NAPLES, FL — When it comes to paint, they've got it covered. But, money is a different story. Members of the Gulf Coast Retired Firefighters Association gave the Freedom Memorial a coat of primer and paint Wednesday at Freedom Park in Naples. The Freedom Memorial Task Force raised $450,000 to erect the concrete American flag in Fall 2009, but still needs ...

Top Hub fire brass could reap tens of thousands of dollars over the next decade for taking random drug and alcohol tests, padding their pay and straining city coffers for years to come, a City Hall watchdog warned. “It’s a runaway cost, and every year it will get to be more and more,” said Matthew Cahill, executive director of the Boston ...

London, England - Fire crews have extinguished a fire at a nuclear weapons base west of London, the British Ministry of Defence said Wednesday. The fire broke out late Tuesday in "a building within the conventional non-nuclear explosives area" of Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, Berkshire, about 45 miles west of the British capital, the Ministry of Defence said. The base ...

Fire officials say a three-alarm fire that destroyed a garage and four vehicles at a northern Vanderburgh County property Sunday morning started as a grass fire. Homeowner Thomas Wilson, 69, is the only person who lives at 9301 Old State Road, about a half-mile north of East Mount Pleasant Road, and he was not injured in the blaze. The fire was ...

SPRINGFIELD - A 26-year-old Springfield man was arrested late Tuesday in connection with a fire that led to the deaths of three children. Shortly before 11 p.m. Greene County Jail officials confirmed a man was booked on a 24-hour hold pending the filing of formal charges. He was arrested by Springfield police officers on suspicion of first-degree arson, according to online ...

NEW YORK - A buildup of carbon monoxide under a Midtown street caused an underground fire and a manhole explosion Tuesday afternoon, prompting the evacuation of four buildings near Times Square, the authorities said. The explosion occurred at 4:30 p.m. outside of 226 West 52nd Street, the Novotel Hotel. No one was injured, but the hotel and three other buildings were ...

UK - A man has been charged in connection with a road crash in Essex in which a paramedic was seriously injured. A quad bike struck two parked vehicles on Western Esplanade in Southend-on-Sea on Sunday, injuring the paramedic at the scene of a previous crash. James Lewis, 28, of Broomfield Street, Poplar, is charged with causing grievous bodily harm, five ...

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Forest Service has launched an inspector general’s investigation and invited Congress to order a broad inquiry into last summer’s disastrous Station fire, after the recent discovery that dispatch recordings from the critical early hours of the blaze were withheld from The Times and a federal review team. The inspector general’s probe will focus on why several ...

Idaho -- Nez Perce County's rural fire service would continue next year under a proposal submitted by Fire Chief Ron Hall. One week after voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan to replace the county fire department with a fire district, commissioners appeared ready during budget meetings Monday to continue some sort of volunteer-type service in most of the county not within a ...

FRANKLIN (AP) — Two people charged in connection with a raid on a meth lab were ordered held yesterday on $500,000 bonds while fire officials continued to investigate what caused an explosion at the outset of the raid. Jeremy Clough, 31, and Rebecca Fields, 33, were charged with two felony counts each of manufacturing methamphetamine at two labs that investigators say ...

HUDSON, Fla. -- A Florida church dedicated to feeding the homeless has been destroyed in a fire. Fire rescue crews were called to the Lakeview Baptist Church in Hudson, about 45 miles north of Tampa, on Tuesday. Flames were shooting from the roof and the nearest hydrant was six blocks away. Forty firefighters battled the flames, which took about an hour ...

Stockton firefighters could soon see fewer people on a shift. A report on minimum staffing levels for the Stockton Fire Department by the San Joaquin County 2010-2011 Civil Grand Jury released Monday recommends the city reduce its staff on fire engines to three firefighters and staff and fire trucks to four. The grand jury also recommends the department create a relief ...

GREENVILLE, S.C. - Family members of a teen killed when he jumped from a moving ambulance said that the death of the autistic 16-year-old on Sunday could have been prevented. For starters, Shelley Hodge didn't want her son, Ryan Emory, released from the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute in Columbia on Feb. 6. On his discharge papers she wrote: "I, Shelly ...

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 ...

JOPLIN, Mo. — Rod Pace, manager of the Med Flight helicopter service at St. John's Regional Medical Center, had just finished payroll paperwork Sunday evening when he decided to stay an extra 15 to 20 minutes to let the menacing weather pass. From the second floor, he watched the storm approach from the southwest, just like so many other systems. The ...

SEATTLE, WA - More than 1,000 fireworks-related injuries and fires were reported to the state fire marshal's office in 2009, according to the Washington State Patrol. It found there were 1,236 reports received last year, mostly on July 4. They included 1,036 fires and 200 injuries. Most were caused by children ages 8 to 14, according to the State Patrol. Specifically, ...

HOUSTON - An off-duty Houston firefighter died after his motorcycle was struck in San Leon by a driver who was later charged with intoxication manslaughter, authorities said Monday. Johnnie Williams, 49, was hit by a Ford pickup truck about 3:45 p.m. Sunday on FM 517 near 27th Street, said officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The driver of the ...

GORMAN, Calif. -- A truck carrying a prison inmate fire crew collided with a car on a narrow highway north of Los Angeles on Tuesday, killing one inmate and one person from the car and leaving a dozen people injured, authorities said. The car and truck crashed at 2:20 p.m. on Highway 138 near Interstate 4 south of Gorman, Los Angeles ...

Missouri officials said they were waiving fees and expediting highway permits to make it easier for trucks to haul relief supplies into tornado-stricken Joplin. The Missouri Department of Transportation said permits were required for out-of-state trucks and vehicles hauling wide loads; however, the permits would be issued without charge and would be given high priority for approval. The agency said in ...

PEWAUKEE - A Pewaukee man was charged with a felony Saturday after authorities said he struck a firefighter with his Mercedes-Benz while trying to drive through a traffic wreck scene. Chris A. Younger, 37, was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety in connection with the incident Thursday. Firefighters said he tried to drive around an area blocked by traffic cones at ...