Dixon Rural and Dixon City firefighters and Advance EMS were dispatched at 12:46 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, to a structure fire at 1706 Spring St., Nachusa, according to a news release from Dixon Rural Fire Chief Dustin Dahlstrom.

The city of Rock Falls and two fire officials are taking steps that could pave the way for an appeal of a $31.5 million verdict issued against them in connection with Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos’s 2021 line-of-duty death

The fire crew responded around 11:21 a.m. Friday to a fire inside a business in the 1500 block of North Bridge Street.

At approximately 3:27 a.m., the Oswego Fire Protection District was dispatched for a structure fire in the 0-100 block of East Washington Street.

Algonquin–Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District was called to a fire at house under construction Wednesday afternoon.

At approximately 4:07 a.m. Wednesday, the Oswego Fire Protection District was dispatched to the 5400 block of Light Road for a building on fire, the district said.

The Troy Township Catastrophic Assistance program provides short-term financial assistance to households whose homes have been damaged and deemed uninhabitable.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Downers Grove is rebuilding following a 2024 fire that destroyed the building that housed the church’s preschool and fellowship hall

At approximately 6:09 p.m., the Oswego Fire Protection District was dispatched for a smoke investigation inside of a house in the 200 block of South Adams Street.

Rock Falls officials say they’re reviewing all options to pay the $31.5 million in damages that a Whiteside County jury on Friday awarded to the family of a Sterling firefighter killed in the line of duty four years ago

The Streator Fire Department quickly contained an electrical fire in an attic on Tuesday morning at 313 W. Sumner St., Captain Bryan Park said in a news release.

The blaze broke out early Tuesday morning, Nov. 18, 2025, at 912 Locust St., Sterling, according to a Sterling Fire Department news release.

There were no injuries after a shed fire Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in rural Polo, Polo Fire Protection District Chief Jim Ports said.

Several local departments responded to a shed fire in rural Polo Monday, Nov. 17, 2025.

A Shabbona home is a total loss after a Thursday fire broke out, leaving an estimated $350,000 in damages, Fire Chief Joseph Herrmann announced.

Peru Fire Department responded to the former Maria’s Pizza restaurant for smoke in the building on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025 downtown Peru. The incident happened shortly before 10:30a.m. Peru Police and EMS department were also on the scene.

A Whiteside County jury is on track to begin deliberating Friday to decide whether two Rock Falls fire officials’ actions at a 2021 fire contributed to a Sterling firefighter’s line-of-duty death

A structure fire destroyed a house on the south side of Shabbona Thursday afternoon near Shabbona Grove Road. Several local departments responded to the general alarm.

The widow of Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos, who was killed in the line of duty, testified at the Whiteside County Courthouse on Wednesday, telling a 12-member jury how her husband’s death has affected her and their two young daughters

The Kankakee Township Fire Protection District with aid from several local and area departments battled a structure fire on River Road Tuesday morning.

A call came in at 10:20 p.m. for a report of a fire in the 4100 block of Whitetail Court, the Joliet Fire Department said.

Calling their firefighting strategy “inappropriate”, a Detroit-based fire investigator on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, blasted Rock Falls fire officials for how they handled a Dec. 3, 2021, fire that led to the death of a Sterling fire lieutenant.

The Sterling Fire Department was dispatched Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, to a structure fire at C&K Undercar Specialists.

The owners of a Sycamore restaurant that was heavily damaged in a September fire said their property was deemed a total loss, but they’re still exploring the next steps for their family business.

Former Rock Falls Fire Chief Cris Bouwens testified Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025, that several of his actions were contributing factors that led to the 2021 death of Sterling Fire Lt. Garrett Ramos.

A Steward man has been identified as the victim of a Monday farm equipment and field fire in rural Steward and Lee County

Fire departments, fire districts across the country are onboarding to the new National Emergency Reporting System.

After a full-day’s work, a Whiteside County jury was seated Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, to hear a wrongful death civil case that could see the jury asked to award tens of millions of dollars to a Sterling firefighter’s widow and children.

A farm equipment and field fire Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, in rural Steward resulted in a fatality, Rochelle Fire Department Capt. Zach Prewett said.

A pool of nearly 80 potential jurors was waiting it out in a Whiteside County courtroom Monday as jury selection began in a wrongful death civil case that could see the jury asked to award tens of millions of dollars to a Sterling firefighter’s widow and children

A man was severely burned in a structure fire in the 200 block of South Fraser Avenue in Kankakee Sunday night.

A civil trial will begin Monday in Whiteside County Circuit Court to determine whether the widow of a Sterling firefighter, killed in the line of duty in 2021, should be paid damages in connection with his death

As you change your clocks this weekend, take a few moments to press the test button on your smoke alarms and check their expiration dates

All residents were able to safely evacuate the building before fire crews arrived

There were no injuries and minimal damage to equipment and crops after the Rochelle Fire Department was called for a report of a combine fire Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, RFD Chief Dave Sawlsville said.

Firefighters from 11 departments battled a corn field fire Friday afternoon at 9000 North Road and 45000 West Road in Rockville Township, approximately six miles west of Manteno.

The Joliet Fire Department was called to extinguish a fire apparently caused by a space heater in the 1200 block of Schriber Saturday.

Utica and Oglesby firefighters and paramedics were called to Matthiessen State Park for a 16-year old male who fell approximately 30 feet in the area of Cedar Point overlook on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 in Oglesby. Utica and Oglesby Fire and EMS responded to the park just before 1p.m. The victim from Elmhurst, fell down part of an embankment near the Cedar Point area in the park. Rescuers transported him to the Matthiessen shelter using a six-wheeler and then transferred him by ambulance to OSF St. Elizabeth Peru. The patient suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Kankakee Fire Chief Bryan LaRoche said they suspect a fire was set in an abandoned residence in the 400 block of South Greenwood Avenue early Tuesday morning on the city’s southeast side.

A Kankakee residence sustained between $35,000-$45,000 in damage in a structure fire Tuesday.

A kitchen fire started by unattended frying food left two apartments uninhabitable in a 12-unit complex in the 200 block of Crestlane on Kankakee’s east side Monday night.

The fire crews responded at 12:56 p.m. on Oct. 12 to the area of Illinois Route 47 and Caton Farm Road in Yorkville.

Multiple agencies responded to a structure fire at the Marquis Energy property in Hennepin early Wednesday afternoon

Smoke billowed from Marquis Energy as firefighters worked to control a structure fire on Wednesday, Oct. 8 in Hennepin. The fire was upgraded to a fifth alarm, dispatching the (MABAS) Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. The fire broke out around 11 a.m.

More than 20 fire departments battled a brush fire in Beecher on Saturday afternoon.

Meet Scott Melton, who was sworn in Sept. 2, 2025, as Sterling's deputy fire chief.

Officials continue investigating a Sept. 5 fire at Harold’s Chicken restaurant in the 200 block of South Main Street in Bourbonnais.

Lee County officials have made a few changes to a proposed ordinance that would regulate open burning in the county's unincorporated areas. The revisions would make the ordinance less restrictive, most notably by allowing open burning at any time of day or night.

A Whiteside County judge has rejected a plea agreement that would have put a Sterling man behind bars for 8 years in connection with an October 2024 fire that destroyed a Galt home and injured two people

Lee County officials are still working on an ordinance to regulate open burning, as agriculture fires are increasing in the area. It’s set to be up for approval again at the Oct. 23, 2025, county board meeting.