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Akron only saved about $21,000 by laying off 38 firefighters, Phil Gauer, president of the fire union, testified Thursday.

The city saved on salaries and benefits, but had to pay for accumulated vacation and comp time and will have to cover unemployment compensation, Gauer said during a Civil Service Commission hearing.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --

Six firefighters suffered non-life threatening injuries on Thursday morning while battling a fire on Dinah Court near Ravenwood Country Club in Donelson.

Emergency officials said the floor of the home fell through, trapping three firefighters at about 7:30 a.m. Firefighters on the scene rescued their co-workers and they were transported to Vanderbilt Medical Center.

One other firefighter was later transported. Two additional firefighters were treated and released from Summit Medical Center.

CLEVELAND

--

Police are looking for an arsonist they said set fire to a home two times early Thursday.

The fire was set at a home on Portage Avenue near Adolpha Avenue.

Firefighters said when they arrived around midnight the fire was fully involved with flames shooting out of the roof.

Although the home was vacant, firefighters worked hard to prevent the flames from spreading. However, the home next door suffered minor damage during the blaze.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. --A three-alarm fire damaged two row homes and a firefighter suffered minor injures while battling the blaze yesterday morning (Nov. 18), according to The Morning Call.

The firefighter sprained an ankle while inside fighting from inside the structure and is shown being carried out at approximately 7:48 into the video shown on the left.

All of the residents escaped safely.

INDIANAPOLIS

--

The proposed merger of the Lawrence Township and Indianapolis Fire departments took a step forward Tuesday night.

Lawrence Township Trustee Russell Brown introduced a resolution to start the process, 6News' Derrik Thomas reported.

Lawrence Township firefighters voted to take a 10 percent pay cut this year so no jobs would be cut. But those kinds of savings aren't sustainable without a merger, officials said.

BOTHELL, Wash.

--

A man was rescued from his truck in Bothell after it plunged 100 feet down a ravine late Tuesday, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

The truck careened straight over the road's edge, taking out a chain-link fence on the way down.

The truck ended up beneath the intersection of 205th Street and 123rd Avenue Northeast, where it remains Wednesday morning.

LOCKE MILLS, MAINE -- A volunteer firefighter with the Greenwood Fire Department has been charged with two counts of arson in connection with a fire that destroyed two vacant houses early yesterday morning (Nov. 17), according to WCSH-TV.

Firefighter Jeffrey A. Tyler allegedly set fire to one of the buildings in Locke Mills, which then spread to a neighboring house. Crews arrived at the scene at approximately 3 a.m. and found the two houses and a barn burning.

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FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta announced yesterday (Nov.

A former Whites Crossing volunteer firefighter was sentenced today (Nov. 17) to 10 to 20 years in a state prison for setting multiple fires, according to The Times-Tribune.

The fires were set between February 2007 and March 2008 and caused more than $3 million in damages to buildings and businesses.

Three Gadsden firefighters were injured when a floor collapsed into the basement of a burning home last night (Nov. 16), according to The Gadsden Times.

Two of the firefighters suffered minor injuries and the condition of the third had been undetermined when ambulances transported them to a local hospital, Assistant Fire Chief Randy Smith told the newspaper.

Smith said none of the injuries to the firefighters were life-threatening.

A 19-year-old student firefighter was the first on the scene of a fire on Nov. 15 and quickly put out the blaze. His chief is crediting the Eddington Fire Department's live-in program with the quick response, according to http://www.bangordailynews.com target=new>The Bangor Daily News.

The fire started when a man used an acetylene torch to work on his four-wheeler that morning when it apparently caught the wooden shed on fire and quickly spread to his home.

A Loyalhanna family was pulled from Loyalhanna Lake Sunday afternoon after their fishing boat capsized in shallow water, a New Alexandria firefighter said.

Dail Hernandez's sense of duty as a firefighter stretches far beyond Wilson. It reaches to Central America.

Hernandez, 30, a native of Honduras, is the first Hispanic firefighter employed by the city.

