The mandatory retirement age for police and firefighters in Chicago may undergo a change. The City Council's Committee on Police and Fire convened on Monday to discuss the possibility of raising the retirement age to 65. Currently, the mandatory retirement age for these personnel is 63. While some opponents argue for lowering it to 60, proponents suggest that raising the age could help retain institutional knowledge and maintain staffing levels. "I think it's a terrible idea, certainly for fire. I don't know police as well," said Alderman Nicholas Sposato, 38th Ward. "A detective, a chief on the police department – I don't know the job – no problem. A PO working a busy district, I think it's a rough job." Alderman Sposato emphasizes that he would only support raising the retirement age if it has the approval of police and firefighters.  

VIDEO: The city of Loves Park is offering solutions to give more fire hydrants to underserved communities. According to Loves Park Fire Chief, James Hart, an older section of Forest Hills Village, a private mobile home community currently has a lack of working fire hydrants that are not supplying proper water pressure due to inadequate water main sizes and aging water system. Hart tells 13 News Forest Hills informed an engineering firm, Arc Design, which is also used by the city, on the issue and later reached out to the city on possible solutions. Right now, an approved plan by both the City Loves Park Fire Department and the Village Water Department is in place to bring 19 working fire hydrants to those areas of concern.  

PHOTOS: A North Shore landmark has been reduced to rubble by a major fire reported early Tuesday. The operators of Lutsen Resort say their historic lodge is a total loss after burning to the ground. The Cook County Sheriff's Office confirms that staff members called 911 just after 12:30 a.m. reporting smoke coming from the floor in the lobby of the lodge. Fire crews from Lutsen, Tofte, Grand Marais and a number of other local departments rushed to the scene and found the lodge building engulfed by flames. All staff members made it out, and the sheriff's department reports there were no guests on site. The resort posted on Facebook Tuesday morning, mourning the devastation to its facility. "The Historic Lutsen Lodge has been taken by a devastating fire this evening…. A total loss to the lodge building…. Fires in 1949, 1951 and 2024."  

Bob Beckwith, the former New York City firefighter who famously stood alongside President George W. Bush atop a charred fire truck in the rubble of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has died, according to the union representing New York firefighters and former US Rep. Peter King. He was 91. The cause of Beckwith's death was not immediately released. He had malignant skin cancer, along with other health problems, he told Focus on the Family last year. Beckwith was already retired when terrorists hijacked two commercial planes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing 2,753 people. Another hijacked plane crashed that day into the Pentagon, killing 184 people, while 40 passengers and crew aboard a fourth hijacked plane died when their plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  

VIDEO: Police are investigating what led to a Fort Worth fire truck losing control and flipping over. Police say it happened just before 2:30 a.m. Feb. 6 at the intersection of Village Creek Road and Wilbarger Street in southeast Fort Worth. The crew on the fire truck were on their way to a house fire in the area when it lost control and flipped. Another fire truck responded to the call after the accident. There were four firefighters on board. They were all taken to a local hospital – one with critical injuries was transported via CareFlite. Later Tuesday morning, one firefighter remains in critical condition, one is in stable condition and two have been released from the hospital. The names of the firefighters have yet to be released. Police are still investigating what could have caused the accident.  

VIDEO: A fire at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Davenport killed 40 patients and one nurse, all of which were women. It was the deadliest disaster in Quad Cities history and the third largest hospital fire in United States history. Up until last month, nobody had ever written about it. That has changed with Bettendorf author Dr. Bret Grimes, who tells the story about what happened at the site where Genesis West Hospital stands today. In the cold and early morning hours of Jan. 7, 1950, a patient at St. Elizabeth Hospital is said to have hallucinated and believed she needed to get out of her locked room. "She started a newspaper on fire and then took that to the curtain and started the curtain on fire," Grimes said. "That created a cascade of events that led to the death of 41 people and that building burning to the ground."  

On Feb. 28, female first responders and other local, state and federal public safety professional women from across Oklahoma will gather for a symposium in south Oklahoma City. It is believed this is the first such statewide gathering in the history of the state. Women police, firefighters, deputies, troopers, marshals, investigators, dispatchers, prosecutors, corrections officers, probation/parole officers, emergency medical personnel, and military and tribal public safety personnel are all encouraged to attend. Called "Oklahoma Women in Public Safety," the symposium will feature lunch, networking and speakers on "Public Safety & Shift Worker Strategies for Coping with ‘Mom Guilt'" as well as "Recognizing and Responding to Domestic Abuse in Coworkers and the Community You Serve."