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 ...

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 ...

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' ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

ST. LOUIS -- When a shoulder injury prevented St. Louis County police officer Steve Park from continuing, the last-bout victory went to St. Louis Fire Department firefighter Chad Vancil and the firefighters claimed a 9-8 team victory in 17 bouts at the 24th Budweiser Guns 'N Hoses Wednesday night at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. All five metro-east boxers lost their ...

ARIZONA - Seven air ambulance companies operating throughout Arizona have agreed to major changes in how pilots will communicate with each other as they approach Flagstaff Medical Center. The changes include well-defined approach paths laid out miles before the hospital and a schedule for radio broadcasts on an assigned frequency intended for other pilots operating in the area to announce their ...

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. ...

SACRAMENTO — The tires of a JetBlue airplane caught fire yesterday during a hard landing in Sacramento that sent passengers down emergency slides to escape the aircraft and left 15 people with minor injuries. Passenger Michelle McDuffie said people onboard felt a thud when the plane touched down at about 12:50 p.m. after a flight from Long Beach, Calif., but nobody ...

BROOKLYN - A massive five-alarm Brooklyn factory fire, spewing smoke that could been seen for miles, was still burning more than 24 hours after it started. About 200 firefighters fought the flames that first engulfed the Rosewood Inc. kitchen cabinet factory in Bushwick at 6 p.m. Thursday, fire officials said. Dark smoke poured from the Evergreen Ave. warehouse overnight, and intense ...

The National Highway Traffic Safety administration has opened a preliminary investigation of about 3 million 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees after a petition from safety advocacy group Center for Auto Safety. The CAS alleges in its petition that the placement of the Jeep's plastic gas tank behind the rear axle and below the rear bumper make it a fire risk in a ...

WASHINGTON -- Police and fire officials are still investigating an accident in Southeast Monday morning that left a car engulfed in flames, killing a Washington lobbyist, mother and wife of a senior White House advisor. Ashley Westbrook Turton, director of congressional affairs for Progress Energy, Inc. and mother of three young children, died around 5 a.m. Monday morning outside her home ...

ARLINGTON -- Chief Robin Paulsgrove announced Monday that he'll retire in May after 13 years as Arlington's top firefighter. City leaders credit Paulsgrove's leadership for enhanced firefighter training, emergency preparedness and public education initiatives that have created a safer Arlington for residents and visitors. Paulsgrove has played a key role in public safety planning for Arlington's growing entertainment district, where ...

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" ...

NEW YORK CITY - Days after the city blasted him as biased, Robert Morgenthau stepped down Tuesday as the court-appointed master overseeing new procedures for hiring firefighters. The former Manhattan district attorney called the Bloomberg administration's accusations "absurd," but said it was in the court's "best interest" to name someone the city didn't have a "grudge" against. Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis ...

CENTRALIA, Pa. – Standing before the wreckage of his bulldozed home, John Lokitis Jr. felt sick to his stomach, certain that a terrible mistake had been made. He'd fought for years to stay in the house. It was one of the few left standing in the moonscape of Centralia, a once-proud coal town whose population fled an underground mine fire that ...