Two more children who were critically injured in a house fire at a firefighter's home in Chicago Tuesday died Friday night, bringing the death toll from the tragedy to four. A family member said the two children who died Friday were 2-year-old Emery Stewart and 9-year-old Autumn Stewart. Emery and Autumn's mother, Summer Day-Stewart, died from her injuries earlier in the day, while 7-year-old Ezra Stewart died in the fire Tuesday. According to a statement on a fundraising page for the family, the father, a Chicago firefighter, was on duty when he overheard his home address on the fire radio. When he arrived, he found his wife and children in serious condition as the fire continued to burn his house. "It's very sad," said Perla Martinez, a resident of Montclare, the Chicago neighborhood where the fire broke out. "We've never had something like this happen before and it just caught us off guard. … It's really sad."  

Summer Day-Stewart, a Chicago mother who died following a house fire earlier this week, is being remembered by her best friend of more than 20 years as a ray of light, a caring person and an amazing mother who would do anything for her children. "She loves them infinitely," said Chloe Boyle. "She wanted to give them the best lives she was just, gosh, so devoted to them." Boyle told NBC 5 on the phone she is heartbroken and devastated and trying to understand how something like this could happen. "It's pretty soul crushing to have loss her," she said. "I just feel like a part of my heart has been ripped out." Authorities said the 36-year-old mother and her three young children were home Tuesday night when a fire broke out at their Montclare residence. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said her 7-year-old son Ezra died Tuesday. Summer died Thursday and last night her 2-year son, Emory, and 9-year-old, Autumn, were pronounced dead.  

Peoria Fire Department added three higher-ranking officers to the leadership team. For all of them, it's a culmination of a long career with the Department. Chief Shawn Sollberger pinned new badges to new Assistant Chief Tony Cummings, new Division Chief of Operations Lore Baxter, and new Battalion Chief Ryan Calhoun. All three of the new appointees have more than two decades of experience in firefighting. They have a long history of working with Sollberger as well. "We all came up through the fire service together," Sollberger said. "All of us, all three individuals. To be able to stand here today as a fire chief and recognize them in their capacities it's very humbling." Cummings, Baxter, and Calhoun all have strong roots in the Peoria area. For Cummings, he and Sollberger go way back, all the way to their time at Peoria High School.  

First responders battled a 2-2-2 alarm fire early Monday morning at a vacant building in Cleveland. Officials with the Cleveland Fire Department said the fire started at 12:26 a.m. in the area of Miles Avenue and East 135th Street. Officials said 9 trucks and 40 firefighters responded to the blaze. Officials said nobody was hurt in the blaze. Officials confirmed the fire caused $50,000 in damages. Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Thousands of people came together on March 12 at the world's largest on-air stair climb competition for one mission: cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Held at the Columbia Center in Seattle, the LLS Firefighter Stairclimb hosted more than 2,000 volunteer and professional firefighters from more than 330 departments and 8 countries. According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Columbia Center is the tallest building in Seattle and the second tallest building west of Mississippi. This year's competition marked the 32nd year it has been held. Over the years the competition has raised over $24 million for LLS.  

VIDEO: Fighting fires is an already dangerous job but the Duncan Fire Department said something that can be just as dangerous is drivers. "This is becoming a more frequent thing for us so we would like to get that message out there to slow down, pay attention, get off the cellphone," said Captain Josh Hannigan, Duncan Fire Department. Early Sunday morning, around 1 a.m. the Duncan Fire Department's engine 81 was hit on Interstate 85 while they were responding to an accident. While all first responders on scene were safe, the driver of the vehicle was transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. Captain Josh Hannigan said now more than ever people need to be aware of a South Carolina law. "In 2002 the state passed a law that's actually the ‘slow down move over' law so it is mandated for fire personnel, law enforcement, tow truck drivers, EMS, anyone that has to put themselves in the roadway to operate to help the well-being and safety of others, they ask you move over and slow down," said Captain Hannigan.  

New York is leading the nation for residential fire deaths with 45 fatalities in the first three months of this year — a staggering statistic that highlights the need for legislative action, according to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York. John D'Alessandro, the association's secretary and a volunteer firefighter, said the fatalities have underscored the urgency of legislation that the organization has been pushing for years, including a measure to provide funding to local building departments to conduct routine inspections and ensure multi-family residential and commercial buildings are meeting fire safety codes. Another would suspend the sales tax on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors during the month of October — fire prevention month — in a bid to encourage residents to purchase and maintain the potentially life-saving devices.  

It's a bond that has truly been tested by fire. "No words can describe the bond," Lt. Kathleen Hancock said. "I'm super thankful for them." Hancock, Danielle Allen and Brooke Simms are the only Black women working at Aurora Fire Rescue. Their journey together came through different routes. Hancock, a native of Pueblo, lived in Tuscon, Arizona, where she was a physical therapist and athletic trainer. But her life would change after her mom died from a brain aneurysm. "After my mother died unexpectedly, was treating a couple of chiefs and other officers at the physical therapy unit. And they started talking to me, 'hey, come out and we need people like you to come out, work out with us, we really need women like you. And I thought to myself, 'why?'" Hancock said.