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 ...

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 ...

BALTIMORE - One firefighter was in serious condition after falling from a second-story window at an apartment fire in Northwest Baltimore late Wednesday. The firefighter, who also had burns to both hands, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a department spokesman. The injuries were not considered life-threatening. He was not identified. Two residents were also injured ...

BOSTON - Residents heard the fire alarms just before 2 p.m., but thought little of them as they made their way down the stairs of their 10-story condominium building in the Back Bay. But the alarm turned out to be the largest firefighting operation the city has seen in recent years — flames roared out the seventh-floor windows, and smoke billowed ...

NORTHWOODS — By the time Quincy Harris learned there had been a fire early Tuesday at his godmother's house, the firefighters were long gone. Left behind, though, was Harris' godmother, Gloria Banks, 80. Her body later was found in a bathtub where she may have sought refuge from the flames. Firefighters responded to the fire at 7115 Groveland Drive about 3 ...

WOODSBORO, Md. --The Frederick County Fire Marshal's Office determined the spontaneous combustion of tightly compacted hay bales caused a barn fire Sunday in the 10200 block of Oak Hill Road. Marc McNeal, chief fire marshal at the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services, said a worker in the 75- by 400-foot barn was moving some hay bales when a ...

Vancouver’s fire department is rushing to remove a colourful mural from its Downtown Eastside station that features a syringe-equipped grim reaper characterizing Canada’s poorest neighbourhood as just about the end of the world. But as a senior fire official on Monday announced a hurried move to get rid of the mural, likely on Tuesday, he said the art made a valid ...

LANCASTER, OH - As the lights in Lancaster homes are turned off, children are tucked in and adults end their busy days, most people recognize the quiet and calm of nighttime. Members of the Lancaster Fire Department, however, know that peace can be fleeting. On many nights, medics will respond to calls throughout the entire evening. The most unpleasant nights, they ...

ANACORTES, WA - The deadliest refinery accident since 2005 was described Monday as “more of a fireball than an explosion” but is not yet prompting a federally requested shutdown of the plant. A vapor cloud of hydrocarbons ignited within seconds, killing or burning seven Tesoro employees who were working about 50 feet from a unit used to make high-octane fuel, said ...

SUFFOLK, UK - A motorcyclist is recovering in hospital after he was saved by an off-duty paramedic driving his son to a football match. Steve Todd has told how he rescued the 23-year-old biker, who was face down in a water filled ditch and whose helmet was stopping him from breathing properly. "I don't really like to say it, but there ...

HOMEWOOD, IL - A 21-year-old Homewood firefighter underwent skin-graft surgery Thursday to repair first- and second-degree burns suffered in an extra-alarm fire Tuesday night that claimed the life of a firefighter and an elderly war veteran. Karra Kopas, a part-time firefighter/paramedic and Prairie State College student, was upgraded to fair condition Thursday while recovering in the burn unit at the University ...

ST. CHARLES, MO - A St. Charles County woman went into sudden cardiac arrest at just 32 years old, but skilled medics brought her back to life. Now those paramedics are getting a surprise from their miracle patient. "It came out as an unconscious female," remembers paramedic Kevin Griffith of the call that came into ambulance station 14 on August 29, ...

CHEYENNE -- One of the county's largest grass fires in recent memory burned southwest of town Wednesday afternoon behind commercial explosive producer Dyno Nobel Inc. Fire officials said the area burned was approximately 700 acres. Laramie County Fire District 2 public information officer Lew Simpson said the fire reignited from a blaze that crews extinguished early Wednesday morning. The first fire ...

DALLAS -- The challenge for Hayden was to find Dallas fire Capt. Laurel Pitman in a pile of concrete blocks as smoke filled the air and strong winds blew. When his handler let him go, the 2-year-old Labrador-Chesapeake Bay retriever made just one circle around the debris. It took him eight seconds to sniff out Pitman. "Oh, he works so fast," ...

VINELAND, NJ — An 81-year-old Vineland man was killed this morning in a collision with a stolen Underwood-Memorial Hospital paramedic SUV that was fleeing police, authorities said. Alfred Costantino, 81, was pronounced dead at the crash scene, at the intersections of Holmes and Chestnut avenues, said Vineland Det. Lt. Thomas Ulrich. The driver of the stolen 2000 Dodge Durango, Michael D. ...

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 ...

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. ...

WAYNESVILLE - A fire in Waynesville early Thursday morning has displaced several families and put two people in the hospital. It could have been a much different story if paramedic Mike McCart hadn't acted quickly to save them. Mike McCart is a jack of all trades. He is not only a paramedic, but a former volunteer firefighter and a member of ...

MONROEVILLE, PA - Monroeville was just beginning to grow into a bustling suburb and commercial district in July 1949 when Raymond J. Genley led a meeting to start a new fire department there. The new William Penn Highway was about to be lined with the Miracle Mile and other shopping centers. Mr. Genley and 17 neighbors from the Mellon Plan neighborhood ...

ALLENTOWN, PA - Allentown's aging East Side Fire Station is crumbling and sinking into the ground, posing a health risk to firefighters, according to a recent assessment by the city's top firefighter. "The station is literally falling apart at the seams and sinking," Chief Robert Scheirer told the federal government last June. "We are now at the point where the station ...