SAN FRANCISCO — Two adjacent apartment buildings caught fire in the Mission District early Thursday morning. Four individuals were injured — two critically – and there were no deaths. Responding firefighters arrived on scene around 4:30 a.m. and were faced with a difficult task due to strong winds and the old, wooden structures they had to extinguish.

According to Lieutenant Karen Kerr of the SFPD, the fire appears to have started on the third floor of rear apartment, though the direct cause is still under investigation. It took about an hour to completely control the blaze, and about 33 units responded to the scene.

One man was pulled from the building with severe burns and rushed to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, while another man who attempted to jump out of a window was in critical condition due to deep cuts and minor burns. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital.

Two women were treated by emergency crews for smoke inhalation and were in stable condition. Lieutenant Kerr also said that as of this afternoon there are no further updates on the victims. A responding firefighter who used his oxygen mask on one of the female victims was reported to also have suffered from minor smoke inhalation, though Lt. Kerr has stated that he was fine.

The Red Cross has aided the twenty-three people that have been displaced due to the fire, including those in surrounding buildings whose own apartments suffered water and other fire related damage.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — AccuWeather.com — Whipping winds will threaten more dust storms and fires across Texas through the middle of this week.

Gusts greater than 40 mph across much of Texas will follow a potent cold front, keeping the threat high for these dangers. The howling winds will help pick up dust due to the bone-dry conditions gripping the Lone Star state.

Respiratory problems can result from blowing dust, especially for sensitive groups such as people with asthma.

Blowing dust could suddenly reduce the visibility below a quarter of a mile to near zero at times, creating a very dangerous situation for motorists.

Pictures and videos from the Lubbock Dust Storm on Monday show how significantly and quickly the visibility can drop in these nasty dust storms.

Meanwhile, travel will be tricky at times even without blowing dust for high profile vehicles such as campers and semi-trucks. The highest wind gusts could topple these vehicles.

With low humidity and high winds, the conditions will be ripe for wildfires through the middle of the week. Hard hit central Texas, burnt by destructive wildfires such as the Bastrop Fire, is in the heart of the fire threat area.

Winds will be strong enough to down tree branches onto power lines, heightening the risk of grass and brush fires.

By Meghan Evans, meteorologist for AccuWeather.com

DALLAS — A Texas firefighter was killed in a car accident Sunday.

Angelina River Volunteer Firefighter Anthony Quinten Meyers, 38, was working a Jasper County wildfire when the ATV he was riding in was struck by pickup truck that was also working the fire.

Meyers ran a stop sign and was hit by the truck, driven by a Texas Game Warden.

The crash occurred at 3:15 p.m, 15 miles northwest of Jasper

Meyers was taken to a Jasper hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A Dallas firefighter was killed Sunday while battling an apartment fire in southwest Dallas, officials said.

The multiple-alarm fire broke out at the Ridgecrest Apartments at 4:15 p.m. Fire Lieutenant Todd Krodle, a 17-year member of the department, fell through the roof of the building while cutting a ventilation hole.

Krodle, 41, fell to the second floor. His fellow firefighters brought him out, and medics rushed the injured and burned firefighter to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

“On behalf of the Dallas City Council and the entire City of Dallas workforce, we express our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and fellow firefighters of this courageous and dedicated firefighter,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings in a statement. “We must never lose sight that fire service is an extremely dangerous business and this brave man died doing the dangerous job he loved; protecting our citizens and our properties and making our neighborhoods safer for all of us.”

Cutting holes in a roof of a building on fire is a common firefighting task.

The fire was ruled accidental, caused by an electrical short. Reports indicate that no one else was hurt.

WFAA-TV showed what appeared to be amateur video of the mortally wounded firefighter being loaded into an ambulance. Such footage is usually off-limits, but the station apparently did not yet know that Krodle had died, because the story ran with a header “Dallas firefighter injured fighting apartment fire.”

A fire in a single family home left one dead in Hebron, N.H. early Friday morning, according to the Hebron Fire Department.

Officials say the cause of death was smoke inhalation, but are still withholding the identity of the victim.

