WASHINGTON — Federal aviation officials have known for years that cockpit window heaters in some Boeing planes catch fire. But they haven't required airlines to fix the problem, even after dozens of incidents that unnerved pilots and, in many cases, forced emergency landings. Pilots have complained about heaters that burned, smoldered or sent electric currents dancing across cockpit windows since at ...

Two firefighters received minor injuries early this morning while battling a two-alarm blaze in Kansas City, Kan. Shortly after 11 p.m. Monday night, fire crews were called to a house fire at South Minnie Street, near Southwest Boulevard, according to fire officials. The firefighters were injured when the structure around them began to collapse. The walls of the residence fell outward. ...

FORT EDWARD, NY - As a lethal fire intensified, one woman shoved an air conditioner out a window and then threw a 5-year-old boy out after it to safety, even as the blaze devoured a two-story house, killing six children. Two other adults tried in vain to rescue the children trapped inside the blazing building in a faded mill town along ...

LiTTLE ROCK — A state Forestry Commission ranger died today in a rollover accident in Lafayette County. Chris Adams, a 25-year-old firefighter, was killed when the Forestry Commission tractor-trailer he was driving overturned on Arkansas 360, about one-half mile east of its intersection with Arkansas 29 in Lafayette County. Adams was en route to check on a fire from earlier in ...

SHEBOYGAN, WI - A former volunteer firefighter will make an initial court appearance today for allegedly stealing more than $20,000 worth of gear from the Town of Sheboygan Fire Department and auctioning it on eBay. Items reported stolen included two sets of fire gear, 15 pagers, 13 defibrillator batteries, two defibrillators, a dash-mounted two-way radio, a set of vehicle emergency lights ...

JACKSONVILLE - A Jacksonville woman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison in the December shooting death of a Jacksonville firefighter/paramedic. [photo:162625] Fisthnise St. Breux, 19, had faced up to 30 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter last month. She will be deported to her native Haiti upon completion of her sentence. St. Breux was arrested after Emanuel Porter II, ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - A Los Alamos firefighter has been charged with indecent exposure after an incident in Albuquerque on Sunday afternoon. The Los Alamos Monitor says a Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy responded to a call about a man exposing himself about 1:30 p.m. Sunday near a bridge on Alameda Boulevard. The victim, a woman, was walking and saw a ...

Illinois lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that reduces pension benefits for future local police officers and firefighters. The measure also requires greater contributions from municipalities over the next 30 years to catch up with underfunded retirement programs. The Senate voted 46-4 on the bill, sending it to Gov. Pat Quinn. A spokeswoman would not say whether Quinn would sign it. Police and ...

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 ...

DALLAS - Dallas ISD has failed to install fire alarms in hundreds of portable buildings across the district, violating fire codes and leaving students without the built-in protection of blaring alerts that signal a blaze on campus. Portable buildings at Kleberg Elementary in Rylie are among the many at southern Dallas schools that are not connected to the main building's fire ...

WASHINGTON - The value of firefighter John McNamara's vanished life is $76,000 under the proposed 9/11 legal settlement. For his widow, that adds up to "appalling." Jennifer McNamara instead is pinning her hopes on the 9/11 health and compensation bill that got its first hearing ever in the U.S. Senate Tuesday. It would provide at least several times the compensation offered ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Firefighters spent a portion of their Sunday shutting hydrants that were apparently opened by people looking to get relief from the hot weather. At the corner of South Ohio Avenue and Siebert Street, a fire hydrant was opened at least four times on Sunday, it was reported. One firefighter said that he has responded to 15 reports of ...

DALLAS - The cash-strapped city of Dallas could owe the federal government $40 million or more if a whistle-blower lawsuit's allegations of fraud involving billing for ambulance services prove true. While the city says the specific amount it may owe the government has not been determined, it acknowledges that it is "fully cooperating" with federal authorities and will "move forward aggressively" ...

AFFTON, Mo. (AP) — Four firefighters are recovering after they were hurt battling a blaze in south St. Louis County. The fire broke out Monday afternoon in Affton. KMOX-TV reports that two firefighters were hospitalized and two others treated at the scene. Firefighters thought the elderly homeowner was inside and went in to get him. In fact, Good Samaritans had already ...

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A 911 dispatcher in Missoula who broadcast a false report of an explosion as an April Fool's Day prank will be suspended for one week but will not be prosecuted. Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said Thursday it would be "extremely difficult" to establish criminal intent in the case. The request for an emergency response came ...

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 ...

HAVERHILL — State public health officials have suspended the licenses of 207 emergency medical technicians and paramedics across Massachusetts because they were involved in falsifying training records. That number includes 30 Haverhill firefighters and 35 Trinity EMS ambulance workers, the state said. The suspensions will take effect July 1. Most will be for nine months, but a smaller number will last ...

WASHINGTON - The gulf oil catastrophe is striking a raw nerve with 9/11 victims who finally get their first hearing in the U.S. Senate this month. After watching President Obama declare BP will be held accountable, people whose lives were crushed by the 2001 terror attacks said their government remains unaccountable to them. "The government told us it was safe, the ...

PHILADELPHIA - Capt. Troy K. Gore, an officer detailed to the Philadelphia Fire Department's recruitment team, was placed on paid leave yesterday over allegations that he proposed a scheme to bring in more minority candidates by doctoring the city's computerized application process. Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers announced the move and said he was opening an investigation into an e-mail sent last ...

ST. ANNA, WI - A federal investigation of the Dec. 29 fire and explosion that killed St. Anna firefighter Steven Koeser found fault with the training and decision-making of the St. Anna Fire Department. The investigation by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) also faulted the disposal and storage of materials by Bremer Manufacturing Co., the town of ...