UNION CITY, NJ, DEC. 3, 2012 – North Hudson Regional firefighters found heavy fire on the top floor of an occupied, four-story, mixed-use building. No smoke alarms were sounding. Firefighters attempted to attack the fire with a handline, but as soon as they entered the apartment, the roof over them collapsed. Fire extended throughout the cockloft and members were ordered out for a defensive attack. Ladder pipes, a squirt and a tower ladder from Jersey City operated on the three-alarm fire. Twenty people were in the building and escaped the fire. Nearly 100 residents of the structure and nearby buildings were displaced.

Photo by Ron Jeffers

HANSON, MA, NOV. 27, 2012 – A fire in a vacant commercial building was considered suspicious, as it followed several recent arson and suspicious fires throughout southeastern Massachusetts. This fire was reported just hours after a multiple-alarm fire in Quincy. The previous morning, two suspicious fires occurred in vacant buildings in nearby Halifax and Plympton.

Photo by Pat Travers/www.NEFirePhoto.com

DETROIT, MI, AUG. 30, 2012 – Shortly after midnight, a fire was reported less than a block from the quarters of Squad 4. Firefighters opened the doors to see this vacant two-flat fully involved. There was only one exposure. The rest of the area was bordered by vacant land. Radiant heat was severe so hoselines were operated on the apparatus as well as the elevating platform bucket while it was in the air awaiting water. The exposure dwelling sustained heat damage.

Photo by Steve Redick

ALLENTOWN, PA, AUG. 23, 2012 – It took firefighters nine hours to control a four-alarm fire involving nine rowhomes. The blaze injured five firefighters, all with heat exposure or smoke inhalation, with the temperature near 90 degrees. A total of 24 people were left homeless. The fire was caused by unattended cooking. The City of Allentown requested mutual aid from the Lehigh County 911 Center to have neighboring companies cover empty stations.

Photo by Thomas A. Kohler

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