firefighters news stories on Newser

Dog, Hiker in Dramatic Cliff Rescue

Mary Papenfuss — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:02:00 CST

Los Angeles firefighters saved a hiker in a hair-raising rescue after the teen went over a sheer cliff to save his terrified dog. Ivan Salas' year-old shepherd mix, Lola, slipped 150 feet over the edge as she chased a water bottle tossed by Salas' dad while the men were traveling...

Yule Log Embers Linked to Deadly Christmas Inferno

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 06:09:00 CST

Embers from a holiday Yule log may have triggered the horrific fire that killed the three young daughters and parents of a Connecticut advertising executive on Christmas Day. Madonna Badger, 47, was up until 3am with her boyfriend, wrapping gifts and making Christmas morning preparations; the two put embers from...

60 Homeless After San Francisco Fire

Matt Cantor — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 06:21:37 CST

It took three hours and 150 firefighters to calm an apartment blaze in San Francisco that left 60 people homeless. Three buildings were caught in flames in the fire, whose cause will be investigated today. It apparently started in a neighboring Victorian home and spread from there, reports AP . The...

Firefighters Get Flu Shots —and Parking Tickets

Rob Quinn — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:37:04 CDT

City council members in Pittsburgh won't put up with anybody taking their parking spots, apparently. City firefighters ordered to get their flu shots at City Hall came out to find that their fire trucks, which they left in permit-only spaces for around five minutes, had been ticketed, WPXI reports. A...

LA: Our Fire Trucks Have No Place in Porn

Rob Quinn — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:03:05 CDT

A city policy stating that firefighters must "operate apparatus in a way that does not compromise the reputation of the department" means city fire trucks don't belong in porn films, insist Los Angeles officials. Authorities are probing reports that firefighters allowed porn producers to use fire trucks in adult movies,...

Texas Fires' Toll: 1,000 Homes and Counting

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:46:34 CDT

More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in at least 57 wildfires across rain-starved Texas, most of them in one devastating blaze near Austin that is still raging out of control, officials said today. Gov. Rick Perry, who cut short a presidential campaign trip to South Carolina to return...

Atheists Pan Sign Honoring 9/11 Firefighters

Mark Russell — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:05:05 CDT

A street sign in Brooklyn honoring seven firefighters who died on 9/11 has gotten the thumbs down from a New York atheist group, reports the Village Voice . The problem? The sign ceremonially renames Richards Street "Seven in Heaven Way," and the NYC Atheists say that any reference to heaven on...

Obama Lays Wreath at Ground Zero

John Johnson — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:29:11 CDT

President Obama made his first visit to Ground Zero as president, a trip the White House views as "closure" for New York City in the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing, reports the Daily News . He first visited a firehouse that lost 15 firefighters on 9/11. "When we say we...

Fight Fire With ... Electric Wands?

Matt Cantor — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:09:05 CDT

A little piece of Hogwarts may someday be reality: firefighters could eventually replace their hoses with flame-snuffing wands, the Daily Mail reports. Scientists attached a 600-watt electrical amplifier to a wand that blasted a foot-high fire with electricity, and the flames were extinguished almost immediately, they announced at a conference...