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Explosion Destroys 2 Homes in Chandler Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:46 AM MST Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 4:44 AM MST CHANDLER, Ariz. - An explosion near Cooper and Chandler Boulevard destroys two homes. People in the area said they heard loud explosions and debris from the first home scattered to the house next door. The Red Cross says a woman living inside the second home was able to get out of the burning house safely. The owner of the first home could not be found. Police are describing him as an older man who lives alone and...

A house in my neighborhood just blew up . The house next door to it caught on fire and is probably gone. The fire department has things under control.

Neil Young company sued over warehouse fireSaturday, January 21, 2012 SAN CARLOS, Calif. -- A company founded by Neil Young is facing a lawsuit over a fire in the San Francisco Bay Area that authorities say started in a vintage car the rocker had converted into a hybrid vehicle. The San Jose Mercury News reports that Unigard Insurance Co. sued LincVolt LLC this week, accusing the company of negligence for converting the 1959 Lincoln Continental to run on electricity and a biodiesel-powered generator.

Wildfire sweeps through south Reno, several homes destroyed, evacuations underway

NASHUA, N.H. — Mitt Romney, already under intense scrutiny for his leadership at venture capital group Bain, inadvertently gave his rivals new material today when he said that he likes “being able to fire people.” The remarks came during a speech to the Nashua Chamber of Commerce this morning in which he was trying to explain that he would like people to have the option to pick and choose their medical insurance and get rid of plans that don’t meet their needs. “I want individuals to have their own insurance,” he said. “That means the insurance company will have an...

Calling the Christmas Day fire that killed her three daughters and parents "incomprehensible," fashion ad exec Madonna Badger told hundreds of people packed in a Fifth Avenue church this morning that she'll never forget her family. "Why did this happen to my parents and my children and why now? Nothing will bring my babies back," Badger told mourners during an emotional eulogy at St. Thomas Church. Badger's parents and daughters died in the predawn blaze that swept through her Stamford, Conn. mansion. Badger, dressed all in black, wept as she bravely addressed the crowd of some 1,000 mourners to talk...

Smiles and even a bit of laughter mingled with tears and mournful hugs as members of the Somers Congregational United Church of Christ met Monday in wake of an overnight fire that destroyed their sanctuary. “It’s almost beyond comment,” said longtime parishioner and Somers resident Malcolm Chadbourne as he stared at the blackened rubble with his wife, Joanne Chadbourne ““We are just shocked and sad.” State and local fire officials continue to probe the cause of the Sunday night blaze that leveled much of the landmark church, sent its steeple tumbling into an inferno, left congregants numb with shock. No...

Electric car company that received a $529M federal loan recalls vehiclesBy Andrew Restuccia - 12/30/11 10:31 AM ET An electric vehicle manufacturer that received a $529 million loan from the Energy Department is recalling 239 vehicles. The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday that the company, Fisker Automotive, will recall its Karma vehicles made between July 1, 2011, and Nov. 3, 2011, because of a faulty electric battery component that could cause a fire. “Within the high-voltage battery, certain hose clamps may have been positioned incorrectly during assembly. If positioned incorrectly, the batter compartment cover could...

The fire appears to have been caused by hot fireplace ashes and embers, which had been discarded," said Barry Callahan, the chief fire marshal in Stamford, Connecticut. He said the fire that engulfed the large waterfront Victorian home was accidental, according to preliminary findings, but an investigating is ongoing.

Democrat wants grants for women's restrooms in fire stationsBy Pete Kasperowicz - 12/26/11 10:50 AM ET Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) has proposed legislation that would let fire stations around the country apply for grants of up to $100,000 to build women's restrooms, showers and changing facilities. The Fairness in Restrooms Existing in Stations (FIRE Stations) Act, H.R. 3753, says these grants would help promote gender equity in fire houses. The findings of the legislation says most were built with a "single-gender workforce" in mind, that 50 percent of all fire departments do not have any women employees, and that women...

Arab terrorism targeting Jews in Ramle is on the rise, but local residents say police are afraid to confront local Arabs and deal with the problem. Shortly after the car of a local religious school principal was torched on Thursday there was also a fire a nearby synagogue in the heart of the al-Grebe neighborhood in Ramle. The synagogue is located in a private house in the alley next to Jabotinsky Street, one of the main streets the city. It is headed by Rabbi Rafael Sheli, who is responsible for much of the Jewish outreach in Ramle. "The synagogue in...

Police say they are questioning a man in connection to the death of a New York City woman set on fire in the elevator of her apartment building. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said Sunday that the 47-year-old man went into a police precinct a couple of miles from where the attack happened in Brooklyn and said he had started a fire. Authorities say the man has made statements implicating himself and came in overnight reeking of gasoline. He hasn't been charged. The unidentified man was waiting for the woman, who was in her 60s, when the elevator...