Hernandez has worked here for the last six years. He's also works part-time with the Raleigh and Bethesda fire departments.

TAMARAC, Fla.

--

The Broward Sheriff's Office continues to investigate a fatal fire at a home located at 6020 Woodland Point Drive Sunday morning.

Firefighters responded after getting the call around 6:30 a.m.

According to BSO, two people died and another person was injured in the fire. Investigators said friends had gathered at the home for a birthday party and to watch the Pacquiao/Cotto boxing match.

AURORA, Colo.

--

A 60-year-old woman was rushed to a local hospital with severe burns to her face, arms and chest Friday evening after her home caught fire, but before her home exploded, authorities said.

Aurora Fire Battalion Chief Mark Turley said the woman's home on North Xanadu, near East Colfax Avenue and Interstate 225, was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

Turley said firefighters were able to rescue the woman out of her burning home before her oxygen tanks began to explode.

UNION, S.C. --

Authorities say a wall has collapsed at a high school football playoff game in northwest South Carolina and a dozen students have been taken to the hospital.

Union County Superintendent David Eubanks tells WSPA-TV that the injuries were not life-threatening.

MOSCOW
--

Huge explosions and flames ripped through a Russian military arsenal for hours on Friday, killing two firefighters and sending personnel fleeing to a bomb shelter to wait out the worst of the firestorm, officials said.

The dozens who took refuge in the shelter were at first feared trapped in the conflagration, but later emerged safe - dispelling initial worries of a high death toll. But a subsequent report said 11 others were unaccounted for.

BOSTON --

A Dorchester child was hospitalized Thursday after being trapped in a fast-moving fire.

Firefighters responded to a house at 83 Evans St. at about 5 p.m.

They found a babysitter and two children. One of the children had passed out inside the house.

A firefighter revived the girl after carrying her out. Their ages and conditions are not known.

NewsCenter 5 and TheBostonChannel.com will have more information as it becomes available.

DURHAM, N.H. -- There should be little doubt that the nation's emergency medical providers have a friend in a very high place.

Richard Serino, the newly appointed deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told a group of about 100 providers at a conference in New Hampshire that he fully intends to use newly acquired political clout to get more funding for emergency medical service.

FEMA has about $7 billion to give away annually, Serino told the gathered providers.

A Philadelphia was injured last night (Nov. 11) after falling off a fire truck, according to WPVI-TV.

The incident occurred just after 6:30 p.m. while crews were responding to a call.

The 40-year-old male firefighter reportedly leaned against a door which wasn't closed and fell out.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- The purchase of a Bradley County firetruck has raised questions from some Bradley County commissioners.

The questions are not about the need for the truck, said Commissioner Lisa Stanbery, but how the county mayor's office went through the process of buying it.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --

A mother was burned saving her two children when an early-morning fire erupted inside their Kansas City apartment.

The fire apparently started in a second-floor unit at the East Hills apartments at 76th Street and Monroe Avenue just before 8 a.m.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Seth Jacobson has been a firefighter and paramedic for more than 20 years.

He's rarely surprised by what he sees on the job.

But five hours into his 24-hour shift on Tuesday, Jacobson got a shock. About 1:30 p.m., he and other emergency responders were called to the Sunshine Skyway bridge for a report of a disabled vehicle.

INDIANAPOLIS

--

A firefighter was injured while battling a raging house fire on Indianapolis' northeast side Tuesday morning.

The fire began just before 10 a.m. at a home in the 3000 block of Station Street.

Three of the six people who live in the home were there when the fire began.

Residents were alerted to the fire when the television they were watching flickered.

Read More at STATter 911 Blog

A Salinas, Calif. firefighter is recovering at home after an explosion at a motor home fire lifted him off the ground on Nov. 7, according to The Californian.

The firefighter was part of a crew that responded to the fire at approximately 3:30 p.m. on northbound Highway 101

As the crew worked on the hoses, a number of oxygen tanks in the motor home exploded, sending pieces of debris into the air, officials told the newspaper.

