks, meaning there has been a 100 percent or more increase in confirmed cases over 14 days. The White House coronavirus task force bluntly stated in its latest weekly report that there is "now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country, reaching most counties, without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration."  

Welcome to the "Roaring 20s!" Main Journey (Leap!), Anton (Paddington), and Caramel Films have joined forces to create Fireheart, the animated tale of a fearless young girl vying to become the first female firefighter in 1920s New York. The heartwarming film boasts an all-star cast, with Kenneth Branagh (Tenet, Death on the Nile), Olivia Cooke (Thoroughbreds, Ready Player One), William Shatner (Star Trek), and Laurie Holden (The Americans) serving as lead voice actors. First looks were unveiled by Anton at AFM 2020 online. The film revolves around the 16-year-old Georgia Nolan (Cooke) who has the impossible dream of becoming a firefighter at a time when women are not allowed to serve. When a mysterious arsonist starts burning down Broadway, one by one all the firefighters in the city disappear. Georgia's beloved father, Shawn (Branagh), is called out of retirement by the Mayor of NY (Shatner) to lead the investigation as Captain in the FDNY.