CONCEPCION, Chile (AP) - When their 13th-floor apartment began to shake, Alberto Rozas pulled his 7-year-old daughter into the bathroom doorway and waited for it to stop. Instead, they fell. Plummeting as their brand-new apartment building toppled like a felled tree, they hugged each other all the way down. Rozas had no idea which way was up until he looked through ...

HOUSTON - Her small frame consumed by 60 pounds of firefighting gear, 18-year-old Andreina Rodriguez paused to steal a moment on the steps after escaping a burning building. Her expression masked by her helmet, Andreina quietly pumped her fists in the air. She was celebrating guts; that her grit had overpowered fear. Moments later, the sweat-soaked Sterling High teen freed her ...

BROOKLYN - Two firefighters were arrested Thursday on riot and assault charges stemming from a bloody Brooklyn bar brawl, officials said. Firefighters Ryan Warnock and Michael Reilly turned themselves in to the Brooklyn district attorney. They were arraigned Thursday night and released on their own recognizance. They could face up to four years in prison if convicted of first-degree riot, a ...

The Tri Community Fire Department was called to 1259 Lester Lane this afternoon at approximately 4:50 p.m. When they arrived on the scene it was determined that the fire was the result of a suspected methamphetamine lab. Deputies from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office were called to the scene as well as detectives from the narcotics division. Information was received that ...

Awareness is a firefighter's #1 tool when it comes to saving a life. Check out this collection of close calls and ask yourself what you would have done in the situation. Share your thoughts with the community and let's learn from what we've seen! Chimney Collapse → [page] Chimney Collapse Always Read the Smoke → [page] Always Read the Smoke ...

ORLANDO, FL - An announcement regarding an Orlando firefighter who was caught cheating on a promotions test has his department in a frenzy: he's getting a promotion. Two years ago, Orlando Assistant Fire Chief Rudy Johnson said he didn't cheat after listening in on radio transmissions for advanced information on the promotions test. Johnson claims that it was broadcast over open ...

FAIRFAX, VA - Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt says a captain responding to the crash as EMS 401 was behind the wheel of the SUV. Engine 404 and Medic 404 from Herndon were already on the scene. The EMS 401 vehicle was described as moving slowly through the area when the collision occurred. [widget:news__wtop] The incident took ...

BUFFALO - Officials say the city will reimburse the firefighters union for most expenses related to the funerals of two firefighters who died last year, but it will not put up money for alcohol served at the receptions. "It would be foolish for the city to engage in underwriting alcohol- related expenses," Comptroller Andrew A. SanFilippo said Tuesday. The city has ...

MONTECITO, Calif.—The California Highway Patrol is investigating why a firefighter was handcuffed for refusing to move a fire engine from a freeway in Santa Barbara County. CHP Capt. Jeff Sgobba says the incident on Feb. 15 was rare, regrettable and embarrassing. The confrontation took place in Montecito when CHP officers responded to a freeway crash that caused minor injuries. Sgobba says ...

SACRAMENTO — Fifty-three days after being pulled from a burning home, Modesto fire engineer James Adams walked triumphantly Tuesday through the doors of the University of California Medical Center. He raised his bandaged hands and smiled broadly while greeting many of the 80 or so who came to welcome him back to the outside world. Adams' life was in peril just ...

NEW YORK - The call was coming from inside the van. In a surprise twist to a controversial New Jersey Turnpike traffic stop, police Monday arrested a Queens teen they say made a hoax 911 call from inside the van they pulled over. Rodney Tanzymore, 19, was one of a group of 11 black and Hispanic Queens students on an overnight ...

Clay Center Fire Chief Jonathan Siemers, 44, died this weekend in the line of duty. It was stated that Siemers was on call for the 24 hours preceding his death answering an alarm call at McKinley Apartments. Assistant fire chief Dallas Cunningham has been appointed interim fire chief as of this morning. Siemers began his career as a firefighter in June ...

BELLEVILLE, IL - Two people aboard a small private plane are unaccounted for after the plane crashed into an airplane hangar and home in the Villa Hills area about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Signal Hill Fire Chief Greg Render. Render wouldn't confirm the two aboard had been killed, but he said no one was recovered from the plane and that ...

WASHINGTON, DC - Sometimes history seems to repeat itself at the Supreme Court, and apparently settled issues reemerge in slightly different forms. And so there will be a feeling of deja vu at the court Monday morning when the justices turn their attention to an especially familiar-sounding issue: whether minority firefighter applicants in Chicago waited too long to sue when the ...

BAKERSFIELD, CA. - Firefighters continued to battle a stubborn tunnel fire Sunday that broke out when several cars of a freight train derailed near Bakersfield. Several homes were evacuated when a tanker car carrying denatured alcohol burst into flames, authorities said. There were no injuries in the accident, which happened about 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the entrance to a tunnel on ...

STATEN ISLAND, NY - A shoeless Staten Island thug was busted Thursday after he punched his sister in the face and then socked a firefighter who came to her aid, police and fire sources said. Anthony Valentine, 24, choked his sister and then clocked her "in the face with a closed fist" across from the firehouse for the FDNY's Engine 157/Ladder ...

PRIEST RIVER, ID - Assistant Fire Chief John Coyle of West Pend Oreille Fire District passed away while working at the department's new fire station that is under construction. The apparent cause of death is a heart attack. Incident Location: 4458 Old Priest River Road, Priest River, ID 83856. Donations can be made in honor of Assistant Fire Chief Coyle to ...

The body of a veteran climber who fell 1,500ft into the crater of Mount St. Helens volcano has been recovered today after he spent more than a day in the snow. High winds and low cloud had hampered efforts to reach Joseph Bohlig, 52, who was posing for a picture on the rim of the dormant crater when a snow overhang ...

LAUREL, Md. - Members from the Prince George's County Technical Rescue Team rescued a dog that fell 25 feet into a snow-covered storm drain. Fire department spokesman Mark Brady says the dog was rescued Tuesday afternoon at Clarke Avenue and Holly Street in Laurel. Brady says a snow plow had apparently dislodged a manhole cover. A Laurel resident nearly fell into ...

BRONX - A fire ripped through a Bronx public housing project yesterday afternoon, forcing a woman to dangle a baby out of a fifth-story window while she waited for rescuers to arrive. The blaze broke out at around 2 pm inside a closet in an apartment in the Pelham Parkway Houses and quickly spread through the three-bedroom residence, sending victims to ...