The last time this happened, our thread ran for more than 1,100 comments. To refresh your memory: The city charges a $75 fee up front for firefighter services throughout the year. Pay the fee and the F.D. will show up and douse the flames that are consuming your home. Don’t pay and the F.D. will show up and … watch it burn. I can understand a policy in which paying the fee gives you priority over a non-payer if your house and their house are on fire simultaneously and the department has to choose which to respond to. And I...

A Tennessee couple helplessly watched their home burn to the ground, along with all of their possessions, because they did not pay a $75 annual fee to the local fire department. Vicky Bell told the NBC affiliate WPSD-TV that she called 911 when her mobile home in Obion County caught fire. Firefighters arrived on the scene but as the fire raged, they simply stood by and did nothing. "In an emergency, the first thing you think of, 'Call 9-1-1," homeowner Bell said. However, Bell and her husband were forced to walk into the burning home in an attempt to retrieve...

It's the Chicago way. (AutoGuide)- Apparently, way back in June, General Motors heard about a Volt fire that happened three weeks after said vehicle was crash tested, yet it wasn’t until November that the company, nor NHTSA disclosed there was a potential problem, urging both dealers and customers to drain the battery pack immediately following an accident.

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. - A homeowner shot and wounded an intruder who burst into his home while running from police early Saturday in Port Orchard, the Washington State Patrol reported. The drama began when police responded to the area of Melcher Street and Tacoma Avenue at about 1:15 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from someone who hung up on dispatchers, said Krista D. Hedstrom of the State Patrol. Officers found a 47-year-old man in the street and two officers got into a struggle with him. Police fired a Taser to subdue the man, but it had no effect, Hedstrom...

(AP) - General Motors will buy Chevrolet Volts back from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the company's CEO said Thursday. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe, but said the company will purchase the Volts because it wants to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government. Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company...

General Motors will buy Chevrolet Volts back from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the company's CEO said Thursday. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe, but said the company will purchase the Volts because it wants to keep customers happy. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government. Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company and federal...

PANAMA CITY — A recent cross burning at the home of a Panama City mixed-race couple does not signal the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan; it was the symptom of something understandable to anyone who’s ever been afraid of losing someone. LB Williams, a 50-year-old black man, his wife of nearly seven years Donna Williams, who is white, and their bi-racial daughter found a cross burning in their driveway Nov. 4. Their grandchild was home too. “When I saw that cross burning, I was scared to death,” Donna Williams said. “I was terrified…we all were.” They called police and...

Duke Energy urges electric car owners to stop using charging stations after fireUpdated: 1:37 pm EST November 9, 2011 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke Energy officials are asking customers who own the company's electric car charging stations to stop using the product after a house fire in Mooresville last month. A representative from the company has confirmed to Channel 9 that an email was sent to about 125 customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Indiana who have the same type of charging station installed in their homes.

by John HillStand With ArizonaMore than 50,000 Americans have been killed by illegal aliens since 9/11.Think about that. More than 6,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since that same date. But nearly ten times that number have been killed right here at home as a consequence of the Federal government's failure to secure our borders and protect its citizens, in direct violation of the Constitution's Article IV Section 4: The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application...

Do the hot coals left over from a wood stove put in a metal bucket and left in my greenhouse give off CO2 or Carbon Monoxide or both? I do this to keep the temp above freezing - the greenhouse is not completely air-tight - due to my inept construction it cannot be :) - so there is some fresh air getting in. Will doing this kill my plants? I have done research but still am unclear.

Killer Russian heatwave product of climate changeLooking at local warming in the region from 1880 to 2010, Stefan Rahmstorf and Dim Coumou with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found an 80 percent likelihood that the heatwave was due to climate change. "For July temperature in Moscow, we estimate that the local warming trend has increased the number of records expected in the past decade fivefold, which implies an approximate 80 percent probability that the 2010 July heat record would not have occurred without climate warming," Rahmstorf and Coumou write.

19-year-old St. Paul man who was set on fire by his mother's boyfriend has accused his uncle and mother of stealing thousands of dollars from a benefit for him, authorities say. Jeffrey Allen Stewart, 43, and Jodi Ann Stewart, 40, of South St. Paul, each face a felony of aiding and abetting theft by swindle in the theft, according to a Dakota County criminal complaint filed today. The brother and sister allegedly stole $2,500 from Antonie Willis. The money was taken from banks in South St. Paul and Woodbury, the charges said. Willis was burned by his mother's boyfriend, Curtis...

