MELBOURNE, Australia--Firefighters have brought a massive fire at a Melbourne petrochemical factory under control after it ignited tens of thousands of gallons (liters) of mineral oil. The blaze started Thursday on the outskirts of the Australian city, setting off explosions and sending massive fire balls into the air. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. says it raced through 130,000 gallons (500,000 liters) of ...

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 ...

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 ...

VAN NUYS - A Van Nuys woman who suffered serious injuries during a head-on collision on Highway 1 near Lompoc returned this week to meet the firefighters who saved her life by pulling her from the wreckage quickly. Connie Miles had been on her way home after dropping off some Christmas presents in Lompoc on December 18 when a car drifted ...

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 ...

John Filipowicz caught a glimpse of fire as he drove through Portland shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, only a moment before the worst thing imaginable dawned on him. He saw the flames move and drop to the ground. Someone was on fire. Filipowicz slammed on the brakes, jumped from his 1960 GMC pickup, bolted over a guardrail, down a steep embankment ...

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 ...

A local firefighter's home was damaged Wednesday after being struck by lightning. Deputy Chief Chris Burnham said the firefighter and his wife were at home around 4:15 p.m. when a nearby tree was struck by a bolt of lightning. The electrical charge traveled underground and caused the basement of the home at 41 Brandyview Terrace to catch fire. The firefighter, whose ...