The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated, but firefighters believe the fire originated in the living room porch near an air conditioning window unit. They are unsure if smoke detectors were present in the home, but none were located in the fire debris.

A Windsor, Conn. firefighter died in the line of duty after collapsing during a fire on Monday.

Robert Watts, 50, a Marine Corps veteran and volunteer firefighter in the town of 30,000, was charging a fire hydrant when he collapsed. Other firefighters at the scene performed CPR on him and tried to resuscitate him, but Watts was pronounced dead at St. Francis Hospital a short time later.

He had been working at a call for smoke in the building at the Windsor Rehabilitation Center at about 8 p.m. Monday.

Watts was a Manchester, Conn. native. He leaves a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.

A northern Texas firefighter was critically burned fighting a wildland fire last weekend, according to FirefighterCloseCalls.com, which reports on firefighter fatalities and injuries.

Elias Jacquez, a member of the Cactus, Texas Volunteer Fire Department, suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body on Saturday while battling the blaze that burned 60,000 acres, or about 94 square miles.

The fire burned about 40 miles north of Amarillo.

Jacquez was taken by medical helicopter to University Medical Center in Lubbock where he is listed in critical condition.

A single family house in East Boston was seriously damaged Monday night in a fast-moving 2-alarm fire.

Firefighters responded to 211 Havre St. at about 9:08 p.m. and quickly called out a second alarm.

The fire broke out in the basement and was caused by an electrical short circuit, said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

No one was hurt.

MacDonald estimated the damage at $200,000. Two adults lived in the house, and they will be staying with friends, he said.

A neighboring house, only inches away in the densely settled East Boston neighborhood escaped damage thanks to the quick and aggressive work of firefighters, officials said.

Pending any overnight blazes, the fire will mark the last response for renown Boston Fire Department photographer Bill Noonan, whose final shift ends at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Noonan is retiring after 39 years.

An adorable and very much alive longhaired Dachshund was found in the ruins of her owners’ Hyde Park house nearly a month after the house burned down.

Boston’s Angell Animal Medical Center is caring for the pooch. The dog, Lola, was said to be “upbeat” despite the ordeal.

Weeks after the February 23 fire, Lola’s owners returned tot he condemned property yesterday to survey the damage. To their amazement, they heard scratching sounds and found their small dog inside the ruins.

“Lola was brought to Angell Animal Medical Center last night and is currently being cared for in our Emergency/Critical Care Unit,” said MSPCA-Angell spokesman Brian Adams. “The veterinary team is performing several tests today to uncover the extent of her injuries. Lola remains upbeat given her ordeal.”

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Brockton Fire Chief Richard C. Francis said Thursday that the cause of this morning’s fatal fire in Brockton was electrical n nature.

The fire at 4 Northfield St. broke out in the second floor behind a stove. Cords from several other electrical appliances were near the stove, and fire investigators believe one of the cords got pinched and sparked the fire.

Several people were rescued, but one woman, who was pulled from a bathroom was later pronounced dead at Brockton Hospital.

The victim’s name was not released pending notification of family.

The fire remains under investigation by Coan’s office and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz’s Officel

Electrical fires have caused five, or one-third, of the 15 fire deaths so far this year in Massachusetts, Coan said.

A 63-year-old woman was killed Monday in a house fire in the Western Massachusetts city of Chicopee, fire officials said.

The 2 a.m. fire appears to have been electrical in nature, according to a fire department source.

Firefighters forced their way into the home after hearing a person was trapped inside. They found the victim, whose name was not release, but could not revive her.

The Associated Press reported that Acting Chicopee Fire Chief Patrick Halpin said that excessive clutter inside the home slowed rescue efforts.

The improper use and disposal of smoking materials has been named the cause of Friday morning’s fatal fire in Ipswich, officials said. The Central Street fire took the life of one woman whose name has not yet been released.

“Even though fire deaths are generally decreasing, this has been a difficult winter,” State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said in a statement. “Smoking remains the leading cause of fire deaths in the state.”

