Matt Swaney

Illinois State University students are tuning out fire alarm evacuation orders and taping over smoke detectors in campus dorms due to frequent fire alarms, raising concerns about whether students will respond when there is a real emergency.

There's rain ahead in the forecast, but weeks of drought increase fire risk for communities preparing their July 4 fireworks displays. WGLT talked to officials from the Town of Normal Parks and Recreation and Fire Departments to get the skinny on how they mitigate risk.

The Normal Fire Department has gotten lots of digital attention for its creative analogy between a tornado warning and tornado watch.

It was a long weekend for the Normal Fire Department.It started early Saturday morning, when a freight train derailed in Uptown. That afternoon, a fire…