A 90-year-old man in northwest suburban Woodstock always wanted to know what it would be like to back a car through a garage door. Well, now he knows. Walter Thomas' family got an auto body shop to donate the SUV. Then, it was all up to Thomas to back it through the garage and check this off his bucket list. One of Thomas' relatives owns the garage. They said they were already planning on doing some renovation work, so this was a perfect fit.

The Harvard Fire Protection District was called at 12:05 p.m. Sunday to the 19000 block of Altenburg Road, which is east of Harvard along Route 173, for a report of a house fire. The fire is believed to have started in a bathroom of the two-story house and then spread to the attic. Firefighters were having issues getting water on the fire after two of their fire engines reportedly experienced mechanical problems, leading the fire to spread rapidly and fully engulf the home.The home is set back on a 300 foot driveway and the area has no fire hydrants so water had to be brought in by water tanker trucks. Everyone escaped the home but the homeowner suffered minor injuries and was transported to Mercy Harvard Hospital.

A fire that caused more than $175,000 in damages at an auto repair shop off of Route 14. The fire appears to have started in an office and spread. Heavy smoke and flames were coming through the roof as the department tried to put out the fire. The building has been deemed uninhabitable. No one was injured during the incident.

Dozens are mourning the loss of three young men killed, and another seriously injured, when the jeep they were riding in crashed head-on into a tree early Sunday. The four were driving through the fog on Lily Pond Road, which has tight twists and blind turns, when police say the vehicle slipped off the road and crashed. None of them were wearing a seatbelt. "We do know in the early morning hours it was foggy the roads were icy we have a witness that says the vehicle was traveling above the posted speed," McHenry County Sheriff's Department Deputy Sandra Rogers said. Friends said 21-year-old Daisen Hollands, 20-year-old Ryan Fleming and 20-year-old Quin Michael were killed in the crash, while 20-year-old Trevor Martensen was taken to Lutheran General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He's expected to recover, friends say. "It's too soon for them to be gone and they had families that loved them and they all meant a lot to a lot of people," friend Ryan Endler said. "They tried to make everything around happier and pleasant they were bright people, very talented very smart."

Woodstock Willie, the Chicago area's most famous groundhog weatherman, has predicted an early spring this year.

A 32-year-old man in far northwest suburban Harvard was killed early Wednesday morning when his snowmobile struck a tree. The victim was identified as Brandon Shields. Officials said the crash happened around 1 a.m. in a field near the 4400-block of Pagles Road. Two other people had been snowmobiling with Shields at the time. Officials said one of them flagged down the Harvard Fire crews who responded to the 911 call and used his vehicle to shuttle emergency responders to the scene. "It would be hard for us to see where this particular accident was, especially since we only had a block number and we had visibility problems with the snow and such," said Deputy Fire Chief Don Davidson, Harvard Fire Department. An emergency room doctor also arrived at the scene and tried to resuscitate Shields, but he was pronounced dead. Davidson said some of the first responders were new, probationary fire fighters. "This is tragic to them, so we'll be watching them. We take care of each other like a family," Davidson said. Illinois State Conservation Police are investigating and at this point, it's not known if speed or alcohol played a role in the crash. A spokesperson said it's been a while since there's been a significant snowfall but encouraged people to take precautions when snowmobiling, like knowing the terrain and not speeding.

Chicago (CBS) — According to Algonquin police, a limousine headed south on River Road lost control and went into the Fox River Saturday afternoon. Only the driver was in the vehicle at the time. No injuries were reported. The car has since been towed out of the water.

A young girl was found unresponsive and pulled from the water at a suburban recreation area Tuesday afternoon, police said. First responders were called just before 1 p.m. to the Three Oaks Recreation Area in Crystal Lake after receiving a report of a child face down in the water. The 6-year-old girl was removed from the water by witnesses and CPR was started at the scene by witnesses and a lifeguard, authorities said. Paramedics then arrived and the child was taken via ambulance with her family to Huntley's Centegra Hospital. According to Crystal Lake Police, the girl was later flown to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital where she was listed in stable condition. The police department's Investigations Unit was at the scene Tuesday afternoon and authorities said the case remains "active."

Fire consumed a school bus that had been dropping off students in McHenry Friday afternoon. McHenry County Fire Protection District battalion chief David Harwood gives high marks to the driver, saying she remained calm and did things by the book.He says the Districts 15 and 156-owned bus developed mechanical problems near Murphy Drive and Dundalk Lane. The driver pulled over and saw smoke, safely evacuated the three children on board, called 9-1-1 and only then tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire with her hand extinguisher. It took firefighters 20 minutes to extinguish the flames. A heavy tow truck had to haul away the burned-out bus.

A small plane crashed Saturday morning at Galt Airport near Greenwood in McHenry County, officials said. According to the McHenry County Sheriff's Office, a 42-year-old Fox Lake man and a 15-year-old passenger were in an Air-Cam plane when it crashed for unknown reasons at 10:36 a.m. The pilot was taken by Flight For Life to a hospital for treatment; the teen, from Plainfield, was checked by emergency personnel at the scene, authorities said. The Federal Aviation Administration's investigation is ongoing. (Source: Chicago Daily Herald)

Two women were injured in the northwest suburbs after a car rolled into a retention pond. Two women were pulled from the vehicle and the water shortly after it went into a retention pond in Lake in the Hills just before 6 p.m. Monday on Willow View Drive. The women, who were 33 and 19, were taken to the hospital. One of them was unconscious. The car was about 12 feet below the surface and went in backwards. Crews were using sonar to make sure everything was clear. The deputy chief said that Monday night’s heavy rain did hamper their search efforts The women were both taken to Centegra Hospital in Huntley. They are expected to survive.

Two women escaped from their car Monday night after driving it into a Lake in the Hills retention pond, and one remains in critical condition at a hospital, authorities say. A 34-year-old woman and 19-year-old woman were traveling south on the 3900 block of Willow View Drive when their 2003 Lexus sedan left the roadway and entered a nearby pond shortly before 6 p.m., police say.Lake in the Hills police and Huntley Fire Protection District firefighters found both women on the shoreline. A bystander rescued one of the women from the water while the second woman swam to safety, police said. Officers began performing CPR on the unresponsive woman before taking both to Centegra Hospital in Huntley, police said. The car was submerged 12 feet in the water and removed about 8:15 p.m., police said. The investigation is ongoing and no charged have been filed. (source: Daily Herald)