A long-time East Peoria firefighter has become the community's first female assistant fire chief. Veronica Marmitt has been with the department 18-years and rose to the rank of lieutenant in 2015. Marmitt's promotion comes just a couple of months after the Peoria Fire Department elevated a woman, Lore Baxter, to the role of Division Chief of Operations. Two other East Peoria firefighters were promoted on Monday. Brad Reinhart and Sam Sauder were sworn in as lieutenants. Reinhart has been with the department for 11 years. Sauder is a 15-year member of the department.  

Volunteer firefighters could receive a $500 tax credit starting next year. The plan is gaining strong support following the deadly dust storm pileup on I-55 last week. Democrats and Republicans are coming together to back the proposed tax break. The Illinois Firefighters Association said Monday this could be a new incentive to address the critical shortage of volunteer firefighters. Sponsors said it will also be a thank you for dedication and hard work. "We need to ensure that we have enough first responders and volunteer firefighters and personnel to show up at these scenes and to show up at any scene wherever it is in the state to ensure that we can save lives and try to help people as best as possible," said Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield).  

On May 9, 2013, a massive truck fire erupted on the ramp of Route 22/322 in Dauphin County. The fire caused many headaches for motorists and people around the area. According to abc27 media partner Lancaster Online/LNP, reports said that the truck was heading northbound when it flipped over on a ramp to Route 22/322 westbound. The bridge required emergency replacement due to the blaze. The construction required much of the span to be replaced and was done by High Steel and PennDOT.  

Tuesday, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) announced the launch of the modernization effort to develop a new, interoperable fire information and analytics platform, known as the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS), for the American fire and emergency services. This effort is being carried out as a partnership between USFA and the US Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). The goal of NERIS is to empower the local fire and emergency service community by equipping them with near real-time information and analytic tools that support data informed decision making for enhanced preparedness and response to incidents involving all-hazards.  

PHOTOS: I am betting there are many out there that would agree that there's something kinda cool about a shiny new fire engine. After all, isn't that why toy companies have been marketing toy versions of them to kids for the better part of the last hundred years?! As cool as a shiny new fire engine might be, it's even cooler when it's customized for the town it's going to serve, and even cooler still, when that customization comes at the hands of one of the fire department's very own! Meet Orono Firefighter, Dennis Bean. Having served as a full-time firefighter with the town since 1996, Bean's also been dabbling in a bit of a side hustle for the department, since then, too. While fighting fires is his main job for the town, according to the Orono Fire Department Facebook Pag Bean also has another skill set that he lends to the community: Bean's a pretty amazing artist.  

VIDEO: A newer safety feature on iPhones is creating an unexpected challenge for first responders. Crash detection technology automatically alerts 911 if you're in a crash. But it's also leading to false positives - emergency runs, with no emergency. That happened two times in two days last week in Johnson County. 911 dispatchers received a call and this automated message: "The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone." The distress call came through crash detection. That feature is on iPhone 14s and calls for help on your behalf if it senses you've been in a wreck. "It can measure pressure from the air bag going off inside the car, velocity, sound. So it kind of calculates all these things and says, 'Hey, you've had a severe crash here,'" said Bargersville Deputy Fire Chief Mike Pruitt.