Ipswich Fire Chief Arthur Howe III said in a statement, “This fire is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the victim’s family and friends. The fact that the fire sprinkler system was able to control the fire until firefighters arrived prevented anyone else from being hurt and kept property damage to an absolute minimum.”

Fire officials recommend taking the following precautions in order to prevent a smoking-related fire:

• Smoke outside of the home.
• Use a sturdy ashtray or a can filled with sand to collect ashes.
• Ashtrays should be set on a sturdy surface that is hard to ignite, such as a table.
• Make sure cigarettes are completely stubbed out in the ashtray.
• Soak cigarette butts and ashes in water before throwing them away.
• Never toss hot cigarette butts or ashes in the trash.
• Do not put ashtrays on chairs or sofas, which can quickly catch on fire.

(Photo courtesy of Paul McCallum via Derry Fire Department)

A Derry, N.H. split-level house was damaged in a Saturday evening fire, but fire officials said that working smoke detectors and quick thinking may have averted real disaster.

Residents were home when the fire broke out, and the homeowner was alerted by the smoke alarm. Residents tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher while calling 911.

Firefighters arrived and went to work, conducting an aggressive interior attack to contain the fire to the living room. The fire started in a faulty fireplace.

“Fire investigators suspect the fire was smoldering, undetected, in the wall behind and above the mantle for several hours before breaking out and setting of the smoke detectors,” fire officials said.

The fireplace was badly damaged, as were a few walls and the living room, but the house was saved, and it can be repaired, fire officials said.

No one was hurt. The residents will stay with family until the house is repaired.

“This fire illustrated the importance of operating smoke detectors,” said Battalion Chief Jack Webb. “The Derry Fire Department wants to remind everyone that they should have smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors installed on every level of a home, as well as smoke detectors in every bedroom. Test smoke detectors regularly and replace the batteries whenever you change the clocks. Furthermore, any detector that is over 10 years old should be replaced.”

A Chelsea woman was held without bail after her arraignment on murder and arson charges in the wake of the Christmas Eve house fire that killed a 20-year-old living in another apartment in the house.

Melissa Pfeiffer, 26, and her boyfriend lived at 265 Spruce St., in a lower level apartment. The fire killed Crystal Lynn Blanchard and seriously injured her boyfriend, who were trapped in a unit above the blaze.

“In the evening of Dec. 24, the defendant and her boyfriend became involved in an argument,” Assistant District Attorney Mark Lee said. “Generally speaking, it was over money. The argument ended at about 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. and the boyfriend left the building.”

Pfeiffer’s boyfriend returned to the building at about 11:00 and saw Pfeiffer leaving the building, Lee said.

A short time later, a group of people driving by saw flames coming from the building and called 911.

Lee said that Blanchard and her boyfriend were trapped by smoke and flames on the building’s second floor. The boyfriend suffered serious burns before finally jumping from a window and further injuring himself.

“Miss Blanchard was unable to get out of the building,” Lee said. “She subsequently died of her injuries.”

Lee said that two witnesses cam forward and reported that Pfeiffer had admitted to setting her boyfriend’s clothes on fire.

Pfeiffer was held without bail.

State Police attached to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office and Chelsea Police detectives yesterday arrested a Chelsea woman in connection with the fatal Christmas Eve fire in Chelsea.

Melissa Pfeiffer, 26, will be arraigned today in Chelsea District Court, charged with arson and murder in setting the fire that killed 20-year-old Crystal Lynn BLanchard.

Pfeiffer was taken into custody at Chelsea Police headquarters, officials said.

“The charges arise out of Blanchard’s death and injuries to a 33-year-old male after Pfeiffer allegedly set a fire inside her residence at 295 Spruce St. at about 11:00 p.m. on December 24,” said Jake Wark, a spokesman for Conley. “That residence was a five-unit apartment building; Pfeiffer lived on the ground floor and the victims lived on the second floor.”

No details were released, and authorities did not comment on a motive. More details will be announced at arraignment.

Fire investigators announced Thursday that the August 17, 2010 fire that damaged Taunton CIty Hall was arson.

“This is an ongoing criminal investigation by State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Taunton Fire Department and the Taunton Police Department,” said State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan, in a statement.

