A ComEd electrical vault caught fire in Chicago's West Loop on Wednesday morning. The Chicago Fire Department confirmed a Level 2 hazmat response was underway as heavy smoke and flames billowed from the electrical source at 113 North Green Street. A nearby hotel was evacuated. Hotel guest Michael Worrall told CBS News Chicago he was alerted of the evacuations over a loud speaker.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBBM-TV CBS 2 Chicago

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Two decades ago, Hurricane Charley struck Central Florida, kicking off the busiest hurricane season on record that the region has ever seen. While far from the most powerful hurricane in the Sunshine State, Charley made landfall in 2004 around 100 miles south of Tampa as a Category 4 storm.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKMG-TV CBS 6 Orlando

VIDEO: Firehouse Subs, a chain co-founded by firefighters, is turning up the heat with its latest ad campaign, combining humor, community spirit and a catchy tune to celebrate its most popular item. The brand launched a new national advertising campaign centered around its popular Hook & Ladder sub, featuring real-life firefighters in a fun, fast-paced commercial.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Drum

A local first responder is warning about a new drug, mostly seen combined with fentanyl, that is contributing to a dangerous trend in opioid-related overdoses in the Worcester area. Brian Rettger, who works for Worcester Emergency Medical Services at UMass Memorial Healthcare, told Boston.com he’s seen a “significant spike” in opioid-related overdoses from late July into August around Worcester.
- PUB DATE: 8/14/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston.com

Firefighters in Waukesha County are reminding people to keep grills at least 10 feet from buildings after a house fire destroyed a home in Delafield Sunday night. A fire started in an attached garage of a Delafield home and spread to the house shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 11. Two people sleeping inside got out safely, and no one was hurt.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTMJ-TV NBC 4 Milwaukee

VIDEO: David Baston was working at The Jayhawk Club in Lawrence, Kansas, when he began to feel ill on Feb. 28. A co-worker hopped in a car with him, and the two headed for Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH). However, Baston said he had a gut feeling he needed medical assistance immediately, so they veered off the path to the hospital and pulled into Fire Station No.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSHB-TV NBC 41 Kansas City

VIDEO: Mayor Eric Adams on Monday appointed Robert S. Tucker, the head of a private security firm, to head the city's fire department. Tucker, 54, takes over from Laura Kavanagh, the first woman to serve as the city's fire commissioner. “I can think of no higher calling than serving as a fire commissioner of New York,” Tucker, the chairman and CEO of security firm T&M USA, said at a news conference.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York City

More than 300,000 people are expected to descend on Sedalia, a town of about 22,000 people, in the coming days for the Missouri State Fair. Nearly a thousand people work at the fair — making delicious fried treats, operating carnival rides, running livestock shows and more. So, what happens if something goes wrong? That responsibility falls on the State Fair Volunteer Fire Department, an organization that is now in its 62nd year of service and provides fire response, emergency medical services and training opportunities for the volunteers that staff the department.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KBIA-FM 91.3 Columbia

VIDEO: At a lab in the Medical District of Dallas, Cancer Check Labs is behind a big project aiming to detect cancer early in firefighters. Cancer is the number one cause of death in firefighters. Two out of three will be diagnosed, which is more than three times the general population's cancer rate.
- PUB DATE: 8/13/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFAA-TV ABC 8 Dallas

The volunteer chief of Silver Creek Fire Department was recently honored for his contributions to the department and fire safety in the community. The Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association recognized Chief Todd Stange as the 2024 Volunteer Chief of the Year. “The award was very special to me and (our) small fire department,” Stange said in an email.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 4:59:00 PM - SOURCE: Sheboygan Press - Metered Site

A Racine duplex was damaged by fire on Sunday, Aug. 11. Firefighters were called to the area of Green Street and Romayne Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. Officials say the fire started outside the building and extended into a roof area above a small second floor closet. Three residents were home at the time of the fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 11:49:36 AM - SOURCE: WITI-TV FOX 6 Milwaukee

Authorities in Fox Crossing say one cat is dead and two people are now without a home following a fire Sunday afternoon. According to a release from the Fox Crossing Fire Department, crews responded at 12:59 p.m. to a two-story, multi-family apartment building on the 700 block of Wanda Avenue for reports of a fire.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV CBS 5 Green Bay

The cause of a massive fire at a Modesto pallet yard is under investigation, the Modesto Fire Department said on Saturday. The blaze brought crews from across Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties Friday evening to get control of the fire burning in an industrial area of the city. “Every alarm we had responded,” said Battalion Chief Jim Black.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCRA-TV NBC 3 Sacramento

VIDEO: Cleanup is underway at the Trout Run Volunteer Fire Company after their home base suffered a devastating loss as a result of tropical storm Debby. "This is a tributary to Lycoming Creek, and this came through and undercut the fire hall and the entire embankment and collapsed the road," said Peter Swift, Camp Director at Camp Susque.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNEP-TV ABC 16 Scranton

VIDEO: Last month, two young paddleboarders found themselves stranded in the ocean, pushed 2,000 feet from the shore by strong winds and currents. Thanks to the deployment of a drone, rescuers kept an eye on them the whole time and safely brought them aboard a rescue boat within minutes. In North Carolina, the Oak Island Fire Department is one of a few in the country using drone technology for ocean rescues.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the biggest causes of mortality in 2023. The report, published by the agency on Aug. 8, was based on death records from the National Vital Statistics System. A total of 3,090,582 deaths occurred in the U.S. in 2023, a decline of 6.
- PUB DATE: 8/12/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX News

VIDEO: The Evansville Fire District Chief says the organization’s secret to staying independent is a growing community, financial support from residents and a team that doubles as a family. The Evansville Fire District celebrated 150 years of service on Saturday with a parade, station tour, raffle and a live demonstration.
- PUB DATE: 8/10/2024 8:00:00 PM - SOURCE: WMTV NBC/CW 15 Madison

PHOTOS: A Merrill house is a total loss after a Thursday morning fire. At about 8:15 a.m. Thursday, the Merrill Fire Department was dispatched to N3000 block of South End Road in the Town of Rock Falls for a house fire. The owner was the sole person home at the time and he was outside and uninjured in the fire, according to a Facebook post from Merrill Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WAOW-TV ABC 9 Wausau

Mountain Bay Metro Police Chief Jeremy Hunt confirms one person was arrested in connection to three separate fires in Rothschild Thursday. Lt. Dan Conrad from the Rothschild Fire Department said crews responded to a trailer fire outside the Rothschild Pavilion around 2:30 a.m. Then about 30-45 minutes later, the department responded to another fire a short distance away at 1016 E.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAW-TV CBS/CW+ 7 Wausau

The Hutchinson Fire Department released a new video showing the intensity of a fire at a recycled mattress business on Tuesday. According to HFD, bystanders reported large amounts of smoke and fire coming from the business. Firefighters noticed a “large glow and smoke plume” as they left the station.
- PUB DATE: 8/9/2024 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KWCH-DT CBS 12 Hutchinson