VIDEO: Peoria Heights will be appointing Dan Decker to be their new Fire Chief on Tuesday, November 7. After months of deliberation and debating on what the next best move is for the Peoria Heights Fire Department, they've come to the decision to appoint Dan Decker. With a vast background, Decker is the former Fire Chief for East Peoria, and has been a part of the first responder family since 1991. Decker speaks on what this means for him. "I'm accountable to three groups of people. The people that come into the community each day to visit, the residents that are living in Peoria Heights, and, these are also residents but, the members of the city council. It is important because I can't just be accountable for the residents."  

Some residents in Monticello returned home Sunday after a truck carrying anhydrous gas tanks crashed and caused a small leak. The City of Monticello reported that the truck hit a tree on the 400 block of Kratz Road and its hitch holding the tanks also hit the tree, which led to the release of fumes. Arthur Sievers lives near the scene and told News Channel 20/FOX Illinois he saw fumes as he was headed to church around 7 a.m. Sunday morning. He was prompted to look outside when he heard a loud bang outside his home and saw the tanks on the hitch detached from the truck. "I walked out picked up the phone, dialed 911, and told them they had an accident in front of my house," Sievers said. "And it was leaking ammonia." Sievers said he acted fast once he saw the smoke.  

PHOTOS: Newly released body camera videos show the emergency response to an explosion at a homeless encampment outside Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The explosion and subsequent fire happened on the morning of July 21 after witnesses in the encampment reported finding what they believed were improvised explosive devices around a tent where drug users were smoking fentanyl. KOMO News obtained the videos this week as part of a records request for information about the Seattle police investigation of the incident. Audio of the initial explosion was captured on body cameras of officers who were on an unrelated call in downtown Seattle. When officers arrived at the entrance to the encampment at 7th and James Street, they were met by people fleeing from the fire.  

Russell fire chief Dylan Riedel now owns the motorcycle gas tank that changed his life forever when it exploded and engulfed him in flames this summer. It's "just as a constant reminder that your life can change in an instant, so don't take it for granted," he said. The explosion happened less than 30 seconds after he got out of his fire truck. A football-size hole burst in the side of the gas tank, sending flames across the street. "It's a freak accident … It just so happened I was in the right place at the wrong time and it happened to me," Riedel said. The June fire sent him to the emergency room at Russell Regional Hospital before he was airlifted to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis burn unit in Wichita. He had burns on his head, neck, arms and legs. Most were first and second-degree but doctors think one spot was a third-degree burn. Riedel was back to work without restrictions by mid-July.  

VIDEOS/PHOTOS: Nothing man-made can be added to the Lake Michigan shoreline and outshine the natural beauty of the lakeshore, but Hotel Ottawa arguably came the closest. For its time, the luxury hotel — sandwiched between Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa (then known as Black Lake) — was one of the state's premiere tourist draws, attracting people from all across Michigan and the Midwest. Unfortunately, the hotel met an untimely end. The beautiful building burned to the ground 100 years ago Monday. The story of Hotel Ottawa starts years before crews ever broke ground. According to local historian Valerie van Heest, the hotel was part of a plan to build a cottage and resort park.