The fire started in an attic record storage area and caused an estimated $8.3 million in damage.

“This was a significant fire that caused severe disruption to the city’s ability to provide service to its citizens,” said Taunton Fire Chief Timothy J. Bradshaw.

“Investigators have known the cause of the fire for some time but in order to protect certain aspects of the ongoing criminal investigation state and federal investigators asked us to withhold that information until now,” said Police Chief Edward Walsh.

Three firefighters were injured fighting a 2-alarm house fire in Derry, N.H., Monday evening, authorities said.

The fire broke out in the 2 1/2 story single family home at 12 Eastman Drive and quickly spread, destroying the home.

The homeowners were not home at the time, but two visitors were inside the house when the fire broke out. They were able to escape safely.

Firefighters tried to attack the fire from the inside, hoping to save the house, but they were quickly driven out after a flashover consumed the entire first floor, said Derry Battalion Chief Michael E. Doyle in a statement.

“Crews then went to defensive operations and Command called for a second alarm,” Doyle said.

A family pet died in the fire.

Two firefighters were evaluated at the scene for burns to the head and face and one was taken to an area hospital with difficulty breathing, Doyle said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Doyle said the fire was not suspicious.

Crews from Auburn, Hudson, Londonderry, Manchester, Salem and Windham helped battle the fire. Crews from the Raymond, Hooksett, Danville and Pelham Fire Departments covered Derry during the fire.

The fire occurred in an area without fire hydrants and required tanker trucks from Atkinson, Auburn, Chester, Hampstead, Sandown, and Windham.

Fifteen school buses were destroyed as they sat dormant in a parking lot in Bradford, N.H. early yesterday morning, police said.

The fire began at 4.45 a.m., and it quickly spread among the closely grouped vehicles, police said. Soon 15 buses were gutted and five others were badly damaged.

Emergency responders were able to get inside the Goffstown Truck Center and grab the keys for 10 other buses, moving then to safety before they were consumed, said Bradford Police Officer Ed Shaughnessy.

Shaughnessy said that each bus was worth $70,000. With the partially damaged buses and other damage to the area, Shaughnessy totaled out the damage at $1.5 million.

No injuries were reported.

Shaughnessy said video footage from a bus surveillance camera showed that the fire started in a single bus.

Police said that most of the buses belonged to Kearsarge Regional School District.

The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s office will investigate. Shaughnessy said investigators are looking into foul play as the reason behind the yellow inferno.

“We’re looking into it,” Shaughnessy said. “An investigation is set up for the morning with the State Fire Marshal.”

The blaze drew firefighters from six towns.

Firefighters from around the region battled a 3-alarm fire at the home of one of their own last night in the Worcester County town of Uxbridge.

The fire broke out at 7:19 p.m. at the duplex at 12a Hazel St., off North Main Street, steps from the Hannaford Supermarket, said Melanie Blodget-O’Toole, a spokeswoman for Uxbridge Police and Fire. A local on-call firefighter lived on one side of the two-family home with his parents, and a father with several children lived in the other apartment.

Two residents were transported to area hospitals with what Blodget-O’Toole called non life-threatening injuries. A firefighter was also hospitalized with smoke inhalation.

The fire destroyed the house and caused a gas leak in the neighborhood that forced six other homes to be evacuated last night, officials said. Blodget-O’Toole said most of the families would be allowed to return home within a few hours, but one house may remain evacuated overnight.

The fire burned for several hours, and water was still being poured on the ruins late last night.

Fire crews from Sutton, Douglas, Millville, Northbridge, Upton, Mendon, and North Smithfield, R.I. responded last night.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said that State Police from his office would be investigating the fire. It was too early to determine a cause last night, but Coan said, in a phone interview, that one angle of the investigation will be to determine of the fire caused the gas leak or if the gas leak sparked the blaze.

A 16-year-old volunteer Israeli firefighter died in the Carmel forest fire in Israel, a wildfire that is ravaging the landscape.

Elad Riven, of Haifa, was killed Thursday. He was a volunteer with a scout group of students.

