Danville firefighters had a busy weekend as two separate house fires resulted in a collective $31,000 in damages, one displaced family, and two rescued dogs. The first fire took place on Saturday just before 4:20 p.m. Firefighters responded to the area of Martin and May Streets. There, they found heavy smoke coming from a home. The residents were safely outside by the time firefighters arrived, however, they said two dogs were still stuck inside. Firefighters immediately entered the home and began searching for the pets — both of which were quickly rescued by firefighters from Danville's Ladder Company. One of the dogs was found unresponsive, but was given oxygen therapy and recovered. In the end, no one was hurt in the incident and the fire was extinguished. The home suffered $26,000 in damages.  

PHOTOS: One person is displaced after a house fire in Springfield on Sunday night. Firefighters were called onto the scene near East Glenn Avenue and South 16th Street at 9:22 p.m. The house's sole occupant had already escaped the home by the time crews arrived, as the resident was awoken by smoke and immediately left the building. Officials said the home did not have a smoke detector. The fire caused "significant damage" to the front of the house, Fire Chief Edward Canny said. The flames were brought under control in 15 minutes, but by then, the home was already deemed uninhabitable. No one was hurt in the incident, though the resident is now displaced. After searching the scene for remaining hot spots, the scene was cleared at 11 p.m. The cause of the fire has not been determined at this time.  

Community members in Fairfield are being invited out for an annual Fish Fry event this Friday. The Fairfield Rural Fire Department will be hosting its annual Fish Fry on Friday, March 22. During the event, lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., before dinner is served from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. In addition to fish, there will be hush puppies, potato wedges, and coleslaw. Dine-in and carryout options will both be available. Plates are $12 each, and proceeds from the event will go towards new firefighting equipment for the department.  

A three-alarm fire engulfed a historic vacant church Monday night in St. Louis. The St. Louis Fire Department responded at around 8:45 to a fire at the former St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church, located at 3114 Lismore St., in the St. Louis Place neighborhood. The building is designated as a St. Louis City Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said this is the third fire at the church since 2022. The church was constructed in 1896 by St. Louis architect Louis Wessbecher for St. Augustine's Roman Catholic parish. It was purchased by Christ Baptist Church in 1982. The property is owned by the city of St. Louis, according to property tax records. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.  

When former Concord firefighter Chris Andrews introduced himself to city councilors, he described himself as "a cancer survivor — at least for now." At the outset of his career, new types of protective gear, including the addition of breathing equipment and innovations in boot and pant materials, had made Andrews feel safer than his predecessors. "I was part of a new generation," he said. "I felt somewhat invincible." In his 40s, he listened when national organizations started to raise alarm bells about the presence of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in the gear he had trusted to protect him. It made him vigilant about getting thorough health screenings at the first sign of trouble. In 2021, that vigilance led to the discovery that he had prostate cancer and, after choosing to have his prostate removed, that it had been far more serious than his doctor originally thought.  

VIDEO/PHOTOS: After thousands of tumbleweeds buried homes in Eagle Mountain, crews have been conducting controlled burns to eliminate piles of them. Unified Fire Authority conducted their second burn on Monday morning in a coordinated effort with the Eagle Mountain City Streets Department. They said it was intended to "efficiently dispose of the tumbleweeds" that accumulated along Eagle Mountain Blvd., specifically in the area of Carriage Hill Dr. The tumbleweeds were blown in after a wind storm on March 2, and city officials advised residents on ways to dispose of them, including through the use of tumbleweed-only dumpsters. "The controlled burn serves as a strategic measure to manage the accumulated tumbleweeds and mitigate potential fire hazards in the area," Unified Fire officials stated.  

Black Butte is an inactive volcano that rises from the high desert in eastern Oregon. In May 2022, a turboprop plane approached its pine-blanketed slopes, carrying about 10 men wearing bulky Kevlar outfits. They were smokejumpers with the United States Forest Service, the agency that directs the majority of the nation's efforts to manage wildfires. Within the vast and hierarchical fire service, smokejumpers occupy a singular niche, parachuting into remote areas to fight early-stage wildfires. There are only about 450 nationwide, and the physical requirements are rigorous. One of the smokejumpers on board was Ben Elkind. Thirty-seven years old with a long, athletic build and restless energy, he had been fighting wildfires for 14 years and jumping for the last eight of them.