Though their deaths were decades ago, the East Peoria Fire Department honored the memory of four who died in the line of duty, the most recent of which was in 1980. The ringing of the bells sounded the end of duty for four East Peoria firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice. "They can't be forgotten," says East Peoria Fire Chief Bobby Zimmerman and they won't be. Every year the East Peoria community wraps their hands around the families of these four men. Assistant Chief Marvin J. Stein, Captain Armando Ballerini, and firefighters George Cornwell Sr. and William Folmar. All four men died while protecting their communities. "My father was Marvin J. Stein, and he was the one who lost his life in the Green Gables Tavern fire.  

VIDEO: The Effingham County Coroner, Kim Rhodes, confirmed the truck ran into a ditch and its trailer containing the gas cracked open and released fumes that killed the victims. She will release the names of the victims at a later time and she is checking on the status of the 5 that are hospitalized. Upon arrival to the scene on US Highway 40, McMahon recalled that he and his staff only knew a tanker truck had rolled over but they noticed a smolder in the air as they got close. "It was in your lungs". You knew." McMahon said. "So we immediately stopped. The Fire District determined it to be anhydrous ammonia, which is a fertilizer chemical. That's when Emergency Medical Services sent out alerts and fire staff urged people to leave town.  

PHOTOS: A row of Cypress trees caught fire on Friday night, threatening nearby structures and residents. Video from the scene, near the intersection of Waring Avenue and Highland Avenue, captures onlookers warning others to get away from the fire that started around 10:30 p.m. Firefighters rushed to the area and were able to extinguish the blaze before it completely spread to an apartment building adjacent to the row of trees. One person was taken to the hospital, but their condition is unknown, authorities said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

A Cincinnati firefighter is the first woman in the history of the Cincinnati Fire Department to be certified as a bomb technician. Firefighter Nykeba Banks joins a select few as a prestigious United States Public Safety Bomb Technician, the fire department said in a news release Monday. She received her certification from the Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Banks was one of only two women in her six-week training class. She graduated on Sept. 22. It's estimated that nationally only about 9% of 3,000 certified bomb techs are female, according to the city's release. "They told us [at the school] that only 400 people would graduate from the program this year. They said that more people would climb Mt. Everest this year," Banks said in the release.  

The Valley Hispanic Bomberos have been mentoring aspiring firefighters for decades. Now that those volunteers are on Valley firefighter crews, they're carrying on the legacy. From outreach to training programs, the Bomberos are connecting with Spanish-dominant neighborhoods to get teens involved. They've partnered with Franklin Police and Fire High School in Phoenix to put on workouts for aspiring recruits. "We're a small organization, but our bread and butter is mentorship and community involvement," said Phoenix Fire Captain Greg Morales who volunteers with the Bomberos. Capt. Morales got his start with the organization. "They helped me and guided me to do all the things that I needed to do to get hired," he recalled.  

Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine said that the Department of Fire Services has added mammograms to the complement of free, early-detection cancer screenings available to Massachusetts firefighters. "Firefighters are at greater risk of developing cancer, developing it at younger ages, and receiving a late diagnosis than the public they protect," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "This includes the growing number of women firefighters in Massachusetts and across the nation. As we kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we're proud to announce that we've added mammograms to the array of free cancer screening options we offer to Massachusetts firefighters." An April 2023 article in Frontiers in Public Health found that breast cancer accounted for more than 25% of cancer diagnoses among women firefighters who took part in a 2019-2020 survey.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: The Indianapolis Fire Department rescued an unruly police drone that got stuck on top of a crane this weekend. The crew was asked to get the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department drone after it landed on the structure near the "Rise on Meridian" apartments construction site on South Meridian Street on Saturday. The fire department posted a video and pictures of the retrieval on social media, showing a firefighter making the 130-foot climb. The rescue started around 10:15 a.m. on Saturday. "After an errant IMPD drone perched itself on top of a construction crane while in the course of its duties overnight, IFD TacTeam 7C utilized the ask by IMPD Logistics to help retrieve it, (and took it) as an opportunity to conduct some spur of the moment high angle ropes/crane training," IFD wrote in the post.