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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...