NEW YORK -- A tragic typo sent Queens firefighters barreling to a wrong address yesterday (Nov. 7) as three men died at the actual blaze three blocks away.

While trapped residents tried to escape the illegally converted house on 65th Street in Woodside at 2:45 a.m., the closest fire companies were on a "wild goose chase" on 62nd Street. That was because a 911 operator mistakenly entered a "2" in place of a "5," the fire union charged.

Communities applying for federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants will not have any out of pocket or cost share expenses this year, the Department of Homeland Security announced today.

NIOSH has released two firefighter fatality investigative reports.

One involves a firefighter who fell off a bridge, while the other probe was conducted after a member of a crew fell through a floor into a burning basement.

A firefighter suffered moderate injuries and five other people were taken to a hospital because of a Freon leak inside a refrigerator unit in a Ralphs market in Irvine tonight.

Firefighters were called to the market at Alton Parkway and Jeffrey Road just before 7 p.m., said Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

A mother who was rescued from her burning home early Monday morning intentionally started the fire in an attempt to kill herself and her two young children, police said yesterday.

Terra M. Lynn, 36, was having problems with a pending divorce, Allegheny County Police Lt. Jeffrey Korczyk said.

"She made no attempt to leave the house after the fire was started," Korczyk said.

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Perhaps there's no one better to teach lessons about what it takes to become a leader in the fire service than United States Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran -- the nation's top fire official. Cochran was appointed to the position by President Obama and took his place at the top in August.

BOSTON --

Three police officers and four civilians were injured Tuesday at a house fire in Lynn.

A two-alarm fire broke out Tuesday night in a two-story home at 18 Clinton St. in Lynn, fire officials said.

Of the three police officers who were injured, two were taken away on stretchers and one was able to walk from the scene. One of the people's injuries is believed to be serious, fire officials said.

A small amount of agricultural lime has spilled from three California Northern Railroad cars that derailed in Davis Tuesday afternoon, although officials say there is no danger to the environment.

The derailment occurred shortly after 4 p.m. when the train attempted to switch onto the main track in the area of Eighth and G streets, said Davis fire Capt. Richard Moore.

Two of the cars are "leaning considerably," Moore said. The third remains upright.

• View NIOSH Report

   

  NIOSH investigators have determined that alcohol was again a factor in the death of a firefighter who perished in 2008.

  Following a probe, they found that Richard L. Kear, of Pitt Township, Ohio Fire Dept., had a blood alcohol level above the state intoxication limit of .08.

  They did not release the blood alcohol level in the report released late last week.

OLATHE, Kan. --

A fire burned an Olathe house killing a man and also prompted an oxygen tank to explode.

Fire crews rushed to a house on North Jan-Mar Drive near East Elizabeth Street around 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Fire officials said the oxygen tank belonged to a 75-year-old and the man was smoking a cigarette when the tank exploded.

It took firefighters, two ladders, a catch pole and finally dog treats to rescue a pooch stranded Monday evening under the Carroll Creek Bridge on Bentz Street.

An hour of worry ended happily for Kimberly Henry and her daughter, Lexie Taylor, 8, when their dog, Bailey, came up the fire department ladder in the arms of one of the firefighters.

"It's a happy ending, so I don't mind," Henry said after she got home with daughter and dog.

MARYSVILLE, Mich.

--

Fire crews extinguished a blaze at a welding supply company in Marysville Monday after a series of explosions rocked the nearby neighborhood and injured a worker.

The first explosion at the South Park Welding Supplies LLC plant at 50 Gratiot Blvd. near the Port Huron and Marysville city line broke out around 8:20 a.m. when a worker removed a valve from a settling tank.

Firefighter Michael Remper said he didn't hesitate Monday morning when he heard children screaming from the second floor of a burning house in West Tarentum.

"I went through the flames to grab the two kids and the mother and drag them all out," said Remper, assistant fire chief of the Summit Hose Company.

