A deadly fire Saturday night on Chicago's Northwest Side is the latest in a rash of serious blazes in the area over the last few days. The American Red Cross is stepping in to help after one person died, a pet was killed and another person was injured in an apartment fire on the city's Northwest Side Saturday night. As the investigation that claimed the life of an 81-year-old man continues, the second-floor tenants returned to their fire-damaged unit, hoping to be able to salvage something. Julissa Duran and her family hope to salvage what belongings they can just a day after fire nearly levels the two flat where they live, killing their downstairs neighbor and leaving them homeless. "I still can believe that everything I own is gone," Duran said. "All of our photos and memories."  

Authorities in suburban Evanston say that six people were taken to area hospitals after a carbon monoxide leak at a church Sunday. According to authorities, the leak was reported Sunday afternoon at the Mount Pisgah Ministry, located in the 1800 block of Church Street. Firefighters arrived to the scene and transported six individuals to hospitals around the area. At least five other individuals were evaluated and released at the scene, fire officials said. Exact details on the condition of the victims was unknown, but all six hospitalized patients had been stabilized, according to the Evanston Fire Department. Initial reports indicate that the carbon monoxide leak originated from the building's furnace. NICOR is continuing to investigate whether there were any other sources of carbon monoxide in the building.  

A Chicago firefighter who was seriously injured in a fire in Belmont Central Thursday remains in "very critical" condition. The firefighter, Mashawn Plummer, 30, is being treated at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said in a tweet Friday morning. "Please keep him in your prayers," Langford said. Plummer was injured while battling a blaze at a two-story building just after 2 a.m. in the 3100 block of North Marmora Avenue, officials said. Eladio Gomez, 37, died in the fire and another man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. A woman was also seriously injured. Plummer had just celebrated his one-year anniversary with the department.  

VIDEO: Roughly 20 people were evacuated from a Chatham apartment Monday morning after it was set on fire. Police and firefighters responded to a report of a fire on the third floor of a vacant apartment around 2:10 a.m. in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue, police said. Firefighters put out the blaze and a 53-year-old man was taken to Jackson Park Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, police said. Approximately 20 people were evacuated from the first and second floor of the apartment, according to CPD. Police believe the fire was started intentionally.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Firefighters were still responding to hot spots and smoke on Monday leftover from a deadly weekend fire at the QVC distribution facility in Rocky Mount. The Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office said search and rescue members located a body on the outbound side of the loading dock at the distribution facility on Sunday morning. The body was identified as 21-year-old Kevon Ricks around 4 p.m. "This is a very active and fresh investigation," said Edgecombe County manager Eric Evans during a press conference on Sunday afternoon. "[We're] not able to answer any questions at this point and time, but thank you for being here." QVC officials had previously confirmed that "everyone inside the center made it out safely." The major fire tore through the building on Saturday morning just after 2 a.m.  

VIDEO: As a devastating tornado rolled through Rudd Wednesday night, a local resident went above and beyond to protect his neighbors from what was to come. With heavy winds and rain bearing down on the town, Volunteer Firefighter Tyler Hicks answered the call when asked to sound Rudd's tornado siren system by hand. "It's raining sideways, all that kind of stuff, and I'm still holding the button. It really wasn't too bad with all the gear on, and next thing you know, there's no button there anymore to pull down," Hicks said. The intense moments Hicks weathered to warn Rudd residents of the impending tornado were captured on video. However, not pictured in the footage - the resilience it took to keep the siren blaring as the world around Hicks started tearing apart.  

Bruce Sams is no stranger to fighting for his life and fighting to save others' lives. As a McMinnville firefighter, it's right there in his job description. But the North Albany resident didn't expect to be fighting for his own life against one nasty case of COVID-19. Fortunately, for Sams, 55, landing in the intensive care unit of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center meant being admitted to one of the few hospitals in the country using a brand new treatment. Which saved his life. The treatment is a Seraph 100 filter, which works in conjunction with a typical dialysis machine to filter out pathogens from a patient's blood. It's essentially a sealed plastic tube filled with tiny little beads that look like sand. The beads are coated with heparan sulfate, a type of carbohydrate that's common in human and animal cells. A person's blood is removed from the body, run through the filter and then sent back into the bloodstream.  

VIDEO: You can find a lot of things at Faneuil Hall. From Keytar Bear to Ned Devine's and even John Legend. The past few years, you may have even caught Buddy the Elf. And while the notable Christmas character is known for spinning around turnstiles and eating already chewed gum off railings in New York City, this Boston-based Christmas elf has one goal in mind: pillow fights. Meet Brendan Sullivan, a local firefighter spreading Christmas joy one pillow fight at a time. Sullivan started his impromptu pillow fight videos in 2018. Since then, his videos around Boston — and even an episode in New York City — have gone viral. His video from 2018 has almost one billion views, according to Sullivan. "I'd be walking down the street — of course I'm dressed as Buddy the Elf mind you — and people recognize us," Sullivan said. "They said ‘oh my god, you're the firefighter. Oh my God. You're the Boston pillow fighting elf.'"  

Quinlan Roe remembers his first lecture in Missoula College's new paramedic program. He said it was from the director of the program, Dave McEvoy, who shared a story about being handed a newborn baby struggling for breath. McEvoy told his students he still remembers the fear and trust in the mother's eyes. "He got teary-eyed and told us that, at some point, that was going to be us in the field, experiencing something similar," Roe said. "He told us that being a paramedic is about caring for and helping people – that it's hard work and requires a lot of studying and commitment." Fast forward four semesters, in the middle of a national health care labor crisis and a global pandemic, and the University of Montana's Missoula College is graduating its very first cohort of new, nationally certified paramedics.