He was in the northern city of Afula when his mother received a call to alert him to respond to the fire. He arrived soon afterward to assist evacuating residents from the area.

At least 42 people were also killed Thursday as a bus brought in to evacuate people from the area got caught in the fire.

According to FireFighterCloseCalls.com, the remains of a police commander who was killed while on his way to rescue residents were found. Lior Bokor, 57, was head of police operations for Israel’s northern region. Police searched for him on Thursday, but it appears he was caught in the fire while trying to ascertain the location of the bus that caught on fire.

The massive fire burns as mutual aid comes in from dozens of countries from the US to Russia as the Israeli firefighting response has been underwhelming, with staffing and supply troubles. Crews expect it will take at least a week to contain the blaze.

Published reports indicate that while policing services are well-maintained and adequately staffed in Israel, firefighting has not been an area of focus lately, and the country is now paying the price.

Fire swept through a three-family home in Lawrence on Saturday afternoon, severely damaging it and leaving several people unable to return home for the night, fire officials said.

According to Lawrence Acting Fire Chief Brian Murphy, the fire broke out at 5:30 p.m. on the third floor of the home at 34 Salem St. Firefighters were able to knock the flames down quickly, but the damaged was estimated at about $50,000.

Three families were put out, and the Red Cross was on scene assisting them last night, Murphy said.

The fire was kept to a small single-alarm, but it still required every firefighter in the city to respond, as half of the Lawrence fire houses have been closed down due to budget cuts. One fire truck had to leave the scene during the mop-up phase to respond to a fire alarm sounding elsewhere in Lawrence.

Only 15 firefighters were on duty at the time, which is fewer firefighters working at any given moment than many small towns in Massachusetts, including Brookline and neighboring North Andover, which frequently sends mutual aid trucks into Lawrence during fires.

Southeastern Massachusetts is in mourning after the death of a third generation firefighter, who suffered a heart attack while responding to a fire call.

Firefighter Kenneth Marshall Jr., just 33 years old, was officially a Rehoboth firefighter for 15 years. His father, Kenneth Sr., is a retired firefighter, and grandfather George “Rab” Wetherall, served for 30 years.

Marshall, an on-call firefighter, was driving a firetruck en route to a reported kitchen fire around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday when he slumped over. The other firefighters stopped the truck, performed CPR and tended to him, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro.

Marshall leaves a wife and two children, ages 3 and 6.

The wake will be Wednesday at the Foley Hathaway Funeral Home in Attleboro. The funeral is set for Thursday at the Community Covenant Church, with a burial at Oak Knoll Cemetery.

Marshall was the 78th firefighter to die in the line of duty this year, according to the US Fire Administration.

FireFighterCloseCalls.com reminds us that Sunday is the 68th anniversary of the infamous Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston.

Everyone remembers the more recent Rhode Island Station Nightclub fire. The February 20, 2003 fire killed 100 people and was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history.

Cocoanut Grove is number two.

On November 28, 1942, the upscale club burned to the ground, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. Only the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago in 1903 was worse, killing 602 people.

Cocoanut Grove was so immense, that it pushed World War II news headlines off the front pages nationwide. See Boston.com for more information.

Here is the official Boston Fire Department report:

(From a Survivor of the Fire)

(The site of the fire, today)

A large, 4-alarm fire badly burned two multifamily homes in Worcester and spread to a third before crews could contain it.

The fire broke out at around 12:45 p.m. Firefighters were ordered to evacuate the original fire building at 5 Forbes St. around 1 p.m. after threat of a possible collapse and have re-entered and exited twice since them.

After a flurry of radio traffic, the city’s South End fire chief took command and ordered a roll call of all firefighters. Shortly after that, the on-duty deputy fire chief took command and ordered a third alarm response.

The fire quickly spread to the second building. Fire chiefs directed firefighters at each, in an attempt to contain the blaze. Around 1:15 p.m., the fire spread to a third building, a block away, on Orne Street, leading the chief to strike the fourth alarm. That fire was quickly contained and considered minor.

Around 1:20, the rear portion of the roof collapsed in the original fire building, and a ladder on a fire truck began to catch fire from the heat.

