BOSTON (AP) — The number of on-duty firefighter deaths last year in the United States was the lowest in more than three decades. In a report released Monday, the National Fire Protection Association said 72 firefighters died on-duty in 2010. That's a sharp drop from the 105 on-duty deaths in 2008 and 82 in 2009. The group said it's the lowest ...

SOMERSET, UK - A Somerset paramedic is heading to Afghanistan to help children born with a limb disability. Nich Woolf will be working with Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA) to help youngsters who have developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Children in Afghanistan run a higher risk than normal of having the condition, which can mean they need braces to enable ...

BARTLETT, IL — The Bartlett Fire Protection District is placing new signs on ITS fire engines and ladder truck that say “Paramedics,” indicating that even these vehicles designed for firefighting now carry advanced life support capabilities. Fire Chief Michael Falese said these vehicles have the obvious fire suppression capabilities that most people are aware of, but they also have carried fully ...

WASHINGTON - Three furry felines are alive and purring thanks to rescue efforts by firefighters in Prince George's County this week. PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY - Prince George's County Fire and EMS spokesman Mark Brady says "The rescue of pets and animals in unusual and compromising situations is based on the the level of difficulty and safety of firefighter rescuers." He adds ...

EAGAR, Ariz. (AP) — Firefighter Jay Walter knows the sounds of danger in the pitch black of night — the crackling of burning embers, the whoosh of flames whipped by wind, the hair-raising thump of a burned tree hammering down on the forest floor. The 32-year-old from the Phoenix area is a division crew supervisor overseeing hundreds of firefighters working the ...

Age: 53 Cause of Death: Caught or Trapped Rank: Firefighter/Paramedic Nature of Death: Burns Classification: Career Emergency Duty: Yes Incident Date: 06/02/2011 Duty Type: On-Scene Fire Incident Time: 10:44 Activity Type: Advance Hose Lines/Fire Attack (includes Wildland) Death Date: 06/04/2011 Fixed Prop. Use: Residential Fire Dept. Info: San Francisco Fire Department 698 2ND ST USNG: 10SEG53648165 San Francisco , California 94107 ...

Age: 48 Cause of Death: Caught or Trapped Rank: Lieutenant Nature of Death: Burns Classification: Career Emergency Duty: Yes Incident Date: 06/02/2011 Duty Type: On-Scene Fire Incident Time: 10:44 Activity Type: Advance Hose Lines/Fire Attack (includes Wildland) Death Date: 06/02/2011 Fixed Prop. Use: Residential Fire Dept. Info: San Francisco Fire Department 698 2ND ST USNG: 10SEG53648165 San Francisco , California 94107 ...

HOEHNE -- Family members living on the Roberts Ranch just north of the Bear Fire were breathing a sigh of relief Wednesday as huge plumes of smoke from earlier in the week had shrunk to a light haze drifting over nearby rolling hills and mesas. The Roberts family has spent the week watching firefighters from several states battle the wildfire, which ...

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 ...

Columbus, Ohio -- City residents caused headaches for firefighters when some opened fire hydrants to cool off amid midsummerlike temperatures on Tuesday. Firefighters shut off about 50 fire hydrants across the city, Battalion Chief Michael Fowler said. Open hydrants are a problem every summer, he said, but the situation came early this year as the high temperature on Tuesday hit 93 ...

Age: 42 Cause of Death: Stress/Overexertion Rank: Second Assistant Fire Chief Nature of Death: Heart Attack Classification: Volunteer Emergency Duty: No Incident Date: 05/31/2011 Duty Type: After Incident Time: 12:52 Activity Type: Other Death Date: 05/31/2011 Fixed Prop. Use: Residential Fire Dept. Info: Flanders Fire Department Company #1 and Rescue 27 Main ST Flanders , New Jersey 07836 Chief: Greg Widzemok ...

LAUREL -- Jones County's volunteer fire departments responded to 51 calls ranging from brush and structure fires to medical emergencies during the Memorial Day weekend. "That's an extremely high number of incidents for this time frame," said Jones County Fire Council Public Information Officer Lance Chancellor. "Volunteer firefighters responded to 15 woods or brush fires, four structure fires, 25 medical first ...

For the second time within nine hours, firefighters in eastern Berks County were called to a two-alarm fire at the same address. Crews responded about 3:15 this morning to a duplex in the first block of Ehst Road in Washington Township for what emergency dispatchers called a rekindle of the fire that started shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday. Fire officials struck ...

SAN FRANCISCO - Fire crews and police could only watch after a man waded into San Francisco Bay, stood up to his neck and waited. They wanted to do something, but a policy strictly forbade them from trying to save the 50-year-old, officials said. A witness finally pulled the apparently suicidal man's lifeless body from the 54-degree water. Interim Alameda Fire ...

Firefighters are gaining control of the Race Pond Fire that has threatened for days to jump into the Okefenokee Swamp, officials said. At last measure, the fire had burned 7,852 acres, counting burnouts, and was 40 percent contained, said Mark Wiles, a Georgia Forestry Commission senior forester working with a joint information team. "We thinking the burnout we attempted over the ...

As the photos of burn victims filled the screen in front of him, Patrick Lawhorne stared intently and realized just how lucky he was. The Orlando teenager's fascination with fire came to a head recently when he used gasoline to ignite a blaze. "I burned a hole in my neighbor's fence," 16-year-old Patrick said. After attending a Juvenile Firesetters program at ...

CARYVILLE -- Dozens of firefighters this morning were greeted with sparkling flames when a blaze erupted at a Campbell County fireworks business. Firefighters from six fire departments tackled the flames that erupted about 2:30 a.m. at Thunder Mountain Fireworks, 292 John McGhee Blvd., according to Caryville Fire Chief Eddie Hatmaker. "When we got there, flames were shooting through the roof," Hatmaker ...

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