MADISON, S.D. (AP) - A volunteer firefighter in Madison has been convicted of driving a fire truck while drunk over Labor Day weekend. Jurors on Wednesday deliberated about 45 minutes before finding 43-year-old Scott Johnson guilty of driving under the influence. Johnson was arrested following a false alarm call. A police officer tested Johnson's blood-alcohol level as being just over the ...

HERCULES — A hearse delivering a body to a funeral caught fire Friday afternoon when sparks from a front tire flattened in a collision sparked a blaze. The driver was later arrested on suspicion of driving drunk, the California Highway Patrol said. The hearse belonged to Mandel Funeral Services in Vallejo and the driver was identified as 55-year-old Daniel A. Mandel, ...

DISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. - Three men are dead and two medics safe after a fast-moving sport utility vehicle traveling in the wrong lane sideswipes an ambulance early Thursday. "An eyewitness indicated [the SUV] could have been going as fast as 100 mph," says Mark E. Brady, spokesman for Prince George's County Fire and EMS. "I shudder to think what would have ...

NEW YORK - A city firefighter was caught "red-handed" tending more than 100 marijuana plants - each worth $5,000 - in the basement of a Queens house, a prosecutor said Monday. Patrick Murray was not only running an illegal drug operation, but he was also endangering three young kids living above the drug den, exposing them to harmful fumes from powerful ...

NEWARK, NJ - Derron Brice was a Navy Corpsman for eight years and has a Desert Storm ribbon. He has been a paramedic for UMDNJ in Newark for four years. He has seen trauma from gunshots, schrapnel, blunt force; all the things, as he says in paramedic vernacular, make “bodies no longer viable.” He has seen his share of such bodies. ...

ASHLEY, Ind. - It was discovered that the volunteer firefighter driving the Ashley fire tanker that flipped over onto its top last Friday, is partly to blame for the accident. The accident happened during a fire run. The tanker flipped over onto its right side and then onto its back as it turned left onto North Grand Avenue. The crew was ...

WORCESTER - Scientists at Worcester Polytechnic Institute today demonstrated new technologies that could save the lives of firefighters trapped inside burning buildings. At WPI's annual conference on indoor location tracking for rescue workers, held in Worcester, researchers demonstrated new electronic systems that cut in half the average time needed to track down a lost firefighter. "The technology's actually better than we ...

DETROIT - Dorian Dove wept Wednesday as he testified that he was paid $20 to set a house fire that killed a Detroit firefighter. "It shouldn't have happened," said Dove, who has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is a key witness in the trial of the man accused of paying for the 2008 blaze that killed 19-year veteran Detroit firefighter ...

AMITYVILLE, NY - William End wanted to become a firefighter because of friendship. Sunday he got his wish -- but the swearing-in took place in a hospital bed where he lay recovering from a crash that killed one of his good friends in the department. End barely had the strength to lift his new Amityville Fire Department badge, and he choked ...

BOSTON - The City of Boston and six truck maintenance shops have been sued for their alleged roles in allowing a 49,000-pound firetruck to go out on the road with faulty brakes, leading it to plunge down a hilltop street two years ago, killing a firefighter and damaging a Mission Hill apartment complex. The lawsuit was filed by Federal Insurance Company, ...

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 ...

East Syracuse, NY — How often does a volunteer firefighter stay with his force 75 years? Not very often. That’s why there was a big turnout last week when Bill Lewis Sr. officially retired from the East Syracuse Fire Department. The East Syracuse chief, Mike Cramer, said the department’s bylaws had to be changed to grant the retirement, which is the ...

[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 -- ...

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 ...

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The commute along Interstate 270 is always grueling, but a massive gasoline fire on Montrose Road Thursday morning made it worse than normal. So how bad has the commute been? "On a scale of one to 10 for Montgomery County, I'm going to give it a nine," says WTOP Traffic Reporter Lisa Baden. The huge fire on Montrose ...

FARMINGTON, MO — Six volunteer firefighters survived a rollover accident in the Farmington Fire Department's pumper tanker truck, one that the Missouri State Highway Patrol says was caused by another motorist. Investigators say the driver of the tanker were trying to avoid a motorist during a routine fire call. The Farmington volunteer crew had their lights and sirens blaring heading down ...

VIENNA — This little kitty went home — but only after Vienna police and firefighters partially dismantled a police car to find it. The naughty feline first woke residents of a Vienna neighborhood with its desperate meowing, then kept police and firefighters busy for much of the night. She was found under the hood of a car but eluded her rescuers' ...

LAKEVILLE, Minn. - Rescue crews were using fire hoses to douse an angry swarm of bees after a fatal crash that involved a semitrailer carrying about 17 million of the insects. Authorities say a truck hauling 7,000 bee hives was involved in the four-vehicle crash Monday on Interstate 35 near Lakeville, about 35 miles south of Minneapolis. Minnesota State Patrol spokesman ...

CASWELL LAKES, AK -– German shepherds were bred for intelligence to protect sheep flocks from predators. They are revered for their loyalty and renowned to be sensitive to people’s emotions. While a collie named Lassie may be best known as a dog hero for the saying “Lassie, go get help,” Buddy carried on the tradition set by German shepherds Strongheart and ...

TORONTO - Finding ways to cut spending and save money will almost certainly top the to-do list for Toronto’s next mayor. If elected, Councillor Rob Ford has vowed to pursue drastic measures such as reducing the size of city council and shrinking the municipal work force. But it’s a pledge by mayoral candidate George Smitherman that may be the most contentious. ...