Firehouse.com

LONG BEACH, Calif. --

A woman whose car plunged off a bridge into the murky Los Angeles River was fighting for her life Thursday after being submerged for nearly a half-hour, officials said.

The 23-year-old woman was in a sport utility vehicle that smashed through a guardrail and plunged about 40 feet off off the northbound Interstate 710 bridge at Seventh Street around 7:30 a.m., fire Battalion Chief Frank Hayes said.

The woman was responding to treatment at a hospital with her family by her side, Hayes said.

FARMINGTON, N.M. -- A San Juan County volunteer firefighter accused of setting his truck on fire to collect insurance money waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Farmington Magistrate Court. His case will be heard in district court.

Jonathan Ziemer, 23, was charged with third-degree felony arson to collect insurance money and third-degree felony false insurance application, Farmington Police Lt. Steve Birch said.

Spotsylvania County Fire and Rescue Chief Chris Eudailey is launching an internal investigation of a fatal house fire in which the victim pleaded for help over the phone as rescuers searched other areas of the house.

The investigation comes more than a month after the Feb. 5 fire on Spotswood Furnace Road and two weeks after The Free Lance-Star requested recordings of radio dispatches and 911 calls from the scene.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- DC Fire & EMS Department officials confirm an EMS crew has been disciplined for failing to take a woman with trouble breathing to the hospital after she called 911 on December 22. Kimberly Kelsey of the 900 block of Rhode Island Avenue, NW was transported to a hospital only after she called 911 a second time, about 56 minutes after her first call.

EL PASO, Texas

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Fire crews were in northeast El Paso battling a blaze that happened near Fred Wilson and Dyer Tuesday afternoon just after 2 p.m.

Flames flared and smoke was thick, staying low to the ground making it hard to breath and see on Fred Wilson.

“One main concern was the smoke going to the residents here off of Fred Wilson,” said John Concha of the El Paso Fire Department.

“I was having a little bit of a problem (breathing),” said witness Phil Stafford.

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Mar. 10--"Carelessly discarded smoking materials" are blamed for starting a four-alarm blaze early Tuesday that left about 100 residents of a south Charlotte apartment complex at least temporarily homeless, fire officials say.

No injuries were reported in the blaze, which caused about $1 million damage to a 70-unit building at the Charlotte Woods Apartments on Scaleybark Road.

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. --

Investigators are working to find out what started a three-alarm fire that resulted in major damage Wednesday morning at two Rancho Cordova auto dismantling businesses.

The blaze, which was reported at about 3:40 a.m., occurred at Happy Auto Parts and V and O Auto Dismantler, which share a building in the 3400 block of Sunrise Boulevard.

The fire was raging when firefighters arrived, forcing crews to take a defensive stance.

Since the America's Most Wanted All-Star program began in 2005, only first responders from law enforcement agencies have been voted as the Grand Prize winners.

The annual contest also is open to members of the fire service and EMS personnel. Despite this, the three finalists who have already been announced -- out of a pool that will eventually include eight nominees -- are with police departments or sheriff's offices.

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. --

Four workers are safe after getting stuck on a drawbridge that went up unexpectedly in Florida

Pompano Beach city spokeswoman Sandra King says hydraulics failed on a bridge under reconstruction Wednesday morning, causing it to rise while Department of Transportation workers were still on it.

Three workers were brought down in harnesses. A fourth was left trapped in the air over the Intracoastal Waterway.