Police Hit Pa. Homeowner with Taser as He Fought Fire with Garden Hose

NORTH BELLE VERNON, Pa. --

Firefighters in Westmoreland County were called to a fire Monday afternoon on Green Street in North Belle Vernon.

Two occupied homes were involved in the blaze. It began in one house and spread to the other. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Residents were not home at the time, but they were in the neighborhood.

Rolls of Plastic Burn in Tenn. Fire

THOMPSON'S STATION, Tenn.

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Agencies put out a large fire that burned for about 10 hours Monday in the southern area of Williamson County.

Several hundred rolls of black plastic used to prevent erosion caught fire at about 2 a.m. along Pope’s Chapel Road in the Burwood community, according to the Williamson County Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Crews are working on the Interstate 840 extension at this location.

Plane Crashes on Nev. Street, 1 Dead

HENDERSON, Nev.
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A small plane crashed and burst into flames on a street in a southern Nevada residential neighborhood Monday, killing one person and badly injuring three others, authorities said.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sgt. John Sheahan said two males and two females were aboard the single-engine Piper Cherokee when it crashed in Henderson, just south of Las Vegas. He said it was a miracle no one on the ground was injured.

Calif. Pilots Keep Safe in Wildland Fires

Sept. 04--The air above a wildfire is fraught with danger. There's heat, smoke and a fleet of helicopters and air tankers all trying to slow a fire without running into each other.

Those who take to the air have tough jobs -- from the physical demands they feel to the emotional heartbreak they see -- and their skills are critical, including in three recent Kern County fires.

Mass. Boy Survives Fall Down Well

A 6-year-old boy was recovering Saturday after falling 20 feet into a stone well in Shrewsbury.

Fire officials received a call from a Barrows Road home at about 2:36 p.m.

When crews arrived in the backyard, the boy’s father was outside of the well talking to the child. The boy was partially covered in concrete at the bottom of the structure.

Burning Bobcat Starts Calif. Brush Fire

Sept. 06--A bobcat climbing up a power pole resulted in a small brush fire near Piru that was contained in several hours Monday morning, according to Ventura County Fire Department officials.

"It looked like he was climbing up a pole to chase an owl or another bird," said Capt. Dan Preston. The animal apparently hit the power wires, caught on fire and fell to the ground, Preston said. That ignited the brush.

N.Y. Passes New Emergency Light Law

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Sept. 06--In what the state's leading volunteer firefighters' group is hailing as a boon for rescuer safety, fire departments statewide can now put blue flashing lights on their emergency response vehicles so they can be seen from the rear, under just-signed state legislation.

Backers of the law, which takes effect immediately, say the lights will protect rescuers at emergency scenes where they are especially vulnerable to being hit by passing motorists.

Kids Rescued From Ill. Blaze

Sept. 06--Several people, including two children, were rescued this morning from a blaze in a sparsely occupied Bronzeville condo building where conditions were described as "pretty bad" by a Chicago Fire Department spokesman.

A firefighter was treated at the University of Chicago Medical Center for burns to his ears, said Chief Kevin MacGregor, a Fire Department spokesman.

Ariz. FFs Spend Hours at Fatal Scene

PHOENIX

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Department of Public Safety officials said two infants died after a three-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 just before 1 a.m. Sunday morning.

The accident involved two passenger cars and a fully-loaded fuel tanker. Four people, including the two infants, thee weeks and 13 months old, were rushed to local hospitals, Phoenix Fire Department officials said. DPS confirmed the infants did not survive.

Colorado Wildfire Destroys Homes

DENVER --

A wind-driven wildfire broke out in the rugged Colorado foothills and quickly spread across 4 square miles Monday, destroying some homes and triggering evacuations of as many as 400 others.

No injuries were reported. Authorities could not say how many structures burned down, but they said at least some of them were houses.

The fire started in Four Mile Canyon northwest of Boulder, and erratic winds gusting to 45 mph spread the flames both to the west and northeast.