firefighters

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Off-Duty Firefighter Runs Into Burning Home to Save Dog

Dramatic rescue was captured on video

(Newser) - Firefighters don't come any more dedicated than Tim Tawater, who was off duty and driving to his daughter's birthday party on Saturday when he spotted clouds of smoke and followed them to a burning home. He was the first firefighter on the scene in the Nashville suburb of...

Violent Offenders May Join Inmate Firefighting Teams

Arsonists still barred from Calif. program

(Newser) - California officials are considering allowing inmates with violent backgrounds to work outside prison walls fighting wildfires, and the idea is generating concerns about public safety. The state has about 3,800 inmate firefighters with no history of violent crimes. But that's down from about 4,400 in previous years,...

Modern Homes Are Killing Firefighters

Cancer is the leading cause of death for firefighters

(Newser) - Everybody knows firefighters have a dangerous job, but few understand the biggest risk they face while saving lives. In an eye-opening article, the Atlantic reports the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths for US firefighters is cancer. According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, 60% of firefighters will die from...

3 Firefighters Dead in Washington State

More are injured battling wildfire

(Newser) - Tragedy in Washington state today as three firefighters were killed fighting a wildfire in the north-central part of the state, reports KING5 . At least three more were injured, one of them critically. It's not clear what happened, but firefighters earlier were battling what KOMO describes as "strong, erratic...

Firefighter Killed When Winds Whip Up Wildfire

He had volunteered to work in California

(Newser) - A firefighter killed by a wildfire in Northern California was scouting the area exploring for ways to attack it when he became trapped after erratic winds stoked the blaze, officials said today. Forest Service firefighter David Ruhl was driving down a Modoc National Forest road in a vehicle Thursday when...

9/11 Responder Hits Lottery

Retired New York City firefighter wins $5M

(Newser) - Hard to begrudge this lottery winner: He's a retired firefighter who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11. Carmelo Mercado won $5 million on a lottery scratch-off ticket, and the 63-year-old will get $3.3 million in a lump-sum payment after taxes are taken out. Mercado was among...

'Mind Blowing' Fire Burns Entire Neighborhood

Severe drought fuels Washington state wildfire

(Newser) - From just across the Wenatchee River, Dominick Bonny watched a whole neighborhood in his central Washington town burn as a wildfire destroyed two dozen homes and forced hundreds to flee. "With the wind blowing away from us, it was like we were watching a natural disaster within arm's...

Firefighting Effort Leaves Ice-Coated Building

Philadelphia blaze erupts on chilling winter morning

(Newser) - Firefighters working to extinguish a blaze in Philadelphia amid bone-chilling temperatures have left behind a building coated in icicles. The fire department says the blaze was reported just before 4am today in a three-story building that houses the Locust Medical Center. It was 3 degrees with a wind chill of...

200 Firefighters Have Spent 10 Hours Battling NYC Warehouse Blaze

Hundreds of firefighters face 7-alarm fire burning official papers

(Newser) - A fire took hold at a Brooklyn warehouse at 6:20 this morning, and as of late afternoon, the seven-alarm blaze is still going strong, the New York Times reports. Smoke can be seen from outside the city. Some 200 firefighters have been at the scene; none have been injured...

After Sex-Tape Allegation, Calif. Suspends 16 Firefighters

But for 'unrelated policy violations'

(Newser) - The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has put 16 state firefighters on paid leave—though it's not totally clear why as officials sift through preliminary results of an investigation into something of a sordid mess. As the Sacramento Bee reports, at the heart of the allegations is...

Horse Found Stuck in Backyard Pool

Firefighters rescue horse that roamed on owner's property

(Newser) - A horse in suburban Phoenix needed rescuing after it led itself to water and did more than just drink. Mesa firefighters say the horse was wandering outside of its pen yesterday when the animal somehow fell into the backyard swimming pool and became stuck. Mesa Fire Capt. Forrest Smith says...

3 FDNY Firefighters Die of 9/11 Illnesses on Same Day

Retirees were only in their 50s

(Newser) - New York City's fire department got a rough reminder this week of the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath—three retired firefighters in their 50s died on the same day from illnesses attributed to the toxic air at Ground Zero, reports CBS Local . Daniel Heglund, 58, Howard Bischoff, 58, and...

Firefighter Gives CPR—to Koala

Sir Chompsalot looks like he'll make it

(Newser) - It was a rough night for Sir Chompsalot: The koala was hit by a car, fled up a tree, then fell 30 feet into a blanket. Fortunately, a team of firefighters on the scene in Australia knew what to do. They "actually performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the koala,"...

Firefighters Seriously Hurt After Ice Bucket Challenge

4 receive electric shocks; one is in critical condition

(Newser) - Four firefighters were hospitalized after their contribution to the Ice Bucket Challenge resulted in electric shocks. The men were participating in the challenge with the Campbellsville University band in Kentucky, CNN reports. Two firefighters, Tony Grider, 41, and Simon Quinn, 22, stood in a bucket at the top of a...

Teen Sets Himself on Fire for Online 'Challenge'

Fire challenge involves pouring alcohol on one's chest and lighting it

(Newser) - If pouring rubbing alcohol on your chest and lighting it on fire sounds like a bad idea, you're on the right track. A 15-year-old boy in Kentucky had to learn the hard way, however, after he attempted a stunt called the "fire challenge" that's been popping up...

FDNY 'Hero' Killed Seeking Victims 19 Floors Up

Gordon Ambelas got trapped in public-housing blaze

(Newser) - The Fire Department of New York is mourning the death of a lieutenant who became trapped while looking for victims in a public-housing high-rise blaze, the first to die in the line of duty in more than two years. Lt. Gordon Ambelas died yesterday after suffering multiple injuries while on...

American Flag Flown at WTC After 9/11 Stolen

Flag had been given to family of fallen firefighter

(Newser) - After 29-year-old Jonathan Ielpi was killed while responding to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the fallen firefighter's sister Melissa Brengel was given an American flag that flew over the WTC during the clean-up. "We put it out during certain times of the year just to...

Firefighters Hunt Ruins, Find Lost Ring for Widow

Boston crew fulfills a promise after last week's deadly blaze

(Newser) - The widow of one of the two Boston firefighters killed in last week's deadly fire had only one request of his fellow firefighters: Find his wedding ring. And as Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe reports, they somehow did just that in the ruins of the Back Bay blaze....

Firefighter Pulls 6-Foot Python From Blaze

'I would do it for any creature,' says Mich. man

(Newser) - A firefighter put his reptile-handling experience to good use when he rescued a 6-foot-long python from a burning home in western Michigan last night. Muskegon firefighter Scott Hemmelsbach told the Muskegon Chronicle that he reluctantly agreed to enter the two-story, smoke-filled house to retrieve the snake. He says he cradled...

San Francisco Battles 5-Alarm Fire

Huge effort saves nearby buildings

(Newser) - Hundreds of nearby residents were evacuated from their homes last night as half of San Francisco's firefighters battled the city's biggest blaze in years. Some 90 fire trucks were called to the scene after a high-rise apartment building still under construction caught fire around 5pm yesterday, reports the...

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