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 ...

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — A 14-year-old boy who allegedly told deputies he dropped a lighter as he was trying to smoke pot in a field Sunday sparked a 40-acre blaze that briefly threatened some 50 homes and forced evacuations before it was contained, authorities said. The boy from Saugus, one of four people detained in connection with the blaze, was booked ...

RACINE - It was a terrifying situation for more than a dozen children: being trapped on a Ferris wheel for three hours. Luckily, one of the people trapped with them was an off-duty firefighter. Capt. Nick Comande of the Racine Fire Department was riding the Ferris wheel at Racine's Party on the Pavement festival with his 9-year-old daughter Rachel. He had ...

FORT WORTH, TX - An off-duty Fort Worth firefighter was seriously injured when a man drove a stolen pickup into his vehicle Sunday morning, authorities said. Mark Puente, 25, was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in critical condition following the 11:05 a.m. wreck in the 5600 block of Bryant Irvin Road near Southwest Loop 820, officials said. The driver of ...

WASHINGTON, DC - The off-duty D.C. firefighter who was shot early Wednesday morning is a 25-year-old man who has been with the department for six years, according to authorities. He has been on leave without pay since March 2010, said Pete Piringer, spokesman for D.C. Fire/EMS. Piringer did not say why he was placed on leave. The shooting happened sometime before ...

NIAGARA FALLS—Niagara Falls couple working as Rural/Metro emergency medical technicians were injured Wednesday morning as they attempted to remove a highly intoxicated woman from her home, police said. Garry and Sara Bluhm attempted to carry the woman downstairs from an upper bedroom after she refused to walk, police said, but the woman resisted, pushing Garry Bluhm into a railing and punching ...

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 ...

HAVERHILL — Police have issued former firefighter Kevin Thompson a citation through Haverhill District Court for driving a firetruck without a license, Mayor James Fiorentini said. If the city wins a criminal conviction against Thompson on the driving charge, Fiorentini said yesterday he will ask the Haverhill Retirement Board to revoke Thompson's pension. The board earlier this week awarded Thompson, 52, ...

COLUMBUS, OH - MedFlight is getting into the ambulance business despite the slim profit margin medical transport companies face. "When you look at the ambulance transportation industry, it's very, very expensive to operate," said Ronald L. Grout, executive director of the Ohio Medical Transportation Board. "From insurance to the equipment to the personnel, it's a very expensive undertaking." In Ohio, Medicare ...

GAINESVILLE, FL - A Florida church says it will go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, despite the city refusing to issue a burn permit, Orlando's Fox35 TV reports. The Dove World Outreach Center said early this month that it would burn copies of the Islamic holy text on church grounds to mark the ninth ...

KANSAS CITY - Fred Arbanas wants to make one thing perfectly clear — he never accepted a campaign donation from Local 42 of the International Association of Fire Fighters. A July report filed by Taxpayer’s Unlimited, the firefighter’s political committee, listed a $2,500 contribution to Arbanas. Arbansas, of course, is in the race of his political life versus Terry Riley, a ...

LOS ANGELES - On Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 11:43 PM, 41 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 21 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 3 Arson Units, 1 Urban Search and Rescue Unit, 1 Rehab Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 3 EMS Battalion Captains, 8 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team and 2 Bulldozers under the direction of Deputy ...

ARLINGTON - Police have charged an Arlington man who allegedly struck a firefighter with his vehicle Friday after becoming upset about snow being shoveled from around a fire hydrant to the sidewalk in front of his home. Leo Najarian, 59, of Varnum Street, has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, failure to stop for police and negligent operation of ...

BIRMINGHAM, AL - A Birmingham firefighter is suing the city and Mayor William Bell claiming the city failed to pay overtime. The lawsuit claims firefighters were not paid time-and-a-half for extra hours worked. It also claims by not paying time-and-a-half on those extra hours, the city no longer matched all pension benefits as required. Local firefighter union attorney Ray Fitzpatrick said ...

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A Montgomery County judge Monday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to stop county firefighters from campaigning for ambulance fees. Without a 'Yes' vote on 'Question A' -- the ballot measure that would institute ambulance fees -- Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett says he'll have to cut more than 80 firefighter positions and take 11 ambulances out of service. Leggett ...

Two firefighters were injured Friday while fighting a wildfire along the Mexican border, according to the Coronado National Forest. The firefighters were taken to a hospital with non-life- threatening injuries, the news release said. One was released from the hospital and the other was being treated for first- and second- degree burns. They were battling the Bull Fire, which is burning ...

SEATTLE -- Seattle firefighters have controlled a four-alarm blaze that tore through the former Sunny Jim peanut butter plant in south Seattle, injuring a firefighter and sending smoke high into the air. An estimated 120 firefighters responded Monday to the vacant, city-owned, two-story building. Fire officials say one firefighter was injured by a piece of falling siding. He was reported in ...

DULLES, Va. - A search and rescue team from Fairfax County returned home from Japan early Sunday morning. Virginia Task Force 1 spent the last week searching for survivors around the seaport city of Ofunato, without success. Spokeswoman Renee Stilwell says a team from Los Angeles was also pulled out because the weather conditions in northern Japan make it unlikely there ...

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) - Forget "Fore!" "Fire!" was the cry of the day for a golfer whose off-target swing sparked a 12-acre blaze in Southern California. The golfer at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough Saturday. On his next swing, his club snagged a rock, causing a spark that lit the rough ablaze and ...

Illinois lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that reduces pension benefits for future local police officers and firefighters. The measure also requires greater contributions from municipalities over the next 30 years to catch up with underfunded retirement programs. The Senate voted 46-4 on the bill, sending it to Gov. Pat Quinn. A spokeswoman would not say whether Quinn would sign it. Police and ...