Firehouse.com

PORT ORANGE -- As fears of dangerous viruses and bacteria continue to rise, the Port Orange Fire Rescue Department is rolling out a new decontamination business to help stop the spread of contagious illnesses as well as boosting the city's income.

UVALDE, TEXAS

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Smoke was still billowing from the Border Recycling Center in Uvalde late Tuesday night.

The smoke at times could be seen from as far away as San Antonio.

The fire broke out just after 1 p.m. at the Former Frio Foods plant located off Hacienda Road.

The Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department worked to contain the fire throughout the night and into Wednesday morning.

SPARTANBURG, S.C.

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An overnight fire shut down a Spartanburg textile plant and left firefighters struggling to keep the charred structure from collapsing.

Crews were on the scene of the Martex fiber plant on Southport Road all night. Crews were called out to the plant just before 11 p.m. on Monday.

It took more than 60 firefighters to knock down the flames that officials described as "heavy" when they first arrived. Once they tackled the flames, crews worked to put out hot spots around the structure.

SCOTLAND COUNTY, N.C. -- A Wagram firefighter transmitted a "Mayday" after being pinned by a falling pipe while under a house while battling a blaze yesterday afternoon (Nov. 17), according to reports from the North Carolina-based Web site FireNews.net and the newspaper The Laurinburg Exchange.

TORRANCE, CA – November 17, 2009 – Pelican™ Products, the global leader in the design and manufacture of advanced lighting systems and virtually indestructible cases, has hired Paul Britton in the newly created position of Technical Sales Manager.

An allegedly drunken Tennessee truck driver, heading to Bucksport to deliver chemicals used in papermaking, missed his turn on Interstate 95 by nearly 75 miles Sunday night and then crashed his big rig spilling most of the chemicals he was carrying, officials said.

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BARDSTOWN, Ky. --

Firefighters rescued a bedridden man from a burning mobile home in Bardstown, only to discover he stopped breathing and they couldn't save his life.

The rescue happened on Cleo Avenue near North Third Street in Bardstown Monday afternoon.

The Bardstown fire chief said his firefighters had never experienced anything like this before.

Pinellas fire chiefs and county officials created a cutting-edge computer system to deliver crucial information to firefighters on their way to battle blazes.

But five years later, the system is full of holes because some fire departments have failed to provide critical data, leaving firefighters to dash blindly into dangerous situations, according to a St. Petersburg Times review.

Nov. 17--COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Fire Department will have a simulator to educate Columbus and surrounding communities about fire safety following the City Council's approval Monday of an $82,701 combination sprinkler/fire safety house.

Nov. 17--Cory Shifflett, the son of former Bedford County volunteer fire chief Jeffrey Shifflett, pleaded guilty today to seven counts of embezzlement, throwing himself on the mercy of the court.

"His position is he wants to take responsibility and make things right," Bedford County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz said after this morning's hearing in the county Circuit Court.

HIGHLAND -- Dan Baxter peers out his front window at the new neighbor that blocks his views of American Fork Canyon, has forced him to abandon the front half of his home and is currently shining a bright red light on his face. "It's almost as if the building is positioned to shine the lights right in our home," he said.

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HONEA PATH, S.C.----

Tony Clark's job requires him to be good with his hands. He has more than 12 years of EMS and rescue experience, has worked as a paramedic for nine and

started working with the Honea Path Rescue Squad back in January. However, on Monday in his hands was a letter, a request to remove his managers from the

job he loves so much.

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Nov. 17--HOLLYWOOD -- A driver trying to speed away from a crash on Interstate 95 instead caused a fiery wreck that killed one person, injured several others and halted traffic on the busy highway for five hours, authorities said.

The person who died was burned up when a car was engulfed in flames, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania -- KME Fire Apparatus has recently received awards for 15 pumpers, 4 tractor drawn aerials and a tender by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. This award adds 20 additional KME's to the LACoFD fleet.

 Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania— KME Fire Apparatus has recently received awards for 15 pumpers, 4 tractor drawn aerials and a tender by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. This award adds 20 additional KME's to the LACoFD fleet.

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- The Fire Department is down 10 firefighters and recently lost three senior officers to retirement -- leaving the department bleeding overtime money.

The Firefighters Support Foundation's (FSF) newest free training program is a three-video set on three topics of mental health for first responders. The training videos in this program are: Helping First Responders, their Colleagues, and their Families Prepare for and Deal with a Line of Duty Death, When a Child Dies on a Call, and When to Seek Therapy.

A Presque Isle firefighter has been arrested with arson in connection with a Nov. 13 fire at a packaging company, according to WCSH-TV.

The State Fire Marshal's Office determined that the fire that started just before 10 p.m. and destroyed the Northeast Packaging Company on Rice Street, was intentionally set.

INDIANA COUNTY, Pa. --

Burning a cross in someone's yard may have happened in the 1960s in the heart of the civil rights era, but in 2009 it is pretty rare, making a recent incident in the Alleghenies that much more shocking.

CINCINNATI

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Fire crews are investigating what caused a downtown building to catch fire.

The fire broke out at about 10:45 p.m. Monday at a building located at 1536 Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine.

A fire captain told News 5 that the building was boarded up when they arrived and that they believe the building was vacant.

2-Alarm Fire Breaks Out At Vacant OTR Building

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BOXHOLM, Iowa --

Two workers were hurt Monday morning during an explosion at a grain elevator in northern Iowa.

Sarah Dorman, a spokesperson for West Central Cooperative, said the small explosion came from a grain dryer near the Boxholm elevator at 29 Beech St.

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MIAMI --

Fire investigators are trying to determine what sparked a two-alarm fire at a storage facility in Miami-Dade County Monday morning.

The blaze, which started around 2 a.m. at the Public Storage facility located at 185th Street and Northeast Fifth Avenue, could be seen for miles.

Fire crews used power saws to cut through the steel roll-up doors of each storage bay to locate the source of the fire.

A Loyalhanna family was pulled from Loyalhanna Lake Sunday afternoon after their fishing boat capsized in shallow water, a New Alexandria firefighter said.