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Naperville fire crews have yet to determine the cause of a midday blaze Thursday at the commercial warehouse of Odermath Inc. at 1651 Frontenac Road.Fire units arrived on the scene and located a fire in a machine that had spread to a conveyor belt system and the building's ventilation system, Naperville Fire Chief Richard Mikel said in a release.

Nov. 6--Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, her husband Luis and their four children lost nearly every electrical appliance in their South Oxford Drive home: all the clocks, fans, telephones, a DVD player, microwave and more.

"My computer is gone. That's a big pain," she said. The furnace was fried as well, but works again after hundreds of dollars in repairs, she added.

A broken Duke Energy power line may be to blame for frying her belongings, and for sparking a fire in the abandoned house at 1800 S.

Nov. 6--DANVERS -- Three off-duty Danvers firefighters were taking part in an informal hockey practice at the Burbank Ice Arena in Reading when they made a save they will not soon forget.

Firefighter Paul Lapointe, Lt. Glen Cooney and firefighter Mark Lockyer were at "stick practice" on Sept.

The District's fire chief is spending money on overtime at such a rate that he will blow through his overtime budget halfway through the fiscal year, a D.C.

MERRICOURT (AP) - The town of Merricourt used to have its own fire department. Now, fires in and around the town are fought by fire departments in Ellendale and Edgeley.

Nov. 6--Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski asked Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday to assist the family of a Baltimore fire cadet killed in a training exercise whose death benefit claim was rejected by the Department of Justice.

Nov. 6--LINCOLN, Maine -- Firefighters from four towns contained the flames but weren't able to save the home of a popular weekly newspaper late Thursday.

The printing press, computers and files of the Lincoln News were heavily damaged by the fire that ravaged the Lincoln News Print Services building at 78 West Broadway. No one was inside the 1 1/2 -story building or injured fighting the fire, which was reported shortly before 6:30 p.m.

COBB COUNTY, Ga. --  

The covered bridge in Cobb County reopened Friday morning after a driver smashed a truck into the entrance of the bridge and then got his too tall U-Haul truck wedged tight inside the historic bridge.

The driver and two passengers were trapped inside the truck for almost two hours.

BUSHLAND, Texas
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A natural gas pipeline exploded in the Texas Panhandle on Thursday, shaking homes, melting window blinds and shooting flames hundreds of feet into the air, authorities said.

Three people were injured in the blast, which occurred at 1 a.m. near Amarillo, and they were taken to an area hospital with burns, said Potter County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Roger Short.

"My home is about 20 miles something away and I could see the flames from my home," Short said. "You could hear the roar of the flames 20 miles away."

WATSONVILLE, Calif.

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A two-alarm fire that ripped through an apartment complex Wednesday evening has left eight families displaced.

The fire started in a bottom floor unit of the complex located at 605 Tuttle Avenue at about 6 p.m.

The fire quickly spread and two units were destroyed by the blaze, while other units had smoke damage, fire officials said.

Officials said the fire started when a kitchen stove was left on and grease left in a frying pan was the source for the flames.

Beaverton, Ore. November 4, 2009 -- A local apparel manufacturer announced a new partnership today with an Oregon-based non-profit to help strengthen family ties for first responders.

The locally-based apparel company, Airtime Gear LLC. , announced its partnership today with Responder Life, a non-profit organization out of Sandy, Ore., devoted to improving family ties for police, fire and emergency services professionals.

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Nov. 5--The scene outside of the Pauls Valley senior citizen center was anything but normal Wednesday morning when the facility had to be evacuated because of a suspected carbon monoxide or natural gas leak.

First responders found a handful of people outside in the parking lot in need of medical attention as other people at the site in Wacker Park were wondering what had happened.

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Nov. 5--BELLINGHAM -- A huge fire heavily damaged Whatcom Middle School overnight, canceling classes and leaving the school's future in doubt.

