Sterling Fire Department

Wednesday morning's fire damage was limited to Country Inn and Suites' room 102, with water damage reaching the hallway.

Steven W. Coleman was sentenced Thursday for three counts of murder, three aggravated arson charges, and a residential arson charge. All seven sentences will be served consecutively to each other.

After a sobering report on the condition of Sterling Fire Department’s apparatus, many have asked: “How did we get here?” To answer those questions, we need to go back a few years, writes Shaw Local reporter Brandon Clark.

Brian McPhillips, 32, of Sterling was driving east on U.S. 30 near Riverdale Road when he attempted to pass an eastbound semi, met a westbound semi and collided with both, according to a Whiteside County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Paul S. Cobane, 43, was taken into custody at 12:45 p.m. Friday in the 1200 block of Sixth Avenue, according to a news release issued Friday afternoon by the Sterling Police Department.

Residents can share important information about their homes and businesses with the fire department, such as how many people and pets live in the home or building and where utility shut-offs are located.

Sterling and Rock Falls firefighters were called at 10 p.m. Tuesday to the burning home in the 5400 block of Anne Street, Galt, in rural Sterling.

Fire chief says that of the department's 3 fire engines, 2 are not reliable and the third is aging quickly due to overuse to make up for the other two. The department has one fire truck, which has an aerial ladder. That truck has been out of service for 10 months, chief says.

Alan Marshall, arrested on three counts of arson, now has been charged with two counts of aggravated domestic battery, domestic battery and unlawful restraint in connection with events leading up to a Sept. 25 fire at a Sterling duplex in the 600 block of West Fifth Street.

Sterling police say three arson arrest warrants have been issued for a Sterling man who is accused of running from police Wednesday during a domestic battery investigation and then barricading himself in his West Fifth Street apartment shortly before fire broke out there.

The state fire marshal’s office is investigating a fire that destroyed a Sterling home Wednesday afternoon and sent one person to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

Certified technicians will provide attendees with child car and booster seat installation. Technicians also will inspect installed car seats.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider helping to fund a training center for the Rock Falls and Sterling fire departments to the tune of $825,000 when it returns to session next month.

To build a training facility that, decades down the road, still effectively serves Sauk Valley firefighters and, by extension, residents. That’s the goal members of the Garrett Ramos Training Facility Cooperative set for the Rock Falls and Sterling fire departments.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to approve an appropriations bill Wednesday that includes $825,000 in Community Project Funding for the Rock Falls Fire Department to build a burn tower where firefighters can train in live-fire conditions.

A Morrison man was seriously injured Monday when his motorcycle and a vehicle collided in rural Sterling.

Fire at 1501 First Ave. was contained in the attic.

Firefighters battled a house fire Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 1501 First Avenue in Sterling. Multiple departments responded to the scene including Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon, Amboy, Morrison and Prophetstown.

Fire crews from Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon fire departments responded to a residential structure fire late Monday night.

Fifteen fire departments, one from as far away as Clinton, Iowa, assisted in fighting the blaze that broke out in an outside pile of recycling remnants and took four hours to extinguish.

Fire officials say residents may experience low water pressure.

Forest Reeder, who was welcomed onto the department at the June 3 Sterling City Council meeting, stepped out of retirement to assume the role while the city looks for a permanent replacement following the recent retirement of former Sterling Fire Chief Michael Dettman.

Melissa Schultz, Haunted Haven’s owner, says she and her husband, Joseph Norton, discovered the fire. They had gone to the Haunted Haven barn Monday to pick up some tools and a lawn mower when they noticed smoke coming from the second floor.

Sterling and Rock Falls fire departments placed nearly two dozen buoys in the Rock River Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The departments took over the placement from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources several years back.

I really like days like this where the stories are diverse and one has to adapt to what is presented. Plus, there was a giant imaginary rabbit.

Sterling and Rock Falls firefighters were in the midst of training in Rock Falls when a call went out for a fire across town Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Sauk Valley Media recognizes and salutes our first responders.