HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The Hagerstown Fire Department's first female career firefighter worked her first shift recently, after completing nine weeks of intense training. While others are quick to note her accomplishment, Deanna Glaze says she just wants to be a member of the department. "They have treated me very well," she said. "I haven't been singled out or given any special ...

TACOMA, Wash. - An old Mercury Grand Marquis lies mangled on the grounds of the Tacoma Fire Department Training Center, its roof shorn away and its windshield folded over like a piece of crinkled cellophane. The perpetrators: a group of teenage girls. The wreckage was collateral damage from a vehicle extrication exercise at Camp Blaze, a firefighting camp for 16- to ...