Albemarle County, VA – An Albemarle County man learned what it’s like to put out fires for a living. When firefighters arrived at the scene of a fire in the 1200 block of Clifden Greene there wasn’t much for them to do because a neighbor who had seen the smoke had already kicked down the door. The “fireman for the day” said he never thought twice about doing it. “I mean honestly, I was just concerned that somebody was in there, so I wanted to make sure there wasn’t, and if it was little we could put out the fire really easily. You know the fire wasn’t that bad, so we put it out with the fire extinguisher, and I checked the rest of the apartment, and nobody was there,” said Timur Akinli. Firefighters made sure the apartment was okay, and thanked the good samaritan for his help.

WCAV 19 News

Londonderry, MA – A small fire at the Sam Adams Pub at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport shortly before 11:00pm Thursday led to the evacuation of less than 100 people. Londonderry police officers forced their way into the pub’s back room, and with a fire extinguisher, knocked down the electrical fire which was sparked from a freezer unit’s motor, Londonderry fire Capt. Jim Carrier said. Londonderry fire and the airport fire departments responded to the scene. Firefighters monitored the air for oxygen and carbon monoxide and, after finding the levels safe, reopened the terminal. Employees and others were evacuated from the terminal for 15 to 20 minutes. No flights were affected by the incident.

The Eagle-Tribune

Littleton, CO – Aldora Gauthier was awarded the Ctizen’s Award by Littleton’s interim Police Chief Bruce Beckman at the Feb. 6 city council meeting.

Aldora Gauthier was driving home from work when she witnessed a serious traffic accident on Mineral Avenue near Jackass Hill Road. A Mazda Miata driven by 22-year-old Ryan Oliver jumped the median and crashed into the car directly in front of Gauthier. Oliver was ejected from his vehicle which landed on top of his leg. His car was smoking and the back end caught on fire. A passing bus driver stopped and put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and then returned to the bus to notify his dispatcher. The flames ignited again so Gauthier ran to the bus, grabbed the extinguisher and put out the flames. Oliver was still trapped, in shock and in pain. Gauthier organized other bystanders and they lifted the vehicle off of Oliver before Littleton Police and Fire Rescue arrived at the scene. Gauthier and Oliver have kept in touch since the accident.

YourHub.com

Binghamton, NY – Some roofing material in the new construction area of the Target store on the Vestal Parkway caught fire briefly from a welder’s torch on Wednesday afternoon, but a construction worker with an extinguisher put out the fire before Vestal firefighters arrived. Firefighters remained to examine the scene. The store was evacuated temporarily and no injuries were reported.

Press & Sun Bulletin

Rock Island, IL – Sparks from a blowtorch caused some insulation to smolder in a power plant building at Trinity Medical Center, West Campus. Firefighters responded to the building, which is detached from the hospital. Hospital spokeswoman Erin Lounsberry said there were no injuries or evacuations and power to the hospital was not affected. Damage was minimal. The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher before Rock Island firefighters arrived, but they stayed on the scene about 30 minutes to make sure it didn’t rekindle, Battalion Chief Tom Wood said.

Northbrook, IL – Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is notifying consumers that fire extinguishers manufactured by International Technology Services have not been evaluated for safety by UL and bear a counterfeit UL Mark in the United States.

Name of Product: 2-B-C Fire Extinguisher
Units: Unknown Quantity
Date of Manufacture: Unknown
Manufacturer: International Technology Services
Identification: These fire extinguishers are approximately 8″-9″ tall and approximately 2 3/4″ in diameter and have a black head attachment with a squeeze trigger for activating the extinguisher.

The nameplate of the counterfeit products is marked “FIRE EXTINGUISHER”, “2-B-C” and “INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES”.

What you should do: UL recommends that users stop using the product immediately and return it to the place of purchase.

Consumer Contact: Consumers should call 1-732-635-0230 with questions. Or, contact International Technology Services, 71 Commerce St. #265, Boston, MA 02109, or 7 Lincoln Hwy Ste 210, Edison, NJ 08820.

UL is an independent, not-for-profit product safety certification organization that has been testing products and writing Standards for Safety for over a century. UL evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems annually with 21 billion UL Marks appearing on 71,000 manufacturers’ products each year. UL’s worldwide family of companies and network of service providers includes 66 laboratory, testing and certification facilities serving customers in 104 countries. For more information, visit www.ul.com.

Olathe, KS – Firefighters were called to Olathe South High School on a small fire Monday morning. Crews said that when they arrived, the fire in the chemistry lab was already out. Firefighters said the fire started when a flame from a lighter ignited vapors from a chemical container.

KansasCityChannel.com

Burley, ID – Firefighters set up ventilation equipment shortly after 4:00pm Thursday at a home in Burley. A pan was left on a stove burner at the residence, causing a grease fire. Capt. Mike Sandmann said the fire was doused with a fire extinguisher and was contained to the stovetop. The kitchen fire was the second this week in the same neighborhood, the first occurring Tuesday a few blocks northeast.

The Times-News

Cookeville, TN – Three middle school students are under investigation for allegedly setting a fire inside Avery Trace Middle School in a plot to “set the school on fire so they could be out like Jere Whitson Elementary,” according to a report on file at the Cookeville Police Dept.

The arson plot involved “several girls,” but three girls actually set the fire and have been suspended from school, police said.

The fire was minor and was quickly put out by a teacher, who grabbed a fire extinguisher after being alerted by another student. It happened on Wednesday around noon on the second floor of the 7th and 8th grade school, according to Police Chief Bob Terry.

ATMS Principal Linda Nash and Assistant Principal Corby King conducted an internal investigation after the incident and also notified police.

According to the police report, the principals said a group of seven girls had been “sitting in a classroom discussing setting the school on fire so they could be out like Jere Whitson Elementary School.”

A fire which began in a ceiling at Jere Whitson on Saturday, March 17, destroyed much of that building, and the school’s 350 students are now attending school in temporary quarters.

The ATMS principals told police officers that of the seven girls who plotted the arson of their building, two had brought cigarette lighters to school “and were squirting Germ-X hand sanitizer on their desks and then setting it on fire during the (arson) discussion.” Then, after their class actually started, two of the girls decided to carry out the plan and asked for permission to go the restroom, where they got a handful of paper towels, the principals told police. After the class was over and students were changing rooms during a break, three girls went to an empty locker on the second floor of the school, put the paper towels into the locker, and two of them set fire to the towels.

“After the fire was set, all three ran from the area in front of at least three witnesses,” the police report says. “Everyone in the area started smelling smoke and an anonymous student went and got a teacher, who grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out before any alarms went off or serious damage was done.”

As of today, no charges had been filed, but detectives were still investigating.

The Herald-Citizen