Heavy wind conditions appear to have helped the fire spread.

There were no reports of injuries.

ScanNewEngland.net reports the original fire was in a 3-story wood frame building.

From WFXT-TV news helicopter video, it looks like the fire was in a dense cluster of homes. There appear to be several large homes and other buildings huddled close together.

A fire crew from neighboring Auburn covered parts of Worcester for other emergency calls.

The fire burned about a half mile north of UMass Memorial Medical Center, and about two blocks east of I-290.

A woman responsible for a traffic crash that killed a South Carolina firefighter faces several charges.

Neida Ortega, 34, was allegedly speeding and only had a Mexican driver’s license when she crashed a van into a Chevrolet Impala, sending the second car careening between two parked firetrucks in the eastbound lane of I-20 while firefighters battled a roadside brush fire.

Columbia-Richmond Firefighter Chance Zobel, 23, was killed and a second firefighter, Larry Irvin, was seriously injured.

Police said the firetrucks were parked with their lights flashing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is investigating the possibility that Ortega is in the country illegally.

A funeral will be held for Zobel on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C.

Five children, three brothers and two sisters, died in a house fire on Monday in Citra, Fla. that fire officials believed was caused by a space heater.

Trapped inside the house at 1760 NE 182nd Place were the five children of Krista Jordan, a night-shift manager at a McDonalds restaurant, according to the St. Petersburg Times.

They were Joseph, 15; Austin, 13; Shyanne, 12; William Jr., 8; and Trenity, 6.

“My babies!” the mother cried, until firefighters carried her away. “Someone get my babies!”

Citra is about 20 miles southeast of Gainesville.

Turn to the Times for more on this story.

NEW YORK — A woman died in a fast moving fire that tore through a house on Staten Island on Friday, according to the US Fire Administration, which records all fire deaths.

The woman was asleep in the top floor attic of the house and was overcome. She was found around 6:30 a.m. in the three-story home on Morningstar Road. She died at Richmond University Medical Center.

The New York Daily News identified her as Dorothy Adonolfi, 40.

No one else was hurt.

The FDNY believes the fire was caused by an electric heater.

A 42-year-old Brentwood, N.Y. man was killed early Sunday morning after a fire swept through his home, officials said.

Sean Sheridan was unable to escape the flames, Newsday reported. His mother was able to escape, but he became trapped in the fire that broke out shortly before 12:30 a.m.

According to the US Fire Administration, which reports on fire fatalities, the cause is still under investigation.

A Boston firefighter was shocked and nearly electrocuted on October 24 during a 4-alarm fire after an aerial ladder set down on contact with a life electrical wire.

FirefighterCloseCalls reported that Boston Fire Department Ladder 26 set down on contact with a high-voltage electrical wire with 2,800 volts running through it. A firefighter and fire officer climbed to the roof without noticing the ladder was touching the wire.

Firefighters eventually noticed the hazard. The department said that the chief in command of the fire was about to signal over the radio for firefighters to avoid Ladder 26′s ladder, but not before the firefighter and officer started to climb down. The firefighter got on the ladder without incident, but a current started to arc to the ladder. When the officer placed his hand on the ladder, he was shocked.

The officer told his colleagues that he felt a charge pass through his arm. He was able to go down another ladder under his own power and was taken to an area hospital for evaluation. He was “doing fine” afterward, firefighters said.

But Ladder 26 was not fine. The aluminum of the ladder melted in two spots where it came in contact with the fire and roofing. The truck was taken out of service.

This Ladder 26 is a brand new truck, but the last Ladder 26 suffered catastrophic brake failure in January 2009 when it careened down Parker Hill Avenue and crashed into a building killing Lieutenant Kevin Kelley.

Since then, the replacement Ladder 26 and its crew were victimized on Halloween when a firefighter’s helmet was stolen from inside the truck at 8:45 p.m. Boston Police are investigating the theft.

In an additional stroke of luck for the department, the arcing wire that shocked the officer broke in half. One piece landed steps from the command post where firefighters and the chief were standing, and another landed 20-feet from the rear entrance of the fire building. No one else was injured.

