Firehouse.com

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.

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Homes have been evacuated after a wildfire broke out early Sunday in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Cal Fire officials said.

The so-called Loma Fire, which started at Maymens Flat and Highland roads at about 3 a.m., is currently threatening 250 structures and had scorched 600 acres as of 4 p.m. Sunday.

Images: Loma Fire Ignites In Santa Cruz Mountains

NEW YORK -- FDNY firefighters rescued two people who were injured in an explosion in Queens on Monday night, according to WNYW.

The explosion at the two-story home occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. A 64-year-old homeowner opened a propane tank at the doorway of the basement when it blew up.

The male homeowner and a woman who was on another floor were briefly trapped and needed to be rescued by firefighters.

ATLANTA, Ga. -- It would be a safe bet that there's no fire department or EMS provider in the nation that would say it has plenty of funding and doesn't need another penny.

It would also be safe to say many of same emergency services providers have no clue how to improve their financial status.

Two gentlemen from the Chesterfield County (Va.) Fire and EMS Department were on hand Wednesday at Firehouse Central and EMS Expo in Atlanta to give attendees some information on alternative funding opportunities for emergency service organizations.

Firehouse Central, EMS Expo and Enforcement Expo Southeast opened together Wednesday in Atlanta, Ga., combining forces to create the most comprehensive public safety event in the industry, presenting new opportunities for crossover training and networking. The event was also co-located once again with the NAEMT Annual Meeting.

The event's Opening Ceremony included several traditions.

Memorial Honorees

A Toledo police officer was charged with drunken driving after making a firefighter suspicious after responding to a fire truck crash on Oct. 23, according to The Toledo Blade.

Officer James Breier was driving his cruiser while on-duty when he responded to the apparatus wreck at approximately 1:45 p.m.

A battalion chief began to suspect that the officer was intoxicated and alerted police, who sent a sergeant to the scene.

A 28-year member of the Westover Area Volunteer Fire Company, Clearfield County, Westover, Pa., Station No. 45 took ill at the scene of a structure fire Saturday morning and died at a local hospital from what appears to be cardiac arrest.

A volunteer fireman with Eldred Township and Borough was sent to McKean County Jail Monday night on a half-million-dollar bail for arson fires at both fire departments.

Scott McClain, 38, of 10 Slack Hollow, Eldred, is charged with arson, a first-degree felony; arson endangering property, a second-degree felony; and two counts of criminal mischief, third-degree felonies; all for an alleged arson at the Eldred Township Volunteer Fire Department Aug. 6.

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Oct. 24--An early morning two-alarm blaze has left seven people in Troy homeless and sent one firefighter to the hospital after he fell through a staircase at the scene.

The Troy Fire Department responded to a call for a grease fire at 33 Rankin Ave. at approximately 6 a.m. According to Fire Chief Thomas Garrett, when firefighters arrived, the single-family, wood-frame home was fully involved.

The protesters had come and gone, night was falling, and a sense of normalcy was finally returning to Chester Fire Station No. 2. Inside, next to the gleaming engines, the day crew met the night crew in the usual fashion: handshakes, hugs, a bit of teasing.

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Oct. 23--A man convicted of impersonating a firefighter is now accused of operating a phony fire explorer program at his Apple Valley house, where investigators say he sexually assaulted at least two girls.

Robert William Tell, 39, is charged with sodomy, continuous sexual abuse, lewd acts upon a child and assault likely to cause bodily injury.

He is being held at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on $350,000 bail.

ATLANTA

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Investigators are still trying to figure out how chemicals spilled on the Georgia Tech campus.

Firefighters and HAZMAT crews were called to Tech's College of Computing Thursday night. The building also houses Chemistry and Biochem labs.

Two very dangerous chemicals spilled creating a toxic gas, forcing firefighters to evacuate the building.

Atlanta fire officials said emergency crews were able to neutralize the spill around 9 p.m.

SEATTLE

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Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a massive three-alarm fire Friday that destroyed four businesses.

More than 12 hours after the fire, firefighters were still putting water on the charred remains on Northwest 85th Street and Palatine Avenue North in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood.

A total of four businesses -- Pho Tic Tac, a Vietnamese restaurant, the Green Bean Coffeehouse, the Szechuan Bistro and C.C. Teriyaki -- were destroyed in the fire that began shortly before 4 a.m.

SALINAS, Calif.

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A Salinas movie theater was evacuated Thursday evening after a small electrical fire broke out.

The blaze started just before 9 p.m. at Maya Cinemas, forcing nearly 300 people to evacuate.

Fire officials said the blaze started on the roof and was contained to the upper levels of the complex.

"We were able to extinguish it very quickly," said Salinas Fire Chief Kim Raddatz.

CATANO, Puerto Rico --

An explosion at a Gulf gasoline facility Friday rocked a neighborhood outside Puerto Rico's capital, causing minor injuries and forcing evacuations as firefighters raced to prevent additional blasts.

Several columns of black smoke and flames were rising from the Caribbean Petroleum Corp., a gasoline warehouse and distribution center on San Juan's bay that owns the Gulf brand in this U.S. Caribbean territory.

MINNEAPOLIS

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MINNEAPOLIS - So much for cell phones and 911. There are still spots in rural Minnesota where people call the nearest cafe for help when a farmer's life is on the line.

Steve Pung on Tuesday had climbed into the 30-foot-high steel corn bin on his family's farm 100 miles west of the Twin Cities near Spring Hill. That's when the finicky auger Pung planned to fix started whirring below him and the corn started shifting and piling up around him. Fast.

An Upper Arlington family was feeling lucky yesterday after a firefighter rescued them from their burning house.

Amy Armstrong and her son, Benjamin, 15, had fled onto their second-story back porch in their pajamas after smoke from a kitchen fire blocked their escape downstairs at 12:30 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS

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Interstate 465 on Indianapolis' northeast side could be closed for weeks, officials said, after a large propane tanker truck exploded and burst into flames on an on-ramp from Interstate 69 Thursday morning, possibly compromising an I-465 bridge and injuring four people.

BOSTON --

A Boston firefighter who was caught bodybuilding while out on disability is one of two Boston firefighters charged with fraud by federal prosecutors.

Albert Arroyo, 46, was charged in federal court with fraud involving his applications for accidental disability pensions, the U.S.

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Oct.

A captain with the Clinton Fire Department died yesterday (Oct. 21), hours after working out while on duty, according to The Clarion-Ledger.

Capt. John Thurman was found unconscious at approximately 5 p.m. by someone walking through a park that sits next to Fire Station 3. He was transported to Jackson Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The 21-year fire veteran's cause of death is still unknown, the newspaper report said.

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Oct. 21--MEHLVILLE -- Firefighter Keith Floyd insists he's not behind a rash of sinister-sounding phone calls to other firefighters with the Mehlville Fire Protection District.

A police investigation determined otherwise, though, resulting in Floyd being fired from his job of 14 years with the Mehlville district. Until last week, Floyd also faced a count of harassment in the case, but a prosecutor with the St. Louis County counselor's office said the county plans to dismiss the case.