A group of 60 Elvis impersonators had to flee a charity fundraiser after a faulty smoke machine set off the fire alarm, it has been reported.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A customer standing in line at an east side Indianapolis auto parts store shot a suspected armed robber demanding cash, police said. Investigators said John Perry fired his handgun and struck Carlos Ortiz, 21, in the leg at the Auto Zone in the 1100 block of North Arlington Avenue Saturday.

Had to post this upbeat rescue story. Good Samaritans saved a life!

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Locked-out union workers at American Crystal Sugar Co. are blaming fires at plants in Drayton and in East Grand Forks, Minn., on inexperienced replacement workers hired to take over harvesting duties. Company spokesman Jeff Schweitzer said the fires happened in pulp dryers Thursday at the plant in Drayton and on Friday at the East Grand Forks plant. No one was hurt. East Grand Forks Fire Chief Randy Gust said a pulp dryer fire isn't unusual and that his department responds to about one each year. Union spokesman Mark Froemke said the company won't share information about...

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Firefighting-trained volunteers from around the state converged on Bastrop and Smithville Tuesday to lend a hand to the beleaguered local firefighters battling the Bastrop County Complex Fire — only to be sent away as federal officials arrived at the scene and took command, apparently because local officials never made a formal request for volunteers. “We were at the station getting set up into strike teams, and this guy came up and said that the U.S. Forest Service had ‘assumed control of the situation, and that ‘If you don’t have a vehicle that squirts water, go home,’” said Gordon Greer of...

Wildfire Update – Sept. 5, 2011 Current situation: · Texas Forest Service responded yesterday to 63 new fires that burned 32,936 acres, including 22 new large fires. · Strong winds and low relative humidity from Tropical Storm Lee caused numerous wildfires to spread rapidly yesterday. Additional National Guard Blackhawk helicopters and Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) strike teams, as well as a heavy airtanker from South Dakota were mobilized Sunday to assist with the large number of fires. Weather conditions are expected to reach critical levels again today. · Texas Forest Service has dozens of aircraft ready to...

BASTROP, Texas (AP) — A roaring wildfire raced through rain-starved farm and ranchland in Central Texas on Monday, destroying nearly 500 homes during a rapid advance that was fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

Fires broke out across Central Texas Sunday. The hot, dry, windy conditions made the job that much harder for firefighters. Authorities say 14,000 acres have burned in Bastrop, destroying 300 homes. The fire is near FM 1441 and Highway 21. People in the areas of Wilderness Ridge, Cedar Creek and Alan Creek were evacuated. Four shelters have been set up in the Bastrop area for evacuees. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 acres of 6,500-acre Bastrop State Park have been burned in the ongoing Bastrop County wildfire. Another fire on Griffin League Ranch is moving south and forced the evacuation of...

A family escaped from a burning home Friday thanks to an alert passerby and a pet poodle. ... Firefighters arrived and went in the home to start a search, at which point they were met by the family pet, a poodle named Ted. Ted started barking at the firefighters and then ran down the stairs.

LYNDEN, Wash. (AP) - A Washington state fire chief says a man dumped gasoline on a beehive in a tree in retaliation for a bee sting, then ignited the hive, causing an explosion heard throughout his suburban neighborhood just a few miles south of the Canadian border. Lynden chief Gary Baar tells the Bellingham Herald that the Sunday night fire caused a large "whoosh," singed the tree and killed the bees but no people were hurt. Baar says the man's friend had been stung earlier in the day. The fire chief says, "The correct way to do that is to...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A church service in Charleston stopped before it could even get started, Sunday. The pastor of Pentecostal Affirming Ministries arrived before the afternoon service to find the building full of smoke. Click here to find out more! Now, fire officials have determined it to be an attempted arson. Members of the congregation just had the building donated to them about a month ago. Moving into an older building, they already have a long list of renovations, and now they have an even bigger mess to clean up. “The whole church just smelled horrible and was just...

KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP — When they heard screams coming Friday from the front yard of their boisterous and fun-loving neighbor, Ben Woodworth and Scott Rouse didn’t immediately pay much mind. But the two men said they soon realized Carol Woodley’s shouts were cries of pain and pleas for help: Woodley was on fire.

An explosion at the 5th Wheel BP gas station at the cross streets of Masters Drive and State Road 16 has sent one person to the hospital with third-degree burns and prompted an evacuation in a half-mile radius around the area. Emergency personnel continue to try to gain control of the situation. One eyewitness said that the flames are currently higher than the treetops. State Road 16 is closed in both directions. Stop lights are out at the intersections in the vicinity of the explosion.