Things almost turned deadly again. A half hour later, an NSTAR worker arrived to kill the power, FirefighterCloseCalls reported. The worker was on scene for 20 minutes when he notified the chief that the wire was finally dead.

It wasn’t.

The chief questioned the NSTAR worker twice to make sure the wire was dead, but firefighters pointed out that the wire was sitting in a large puddle of water, from which smoke was pouring out, the site reported.

The NSTAR worker recanted, saying that the line was actually still live. He eventually killed all power around the building and no one else was hurt.

Tragedy struck the Pennsylvania capital Monday night as fire rushed through a row home in Harrisburg, killing five people, including four children.

WGAL-TV reported that the blaze broke out just before 8 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find the house engulfed in flames.

Killed in the fire were Cornelia Brooks, 4, and four young kids: Derrion Terry, 2; DeAndrea Terry, 3; Kelli Franklin, 4 and Tysheen Terry, 4.

Amanda Franklin, Kelli Franklin’s mother, also lived in the house and survived the fire, according to news reports. She said that the two women were sisters and were getting the children ready for a bath when they smelled the smoke, which was coming from the kitchen.

Firefighters rescued the five people from the house alive, but they died later at area hospitals.

MIAMI — An elderly Southwest Miami-Dade man died after his apartment caught fire on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, which reports on fire deaths.

The fire broke out around 3 a.m. an the complex along Caribbean Boulevard and 13th Avenue and quickly engulfed the man’s apartment, according to WSVN-TV.

Neighbors told the TV station that the victim was a very nice, gentle person who lived alone with a kitten.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said that burglar bars on all windows and doors of the apartment may have prevented the man from escaping. Firefighters were able to quickly break down the bars with special tools, but officials said it would be hard for a person to get them down. The man’s body was found near a rear window.

Investigators are working to determine a cause of the fire.

LOS ANGELES — An elderly Pinon Hills, Calif., woman died after being rescued from a house fire on Monday morning, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

June Nichols was rescued from the blaze, but she later died at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville, according to the San Bernardino Sun. She was pronounced dead at 9:30 , an hour after the fire broke out on Mountain Road.

Nichols was found in her bedroom.

A veteran fire chief died suddenly while out on a call early Tuesday morning.

Karen Hand was chief of the Broome County, N.Y. Volunteer Emergency Squad. She sent into sudden cardiac arrest while on a call, according to FireFighterCloseCalls.com.

Hand has 17 years of service with the volunteer department.

Broome is a county near the Pennsylvania border, not to be confused with the small town called Broome, in Schoharie County, about 20 miles southwest of Albany.

Hand was also the deputy EMS coordinator for the Broome County Office of Emergency Management for the past 20 years and was a member of the local Critical Incident Stress Management team.

No details were released on the call she was responding to.

Firefighters from several Western Massachusetts communities battled a 4-alarm mill fire in Orange throughout the day Saturday.

The fire broke out in a complex off South Main Street, fire officials said. The fire gutted one building in the complex, but spared the rest of the mill.

Most of the complex was abandoned, but the building that burned housed a fiberglass manufacturing company, officials said.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan responded to investigate help coordinate the efforts of many small fire departments. He credited the firefighters and their aggressive attack on the fire for keeping the blaze from spreading beyond one building.

Seventeen communities sent firefighting resources to fight the blaze.

A state hazardous materials team also responded to evaluate the chemicals stored in the manufacturing firm. One firefighter was treated at an area hospital for injuries sustained fighting the fire.

A Lynn firefighter was seriously injured battling a 3-alarm house fire.

The fire gutted two floors of a house on Hamilton Avenue on Friday afternoon. The fire began small and grew quickly.

The fire was knocked down within an hour.

Officials did not release the firefighter’s name or elaborate on his injuries. He was listed in serious condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives Denver Field Division Special Agent in Charge Marvin Richardson, together with Mayor Rick Kaysen, Cheyenne, Wyo. Fire Chief Jim Martin and Police Chief Brian Kozak, announced Thursday that a September 15 blaze at the Hitching Post Inn, a Cheyenne hotel, was inentially set.

