THEODORE, Ala. — Federal regulators say they're investigating a lag of about 45 minutes between an ammonia leak at a refrigeration plant and the first siren blasting an offical warning to area residents. Millard Refrigerated Services, based in Omaha, Neb., says it detected the leak at its Theodore plant that freezes chickens at 9:05 a.m. Monday and alerted authorities within 20 ...

BOSTON - A minivan collided with a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus in Dorchester yesterday evening, injuring 14 people, including three children in the van, police said. The crash occurred at Gallivan Boulevard and Morton Street, one of Boston’s most hair-raising intersections, around 6:20 p.m. MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera and Transit Police Sergeant Detective Kenneth Sprague said that the cause of ...

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) - A 50-pound gas tank dumped in a Massachusetts salvage yard has exploded and rocketed into the air before crashing through solar panels and the roof of a nearby home and landing in a bedroom. Fire department Deputy Chief Thomas Levy says two people were at the home in Bridgewater, a town of about 25,000 residents just south ...

VENTURA, Calif. -- Three crew members aboard a Boeing 707 tanker loaded with jet fuel escaped with only minor injuries when the aircraft skidded off the runway and exploded into flames at a Southern California Navy base, officials said. The plane crashed as it was taking off from Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu at about 5:25 p.m. Wednesday. It slid ...

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - A parked Spokane Fire Department engine with nobody at the wheel rolled into a home where firefighters were making an aid call. Fire Chief Bobby Williams says the truck had been parked about 100 yards from the home Wednesday night. Shortly after medics walked inside, they heard the crash. KXLY-TV reports the engine knocked down porch supports ...

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Two Metro workers are dead after an early morning accident near the Rockville Metrorail station. Metro says there will be no Red Line train service between the Shady Grove and Rockville Metrorail stations Tuesday morning. Trains are operating between the Glenmont and Twinbrook. Metro is encouraging riders to use the Twinbrook and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail stations. Riders should expect ...

FARMINGTON, MO — Six volunteer firefighters survived a rollover accident in the Farmington Fire Department's pumper tanker truck, one that the Missouri State Highway Patrol says was caused by another motorist. Investigators say the driver of the tanker were trying to avoid a motorist during a routine fire call. The Farmington volunteer crew had their lights and sirens blaring heading down ...

JACKSON TOWNSHIP — A Jackson Township motorcyclist was killed when he collided with an ambulance taking an elderly woman to the hospital late last night, authorities said. Charles Childs, 27, was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle on North Hope Chapel Road shortly before midnight when he crossed the center line and hit the southbound ambulance, police said. The crew from the ...

NEW ORLEANS -- At least 11 people were missing and seven injured after an explosion and fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana, the Coast Guard said Wednesday. Most of the 126 people were believed to have escaped safely after the explosion at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mike O'Berry said. It happened ...

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- A 72-year-old Florida woman was accidentally shot by her husband during a "robbery drill" the couple staged to practice how they'd respond to an intruder. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office says Arnold and Patricia Morris had little experience with guns, and the shooting Sunday was an clearly accidental. Arnold Morris called 911 after the .380-caliber pistol fired, and ...

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. - Three men are dead and two medics safe after a fast-moving sport utility vehicle traveling in the wrong lane sideswipes an ambulance early Thursday. "An eyewitness indicated [the SUV] could have been going as fast as 100 mph," says Mark E. Brady, spokesman for Prince George's County Fire and EMS. "I shudder to think what would have ...

SAN FRANCISCO - Fire crews and police could only watch after a man waded into San Francisco Bay, stood up to his neck and waited. They wanted to do something, but a policy strictly forbade them from trying to save the 50-year-old, officials said. A witness finally pulled the apparently suicidal man's lifeless body from the 54-degree water. Interim Alameda Fire ...

JANESVILLE, IA — A volunteer Janesville firefighter has been charged with drunken driving after he allegedly rolled a fire truck while on duty. The Bremer County Sheriff's Office said David Francis Flood, 43, was driving the truck as the department was either responding to or working on a fire in rural Bremer County on March 27. He was charged with operating ...