BOWER HILL, PA - Bryan Pritchard of Collier has been a volunteer with the Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department in Scott for a half-dozen years, giving his time and talents to his community. Now the community can return the favor. A candidate for a kidney and pancreas transplant, Mr. Pritchard, 38, is waiting for the organs to become available. He has ...

LAKELAND, Tenn. - Pet oxygen mask helped save five cats and one dog in a Lakeland house fire. 14 other cats died after the fire broke out Tuesday morning. "The cats, by all outward appearances, appeared to have died," said Firefighter Brent Perkins. The pet oxygen masks were bought a year and a half ago, as part of a grant from ...

UNITED KINGDOM - Firefighters were pelted with stones and bricks when they turned up to put out a blaze in woods. The crew, from Blackburn Fire Station, were attacked by youths after arsonists started a rubbish fire in an area off Fishmoor Drive in the town. Yesterday, the yobs were blasted as ‘stupid’ by Lanc-ashire Fire and Rescue Service, which said ...

FireLink's Tattoo Showcase #1 and Tattoo Showcase #2 have been so popular that we're looking for more new tattoos to feature. Want Us To Add Your Tattoo? Email Us and include your tattoo photo! photo | flickr | MelindaRae

YONKERS, NY - With hundreds of pink slips already handed out Wednesday, Yonkers' mayor, city council and municipal unions were negotiating down to the wire on a bare-bones city budget agreement. The city faces a $110 million deficit, with a deadline that could be stretched into today, for the start of the new fiscal year. Talks were "productive and substantive," Mayor ...

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- A fire official says an off-duty firefighter pulled over Tuesday when he spotted a Puyallup house fire and rescued the wheelchair-bound woman inside. Central Pierce Fire Assistant Chief Randy Stephens tells The News Tribune that the unidentified woman suffered minor smoke inhalation but was otherwise unhurt. Stephens says the Graham, Wash., firefighter was driving by after picking his ...

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 ...

MILWAUKEE — Two felons were charged Thursday with homicide and arson in the deaths of a mother, her two young children and a woman who also was the men's alleged accomplice in a case that began with an $800 robbery. Desmond Laster, 21, and Anthony Edward Barnes, 23, of Milwaukee, face four counts each of first-degree intentional homicide and arson. They ...

CONCORD, N.H. — A recently created Cold Case Unit has brought criminal charges against a California man in the 1989 deaths of four family members in a New Hampshire apartment house arson, authorities said. David McLeod was arrested Wednesday in California on four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Carl Hina, his 12-year-old daughter, Sara, his wife, Lori, and ...

BODEGA, Calif.—Sonoma County Fire officials say a firefighter remains in critical but stable condition at a San Francisco hospital after he either touched or stepped on a downed power line. Fire Marshal Robert MacIntryre identified the injured man Monday as Ben Hakala, a longtime volunteer with the Bodega Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Ron Albini tells the San Francisco Chronicle that 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 ...

A 28-year-old Tarzana woman was sentenced to life in prison Thursday for setting a nightclub dancer on fire. Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom was found guilty last month of aggravated mayhem and torture in connection with the February 2009 attack on Roberta Dos Santos Busby, officials said. During an argument, Theriault-Odom took a Dr. Pepper bottle filled with gasoline and hurled its contents ...

CHICAGO - One of two Homewood firefighters critically injured Tuesday night in a ferocious house fire that claimed the life of an elderly man has died, authorities said this morning. The firefighter was identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as 28-year-old Brian Carey of Evergreen Park. The Homewood homeowner killed in the blaze was identified as Wendell Elias, 84. ...

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" ...

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 ...

WESTMONT, IL - A Westmont police officer and firefighter scoffed at being called heroes Tuesday despite diving into a frigid retention pond to save an elderly couple whose car plunged into the water. "I didn't think about what I was doing; I just did it," Officer Jennifer Muska said. "In a situation like that your adrenaline kicks in." Added firefighter Brendan ...

WORCESTER — District Chief Geoffrey Gardell gets a little laugh when the Fire Department’s morning roll call is broadcast. His name is announced, then his brother’s — Capt. Timothy Gardell, who is an acting district chief. “I giggle every time I hear it,” Geoffrey said recently, standing outside the Franklin Street Fire Station. For the Gardell brothers, their lives are a ...

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 ...

BRISTOL - "We'll add that to the list." That was pretty much the phrase for the day among emergency personnel throughout the region Tuesday as they struggled to run from one water emergency to another. "Three feet of water in the basement," a Norton dispatcher announced over the police scanner. "Need more pumps here," an Attleboro firefighter reported to headquarters. "We'll ...