No additional details on the fire, how it was set or why it was set were released by authorities, who said the investigation is ongoing.

“Local ATF special agents will continue to work in partnership on the investigation with the Cheyenne Police and Fire Departments until the individual or individuals responsible for this cowardly act are brought to justice” said Richardson.

ATF developed the NRT to assist federal, state, and local investigators in meeting the challenges faced at the scenes of significant arson and explosives incidents. The NRT consists of three teams organized geographically to cover the United States. Each team can respond within 24 hours to assist state and local law enforcement/fire service personnel in onsite investigations.

ATF is the federal agency with jurisdiction for investigating major fires and crimes of arson.

Firefighters in Lawrence have ratified a one-year contract with the city that makes serious concessions in order to get back about a third of the positions the department lost in July due to layoffs.

Twenty-three of the city’s 100 firefighters were laid off on July 1 as the city attempts, under state guidance, to emerge from a $25 million budget deficit. Eight will be rehired after last night’s concession announcement.

"The Lawrence firefighters’ priority has always been first and foremost to protect the citizens who live and work in this city," said Patrick Driscoll, president of Local 146. "Our members were willing to make concessions to better staff the department for the overall safety of Lawrence. We look forward to putting the negotiation process behind us and working to fully restore the additional 15 positions lost this past July."

The contract ends four months of negotiations.

As part of the contract, Lawrence Firefighters Local 146 members offered and agreed to the following concessions for FY11:

• Firefighters will work 24 hours unpaid overtime
• Firefighters will give back a 2 percent training stipend for attending the Massachusetts Fire Academy
• Firefighters will give up a one-week vacation buyback

The fire union has also applied for a federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire Emergency Response) grant to help restore some of the positions lost to layoffs. Grant recipients will be announced later this fall.

Staffing is still at a nearly all-time low. The city of 72,000, spread over eight square miles, has fewer firefighters working at any given moment than most of the small towns that surround it.

Lawrence has had to rely on extensive mutual aid for even minor fires. This has led to some conflict with communities, who resent having to use their own sparse resources to bail Lawrence out.

“We are grateful to our brother and sister firefighters from across the region who stepped in to help this summer when multiple alarm fires challenged a dangerously small staff,” Driscoll said. “No lives were lost and that is testament to the bravery and commitment of our colleagues."

An alleged arsonist also lit about a dozen fires among the Merrimac River in August. Police arrested a homeless man in that case.

NEW YORK — A Staten Island man with multiple sclerosis died in a fire on Saturday, according to the New York Post.

Joseph Abdo, 68, couldn’t escape the fire as flames engulfed his bedroom. His wife, Peggy, jumped from the second-story window of their home on LaGuardia Avenue in Castleton Corners, the Post reported.

Pegga Abdo, 64, suffered serious injuries and was on a ventilator at Staten Island Hospital with broken ribs and smoke inhalation.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the cause of the fire is under investigation.

An elderly man died on Sunday in a house fire in Watts, a mostly residential neighborhood in South Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, which reports on fire deaths.

The fire broke out at 8 a.m. on East 91st Street.

According to KABC-TV, firefighters got there quickly and put the fire out in less than 15 minutes, but they later found the victim, whose name was not released, inside.

No working smoke detectors were present.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

An Orange County Fire Authority firefighter died Thursday during a training operation.

James M. Owen, 56, was on a break from rescue drills at the OCFA Headquarters in Irvine when he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, which reports on firefighter deaths.

“Firefighter/Paramedic Owen was participating in multi-company training at the Orange County Fire Authority Regional Fire Operations Training Center when he fell ill,” the USFA said in a statement. “Crews on scene immediately rendered care and while being assessed Owen went into a full cardiac arrest.”

Owen was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where he died.

He was a 30-year department veteran.

“He was a top-notch firefighter,” OCFA Captain Greg McKeown told the Orange County Register. “To lose him like this is a tragedy.”

Owen was the 56th firefighter to die in the line of duty this year, according to the Fire Administration.