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Fire destroys Democratic recall group's headquartersLa Crosse Tribune Posted: Sunday, July 31, 2011 8:36 am A fire in downtown La Crosse on Saturday destroyed local headquarters for We Are Wisconsin, a Democratic organizing group, in addition to some apartments. No injuries were reported. A cause hasn't been identified, fire officials said. Firefighters began battling the blaze about 9:30 a.m. We Are Wisconsin staff were inside when the fire broke out and escaped safely, group spokeswoman Kelly Steele said. Peggy Hatfield and Cathy Dunaway of Madison noticed the blaze while getting coffee near the building about 10 a.m. "You could see...

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A major fire broke out on Sunday in the Jerusalem Forest, near the Har Herzl military cemetery and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial project. Some 150 dunam of forest were destroyed before the blaze was under control and the flames were stoped several hundred meters before reaching the Pi Glilot fuel storage facility. Video The fire spread quickly through the woods due to the heat. Eight firefighting squads were working to extinguish the blaze all afternoon. They requested planes to help as well. Five people suffered mild injuries due to smoke inhalation. Police closed some roads in the area, including...

A 27-year-old woman has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago, alleging that the fire department's physical fitness test discriminates against female applicants. In a complaint filed today, Samantha Vasich says she was rejected from the fire department after being told she'd failed the "physical abilities test" in 2010. Vasich maintains she was and is physically capable of serving as a firefighter.

A Sacramento federal judge has thrown out a challenge by environmentalists to the U.S. Forest Service's effort to prevent a recurrence of the disastrous Angora fire near South Lake Tahoe. The environmentalists argued the agency "failed to take a hard look" at the project's impact on a certain bird species, on future fire behavior and on climate change. Not so, said U. S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. The agency addressed these issues "in proportion to (their) significance," he ruled. One by one, Burrell shot down every aspect of the claim by Earth Island Institute and the Center for...

A Dale City man whose Rottweiler died last week tried to dispose of the dog's remains Wednesday morning by setting them on fire, authorities said. In the process, he set his house on fire. Firefighters were called to the 4500 block of Kingston Road in the Kerrydale section of Dale City at 9:10 a.m., where they found smoke billowing from the front of the two-story, single-family home, said Prince William fire and rescue Battalion Chief Joe Robertson. At the back of the house, firefighters found flames extending from the exterior to the attic, he said. The Fire Marshal's Office discovered...

Nature and extent of the blaze at Hilton on Park Lane is unclear Fire broke out Friday in a Hilton hotel in London, sending plumes of smoke billowing from the 28-story building. Photographs posted on social media sites showed people fleeing the London Hilton on Park Lane as smoke billowed high into the sky and at ground level. Sam Cunningham, a sports reporter for the Independent newspaper, said he was working in the hotel when the fire alarm went off and the building was evacuated swiftly. Cunningham told NBC News that a police officer said he had not heard of...

In Superior Township, all nine firefighters made an average of $29,662 per person in overtime last year thanks to a “minimum staffing” policy the township follows. Anytime a firefighter takes a vacation day or is out sick, his spot is automatically filled using overtime. As previously reported in Michigan Capitol Confidential, Superior Township had only 10 total structure fires in 2010. When the Michigan Senate passed Senate Bill 485 last week, there was some hope that it would address the issue of minimum staffing. The bill has now moved to the Michigan House. But Jack McHugh, legislative analyst for the...

The wildfire that surrounds the nuclear lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico, has grown to at least 61,000 acres amid mounting concerns about what might be in the smoke that's visible from space. Such fear has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to bring in air monitors, along with a special airplane that checks for radiation levels. So far officials have not been able to find anything. "Our facilities and nuclear material are protected and safe," Laboratory Director Dr. Charles McMillan told ABC News. ...

Firefighters union accused of intimidation tacticsUpdated: Jun 28, 2011 1:04 PM EDT Public employee unions in San Diego are accused of using intimidation tactics to slow down signature drives to put a pension reform measure on the ballot next year. The firefighters union has the most to lose if the voters approve pension reform because new hires will lose the lucrative benefits that current firefighters enjoy. They, and others, have taken their cause to the streets. The unions are tracking down the locations of the signature gatherers, and their job is to keep as many people from signing as possible....

Authorities have ordered an evacuation of Los Alamos due the threat from Las Conchas wildfire. Below is a press release from Los Alamos County that was issued moments ago: Los Alamos County officials are reporting the fire is now threatening Los Alamos. They are ordering a mandatory evacuation which will begin and proceed in this order: Group 1: Western, Quemazon, Ponderosa; Group 2: North Community, Barranca Mesa, North Mesa; Group 3: East of Diamond and the remainder of the town site. White Rock is NOT being evacuated at this time. Residents in Los Alamos should NOT go to White Rock...