PUTNEY, Vt.
--

When a fire destroyed the beloved, centuries-old Putney General Store 18 months ago, some people here cried.

The creaky wooden building where locals arrived for coffee, hardware and gossip, and where tourists ducked in to buy maple syrup by the gallon meant that much to them.

Now, they're crying again.

A suspicious fire swept through the 2 1/2-story structure late Sunday, destroying the vacant post-and-beam structure and with it a piece of the past.

A Government Accountability Office review released Oct. 30 found that FEMA is meeting most requirements for awarding FIRE Act funds, but that more can be done to improve the grant process.According to the GAO report, the agency met seven of eight statutory requirements and two of three established program requirements for distributing fiscal years 2007 and 2008 FIRE Act grants.

The report also stated the agency has taken actions to ensure that its fire grants award process is accessible and clear to grant applicants.

Fire houses are being shut down, jobs are going up in smoke, and lives are being put at risk.

Every minute, a fire doubles in size, so seconds count.

Melissa Watson only needed a few more.

Fire houses are being shut down, jobs are going up in smoke, and lives are being put at risk.Every minute, a fire doubles in size, so seconds count.

Melissa Watson only needed a few more.

A total of 23 residents were displaced and two firefighters were injured in a fire that burned two homes and a garage in Centralia early this morning.

When Riverside Fire Authority firefighters responded to the blaze in the 300 block of North Gold Street at about 2:30 a.m., they found two adjacent homes, a garage and three cars ablaze, said fire authority Chief Jim Walkowski.

JAIPUR, India
--

A huge fire at an Indian oil depot that has killed at least six people and injured 150 will be allowed to burn out as firefighters have little hope of dousing it, officials said Friday.

Another six people are trapped in the depot near the city of Jaipur in the western state of Rajasthan where the fire has been burning for nearly 24 hours since it broke out Thursday evening.

Firehouse.com Editor's Note: According to The Daily Herald, Springville Chief Paul Whitney had responded to a fire scene the evening of Oct. 27.

SPRINGVILLE, Utah -- Phil Whitney never took a sick day.

Two volunteer firefighters are facing aggravated arson charges after being accused of starting at least one fire at a vacant residence on Mowbray Mountain then coming to the scene to put out the fire.

Mowbray Mountain firefighters George Lewis, 19, and William Harris, 18, were indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury in connection with a June 17 fire at 1601 Poe Road.

Investigators determined the fire likely started as a result of arson, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said.

SAGINAW, Mich.

--

As thousands of volunteers prepare to walk the streets of Saginaw in a community-wide effort to prevent intentionally-set Devil’s Night and Halloween fires, two east homes went up in flames Thursday morning.

Fire officials said both “suspicious” fires are being investigated as arson by the Saginaw County Fire Investigative Services.

The first blaze occurred about 1:45 a.m. at an abandoned one-story house on 9th Street. Fire officials said the structure will likely be demolished.

PHELAN, Calif. --Just after fire officials saved more than 50 animals from a Phelan rescue center, paramedics were called to help save the life of a woman across the street from the burned-out structure, San Bernardino County Fire Department officials said.

As officials were leaving the scene early Tuesday morning, someone came out of a home directly across the street from where the fire took place and said their female family member had stopped breathing.

TROY, N.Y. -- It seemed like it would be a routine maneuver: firefighter Ray Littlejohn would go up to the second floor, whip the hose around and douse the flames consuming the Troy home on Saturday morning.

But it was only a matter of seconds -- not even long enough for him to realize -- before he had fallen through the blaze-weakened staircase and been trapped in the basement.

A woman died at her apartment late Tuesday after trying to shed a bathrobe that had caught fire, officials said.

A passer-by saw the woman, later identified as Linda Gadd, 58, on her balcony, on fire, said Jason Evans, spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue.

The passer-by climbed up and put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, Evans said.

But it was too late.

Firefighters were called at about 9 p.m. to the one-alarm fire at the Pavilion Town Place, 7700 W. Greenway Blvd. in north Dallas.