CAMDEN — More than 40 city firefighters and police officers rallied around city hall this morning, demanding Mayor Dana Redd bring back some of the laid-off public safety employees that were let go earlier this year, according to a report on Philly.com. The protest was organized over the weekend, after a firefighter was burned in a house fire Friday night. Union ...

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 ...

A fire which destroyed a church in the fenland area of Cambridgeshire is being treated as suspicious. The fire broke out mid-morning at the 19th Century church of St Mary's at Westry on the outskirts of March. Only the external brickwork remains and the building has been deemed structurally unsound. Jan French, a councillor on Fenland District Council who lives nearby, ...

CHARLES TOWN, W. VA - A chapter of American History has officially closed. Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, died of natural causes Sunday at the age of 110 in his Charles Town, W. Va., home, a family spokesman said in a statement. Eager to serve his country and escape the tedium of farm life in ...

PLATTSBURGH -- The pink firetruck has officially arrived. After months of waiting, members of the Guardians of the Ribbon cancer-support group are now waiting to get their themed truck decked out with graphics before it hits the streets in support of various causes. Jim Garrant, president of local Guardians Chapter 14, hopes the truck will be finished by the end of ...

MONROEVILLE, PA - Monroeville was just beginning to grow into a bustling suburb and commercial district in July 1949 when Raymond J. Genley led a meeting to start a new fire department there. The new William Penn Highway was about to be lined with the Miracle Mile and other shopping centers. Mr. Genley and 17 neighbors from the Mellon Plan neighborhood ...

BRIDGEPORT -- A city firefighter was arrested after police said they caught him injecting heroin while in uniform. Michael Arthur, 34, of Danbury, a 10-year fire department veteran, was charged with possession of narcotics and use of drug paraphernalia. He was released after posting $500 bond. He was off duty at the time of his arrest, fire officials said, and it ...

SALEM - As Dennis Covey watched news coverage of the earthquake in Haiti, the 51-year-old retired Salem firefighter wanted to help in any way he could. "I just said, 'We've got to go,'" he said yesterday. Covey, a lieutenant with the Fire Department who now lives in Palm Bay, Fla., said he could not make a big financial contribution. But he ...

FAIRFIELD, CT -- Maureen Janda was waiting until the collection box in the lobby at Fairfield police headquarters was full to make a delivery to Give2TheTroops. About a week and a half ago, Janda, secretary to the deputy chief, walked in and saw that the box not only was full, but overflowing. Turns out that Fairfield firefighters had done some shopping ...

BANGKOK (AP) - A 603-pound (274-kilogram) woman believed to be the heaviest in Thailand left her apartment for the first time in three years Thursday with the help of Bangkok city hall and a forklift. Neighbors of 40-year-old Umnuayporn Tongprapai contacted the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority when they learned she needed medical attention to remove a tumor in her right leg. Bangkok's ...

St. Joseph fire officials said a South Side man pulled his neighbor from a house fire Friday morning in his bare feet. Fire inspector Steve Henrichson said both men had injuries but the Good Samaritan declined medical treatment. The resident of the burned trailer near Lake Contrary was taken by ambulance to Heartland Regional Medical Center with second- and third-degree burns ...

LOS ANGELES - Millions of Southland residents were glued to their television sets last week watching the live team coverage of a rescue of man's best friend. A German shepherd mix was fighting for its life in a maelstrom of debris in the fast-moving flow of a swollen flood control channel during the recent rainstorms. Not to worry, the good men ...

ALLENTOWN, PA - Allentown's aging East Side Fire Station is crumbling and sinking into the ground, posing a health risk to firefighters, according to a recent assessment by the city's top firefighter. "The station is literally falling apart at the seams and sinking," Chief Robert Scheirer told the federal government last June. "We are now at the point where the station ...

CAMBRIDGE - A 2-year-old springer spaniel is back with her owner today after falling into the icy Charles River and swimming in circles until she was rescued by Cambridge firefighters using a surfboard. Firefighters were dispatched to the area near Magazine Beach around 1:30 p.m. Monday, where the dog, Maggie, had left her owner’s side to chase geese, said the department’s ...

PORTLAND - A Portland police officer accidentally used pepper spray instead of a fire extinguisher on a man who lit himself on fire downtown near a fur store Wednesday. Portland Police Bureau Chief Rosie Sizer said the officer was at a stoplight at Southwest 12th Avenue and Yamhill Street when she saw a man in flames. When the officer went to ...

HAMILTON, VA - It wasn't the most inconspicuous of vehicles to choose. But the lure of a fire engine apparently proved too much for a volunteer firefighter in Hamilton, Virginia, who allegedly took four colleagues on a drunken joyride at the weekend. Sean Swanson, 27, was arrested after he nearly crashed into a police patrol car as he sped down the ...

UK - Honda has announced the recall of 646,000 cars globally to fix a switch defect that could cause a fire. The recall includes Jazz models, also known as Fit in some countries, built in Japan, China, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and India, Honda said. Three cases of fires due to the defect have so far been reported - two in the ...