A neighbor of the school at F and Girard streets called 911 shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, after seeing fire on the roof. By the time firefighters arrived about 1:15 a.m., the flames were racing across the roof. Within 15 minutes the fire had worked its way across two-thirds of the roof, Bellingham Fire Chief Bill Boyd said.

Nov.

SAN ANTONIO

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An apartment fire in New Braunfels early Wednesday left two people injured, including a firefighter.

The fire, which started at around 2 a.m. at the Linde Apartments in the 1000 block of Linde, displaced eight families, destroyed two units and damaged six others.

Fire Marshal Patrick O'Connell said that the fire started in the kitchen in one of the ground-floor units. O'Connell said a resident returned home and started to cook something when he fell asleep. When the man woke up, the unit was on fire.

North Carolina firefighter died Wednesday afternoon after completing a shift.

Chad Eric Greene, 34, was an assistant chief with Union Cross Fire and Rescue of Forsyth County, Inc.

According to the USFA, Deputy Greene completed his shift at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2009, immediately after responding to a motor vehicle accident.

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RIVERDALE PARK, Md.  -- A volunteer firefighter who told fire investigators earlier this year about a firefighter arson ring operating in Prince George's County has been indicted on charges he set fire to a vacant Riverdale Park, Maryland home. Forty-six-year-old Jerry Engle is accused of breaking into the home at 5413 Riverdale Road on March 17, 2008 and setting it on fire.

<?xml:namespace prefix = dme />The U.S. Justice Department has denied a $295,194 benefit to the children of Racheal Wilson, the Baltimore fire cadet who died in a widely criticized training exercise in 2007, saying that the city's Fire Department failed to submit paperwork establishing her eligibility for the funds.

"The department and the city not only failed Racheal when she was alive, but they've failed her when she was dead," said Bob Sledgeski, the head of the firefighter's union.

Amity Fire Company Firefighter Robert Stone collapsed and died the morning after responding to a call, according to the department's Web site.

Stone, 47, began complaining of chest pains on Nov. 3 after returning to the station and was transported to Reading Hospital.

After undergoing surgery at the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at approximately 7:30 a.m. the following morning after attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

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Nov. 4--HALTOM CITY -- Firefighters extricated a man who had his arm caught in a forklift Wednesday afternoon for almost an hour, a city official said.

The man, who authorities said is in his 40s, got his arm trapped in the forklift after he attempted to repair it, authorities said Wednesday.

The unidentified man was taken to a local hospital. His condition was unavailable.

The accident was reported about 1 p.m. in the 3200 block of Edna Drive.

WILSONVILLE, Ore.

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Firefighters rescued four people from the third floor of a burning apartment building in Wilsonville on Wednesday morning.

A Tualatin Valley Fire spokesman said no one was injured in the two-alarm fire at the Sundial Apartments, located at 7875 Southwest Vlahos Drive.

Fire crews were alerted to the blaze at about 9:43 a.m. and helped two adults and two children escape safely. A fifth person was able to lower himself out.

OMAHA, Neb.

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An Omaha fire captain has been banned from all city of Omaha buildings because of allegations that he threatened his boss, the Omaha fire chief.

KETV NewsWatch 7 has obtained the letter, which was issued by the city to Capt. John Gruttemeyer in late October.

According to the letter, Gruttemeyer allegedly said he would kill Chief Mike McDonnell if McDonnell messed with him. The alleged threat contained a expletive.

Gruttemeyer is a 22-year veteran of the fire department.

A firefighter suffered moderate injuries and five other people were taken to a hospital because of a Freon leak inside a refrigerator unit in a Ralphs market in Irvine tonight.

Firefighters were called to the market at Alton Parkway and Jeffrey Road just before 7 p.m., said Capt. Greg McKeown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, IA, has packaged training with education to produce a remarkable double play for the fire service. It serves as a training ground for aspiring firefighters and in the process delivers recruits who have earned associate's degrees to enthusiastic local departments.