ELGIN, IL - Two Elgin firefighters and a police officer were taken to area hospitals Monday night after each became ill at the scene of a hazardous materials call at an apartment building. Emergency crews were called to investigate the hazmat call at a six-flat apartment building on the 1100 block of Birch Drive at about 5:20 p.m., officials said. The ...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - Police say they have identified at least two people suspected of jumping out of a van and beat two visiting Canadian firefighters outside an upstate New York bar. Police in Saratoga Springs say the two firefighters from Ontario were talking to two women in a minivan stopped at a downtown intersection outside an Irish pub early ...

SHELTON, Conn. (AP) — A veteran Bridgeport firefighter charged with dumping poison acid onto his neighbor's water line has been fired. Fire Chief Brian Rooney says Edward Voccola "brought discredit" to the department and was fired for violating the city's ethics code as well as city rules. The Connecticut Post reports that the 52-year-old Voccola, a 22-year veteran, was placed on ...

NEW YORK — A 6-year-old boy who was made an honorary New York City firefighter during his battle with cancer has been remembered at a solemn memorial service. Little Liam Witt died Jan. 24 after enduring years of radiation and chemotherapy. The firefighters of Ladder Co. 24 and Engine Co. 1 admired Liam's fighting spirit. They gave him his own locker ...

WASHINGTON -- All lanes of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue have reopened, following a fire Tuesday morning that shut down streets around the Ronald Reagan Building. The fire had closed 14th Street entirely between Pennsylvania and Constitution avenues. Eastbound Pennsylvania Avenue at 14th Street was also closed. Only certain maintenance staff is allowed to reenter the building, WTOP's Neal Augenstein reports. ...

QUINCY — A Quincy firefighter is on leave after being arrested in a Braintree drug raid. It’s the second time Patrick J. Ryan, 45, has been disciplined for facing criminal charges. Ryan has been a city firefighter since 1995. He is charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws. Police raided a house on East Division Street in Braintree Saturday that they ...

SAN PABLO -- The widow of one of two Contra Costa County firefighters who died in a 2007 house fire will receive $4.6 million to settle her wrongful-death lawsuit against two security companies she blamed for mishandling the initial report of the blaze. The fire at 149 Michele Drive in San Pablo killed fire Engineer Scott Desmond, 37, of Brentwood and ...

HARDYSTON — Ice, snow and a lack of water did not deter local firefighters from putting out a house fire on the shores of Beaver Lake Wednesday night. The first two fire trucks were stuck on icy private roads leading up to the single-story house, so firefighters hauled hoses some 300 yards through snowdrifts to the blaze, according to Frank Lacatena, ...

CAMDEN — A new budget, set to be considered by the city council Tuesday, proposes the rehiring of 47 Camden police officers and 13 firefighters following increased taxation, according to a report on CourierPostOnline.com. The budget, created by Camden Mayor Dana Redd, contains an additional $3.3 million for the police department and $2.2 million for the fire department, after the state ...

ARLINGTON - Police have charged an Arlington man who allegedly struck a firefighter with his vehicle Friday after becoming upset about snow being shoveled from around a fire hydrant to the sidewalk in front of his home. Leo Najarian, 59, of Varnum Street, has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, failure to stop for police and negligent operation of ...

BRIGHTON, MI - For career fireman Ed Weber, safety first wasn't merely an on-the-job requirement, it was a practice routinely observed on the home front, as well. Mr. Weber, the former chief of the Birmingham Fire Department and a 30-year veteran of the force, died of brain cancer Jan. 26 at Caretel Inns of Brighton. The Brighton resident was 73. "He ...

POUGHKEEPSIE - More than 60 years after his father died of a heart attack after fighting two fires in the City of Poughkeepsie, a former city man has persuaded state authorities to include his dad's name on a monument honoring firefighters who died in the line of duty. "I'm just thrilled with the news," said Jake Miller, who now lives in ...

CHICAGO - Chicago firefighters and paramedics will get $94 million in back pay dating back to June 30, 2007 — bankrolled by debt likened to “borrowing to pay for last year’s groceries” — thanks to a contract ratified Monday. “We’re very concerned. It’s enormously expensive to borrow to pay for operating costs. Future taxpayers are gonna have to pay, not only ...

A retired city firefighter who spent two months toiling at Ground Zero died of lung disease Tuesday, his wife said. William Quick, 55, a veteran of 23 years with the FDNY, survived 9/11 - but he could not escape Ground Zero's toxic dust. "He was there when both towers came down," his wife, Lisa Quick, said last night, her voice trailing ...

A dozen firefighters were injured battling a fire that raged overnight in a Queens warehouse, officials said Tuesday morning. The blaze at 95-20 150th St. in Jamaica was so hard to handle that the Fire Department's response reached a rare eighth alarm. Flames erupted about 6 p.m. Monday, and the inferno was not contained until 4:44 a.m. Tuesday. The building continued ...

[widget:news__wtop] HYATTSVILLE, Md. -- Four sisters are in area hospitals after firefighters rescued them from a burning house. Twin 13-year-old girls are in very critical condition, acting Prince George's County Fire and EMS Chief Marc Bashoor tells WTOP. One was transported to Children's Hospital and the other to Prince George's Hospital Center. Another two girls -- ages 4 and 9 -- ...

NEW YORK (AP) - A stubborn blaze at a one-story commercial building in New York City took more than 10 hours to bring under control and injured seven firefighters, one seriously. Rich Viglione of the New York Fire Department says the blaze began at about 6 p.m. Monday inside a large metal-works warehouse in Queens. Crews brought it under control early ...

CLINTON — Firefighter Dean S. Weeks was on duty last night when the call came in that his restaurant, Tailgaters Grille, just 300 yards from the fire station on Main Street, was on fire. Firefighters at the station this morning were saddened over the loss of what they called Mr. Weeks' dream and passion. “We're heartbroken,” said Firefighter John W. Kobus. ...

WOODWARD, Okla. (AP) - In a scene straight from the movie "A Christmas Story," an 8-year-old Oklahoma boy got his tongue stuck to a metal pole after he licked it on a dare. Officials say when rescue crews arrived Tuesday morning, the boy was standing on his tiptoes, trying to wriggle his frozen tongue free from a stop sign pole across ...