Firehouse.com

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Nov. 8--The fire chief in the Athens County city of Nelsonville died Friday night in an apparent suicide at the fire station, Sheriff Patrick Kelly said today.

Tim Carr, 53, was found shortly after 6 p.m. and flown by helicopter to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he died, Kelly said.

A .380-caliber handgun was found at the scene, but no one witnessed the shooting, Kelly said. He would not give details of what happened, citing the ongoing investigation.

Nov. 7--Hundreds of people attending a teen hockey tournament were evacuated from a west suburban ice rink late this afternoon because of a carbon monoxide leak, authorities said.

Thirteen people at Center Ice of DuPage, 1N450 Highland Ave. in unincorporated Milton Township near Glen Ellyn, were taken to area hospitals after they were overwhelmed by carbon monoxide fumes, according to officials from the Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company.

Another 29 were treated at the scene and released.

A formal settlement has been reached in an eight-year racial-discrimination lawsuit brought by two Camden deputy fire chiefs against the city and its fire chief.

Under the agreement, Terrence Crowder, who retired from the department in May, and Kevin Hailey, who is expected to retire next year, will receive $1.15 million.

In addition, Fire Chief Joseph Marini will step down, and all supervisory fire officers with the rank of captain or higher will undergo diversity training.

Marini will retire effective Dec. 31.

Three people were killed and four were injured in a fire at an illegally subdivided house in Queens early Saturday morning, according to the New York Times.

Nov. 7--A Gibsonville fi refi ghter arrested last month on his way to an apartment fire no longer faces felony charges, but the district attorney's office won't say whether the traffi c offenses he racked up that day will stick.

Gibsonville Fire Assistant Chief Joseph Loy was charged by Elon University campus police on Oct.

INDIANAPOLIS --

Indianapolis fire investigators blame the cold weather for a rash of blazes set at abandoned homes.

Firefighters have responded to 20 such fires in the last month, the latest Friday night on the city's east side. Capt. Rita Reith said all of the blazes were likely set by homeless trying to stay warm.

"They'll use whatever available materials they have, whether it's newspaper clothing, a mattress that's left by somebody else, wood from outside.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. --

Fire officials say operations at Ellis Island have been widely disrupted by a transformer fire.

Armando Roman, director of Jersey City's Fire and Emergency Services Department, says firefighters were dispatched at about 12:50 p.m.

"Legislation has been put on the fast track." That's not a term Congress often uses anymore. These days with partisan politics deeply imbedded in our political systems, it's a small wonder that the wheels of government continue to spin.

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.