The first frantic call for help as a wildfire gathered momentum in the foothills west of Boulder came from a longtime firefighter who was helpless as flames burst across his wooded property, devouring trees and torching a propane tank. His breathless descriptions — captured on a dispatch tape — detailed the fury of a blaze that, by Wednesday evening, had charred ...

SAN JOSE - A four-alarm fire destroyed a fraternity house near San Jose State this morning and displaced 28 students, according to fire officials. One firefighter suffered minor burn injuries to his hands, according to San Jose fire Capt. Mary Gutierrez. The firefighter was treated at a hospital and returned to the scene. The 28 students who live in the Kappa ...

GATTATIN, TN - Seven members of the Gallatin Fire Department will lead 343 firefighters during a Sept. 11 memorial climb Saturday inside a Nashville skyscraper. Firefighters will be assigned to represent the names of the 343 firefighters who were killed when the Twin Towers collapsed. Fire personnel from nine states, including New York, will participate in the climb at The Pinnacle ...

TALLAHASSEE — Two forest rangers trapped by shifting flames died while fighting a wildfire that also injured two others near Jasper in north Florida, officials said yesterday. The rangers were working Monday to stop a rekindled blaze called the Blue Ribbon Fire in Hamilton County on the Georgia line, one of more than 400 wildfires burning around Florida in one of ...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian authorities say criminals hijacked an ambulance and forced the driver to give them a ride to a slum in Rio de Janeiro before taking their patient to the hospital. Officials say armed men stopped the ambulance shortly after it picked up a mental patient in a shantytown in the city's north side. Carrying pistols and shotguns, ...

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 ...

BOSTON - A decade after he died as an iconic American hero, Jerry Dewan remains a public servant, providing educational and medical opportunities to kids through a fund established in his name. It’s called the Gerard Dewan Memorial Fund. In addition to offering a scholarship at Sacred Heart School in Roslindale, which he attended, and endowing a family resource room at ...

NORWALK, Calif. (AP) - A 7-year-old boy who called 911 from a locked bathroom while armed robbers threatened his parents hugged and high-fived on Wednesday the sheriff's dispatcher who took his call. The boy, identified only as Carlos, told reporters at a news conference that he remained calm during the ordeal because his mother used to make him practice dialing 911 ...

BOSTON - Prosecutors this week dropped a reckless-conduct charge against a Salisbury man after what the police initially described as a powerful pipe bomb at his home turned out to be a "tire thumper" used to check the pressure of truck tires, his lawyer said. The misdemeanor charge against Walter Scott Jr., formerly a volunteer fireman, was dropped Tuesday, the day ...

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 ...

SAN BRUNO, CA -- With a thunderous roar heard for miles, a natural gas line explosion ripped through a San Bruno neighborhood Thursday evening, sending up a geyser of fire that killed at least one person and injured more than 20 others, and igniting a blaze that destroyed 53 homes and damaged 120 more, authorities said. The wind-whipped blaze leaped from ...

FORT BLISS, Texas -- In what Col. Joseph Simonelli, Jr., Fort Bliss garrison commander, called a "complete garrison team mission," almost a half-dozen Fort Bliss firefighters and a 25-ton fire truck departed Bliss en route to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., June 23. Bliss answered the call for support in cantonment operations as Huachuca firefighters are participating in off-post firefighting efforts in the ...

SPRING HILL, FL — Spring Hill Fire Rescue Chief Mike Rampino said Thursday that he's looking into allegations that on-duty firefighters attended parties where alcohol was served earlier this year and that intoxicated women were allowed on fire station property. The allegations were made at Wednesday's district fire board meeting by Ridge Manor resident Rob Rogoski, who presented commissioners with about ...

GREELEY, CO - The Weld County district attorney's office has charged a Greeley firefighter with one count of official misconduct after he gave out tests to firefighters preparing for a certification exam. Lt. Roger Moore, 46, was issued a summons for the Class 2 misdemeanor, according to Jennifer Finch, the district attorney's spokeswoman. No date has been set for a court ...

FERNLEY, NV--This Thursday, residents will start seeing yellow ambulances operated by North Lyon County Fire Protection District. The District was awarded the ambulance franchise by the Fernley City Council in September of 2009. While obtaining the licenses and permits, service has been provided via a mutual aid agreement between Central Lyon County Fire Protection District, and fire districts in Storey and ...

MOUNT LAUREL, PA - Every Sept. 11 since the world changed, the firefighters of Station 362 in Mount Laurel have gathered by their flagpole to observe a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., when the first hijacked plane struck the World Trade Center. They bow their heads and fold their hands in memory of the 343 firefighters and nearly 2,500 other ...

LONDONDERRY — Firefighters had a chance to practice their skills yesterday during a controlled burn of a donated house. The home at 32 Pillsbury Road was given to the fire department by a local real estate company to burn down and use as practice for fighting a real structure fire. Capt. Jim Roger was the incident commander and organized the controlled ...

LOS ANGELES -- A training exercise became a real life emergency Tuesday when veteran firefighter nearly drowned during a simulated rescue. "Everything worked ," said firefighter Dave Danielson, 40, outside a nearby hospital two hours after the mishap. Danielson was portraying a drowning person for trainees at the Los Angeles Aqueduct, when he went under for about 30 seconds, "I hit ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire has broken out in New Mexico and forced officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to close the site Monday as residents nearby evacuate their homes. The fire has grown to 3,500 acres, or 5.4 square miles, since it started at around 1 p.m. on Sunday about 12 miles southwest of the town ...

SILVER SPRING, Md. - A pedestrian is hit and injured by a car every eight minutes, federal officials say. Local leaders are now out to stifle that trend. A local effort to cut down on the amount of pedestrians injured and killed in accidents kicked off in Silver Spring Tuesday with a sobering demonstration. The Street Smart campaign is a joint ...