In 2003, John Bernardo worked occasional nights as a DJ in bars throughout the state, hired to bring in people who wanted to dance and buy drinks. After Feb. 20, 2003, the night 100 people — including two of his friends — were killed and more than 200 injured, many severely, in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, that all changed.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Providence Journal

Emily Avin was supposed to come home that day in September. Her parents had arranged it: Avin would move back into their country home in the small Florence County town of Pamplico, where she grew up playing softball and cheering for her high school football team as the mascot. It would be a break, for a month or so, from her job as a paramedic, a career the young woman loved but now found emotionally draining.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Charleston Post and Courier

Four members of the American Legion Ambulance Association in Woodstown escaped unhurt Monday after an early morning blaze devastated their squad building and caused at least $2 million in damage. The blaze broke out around 4 a.m. and destroyed five ambulances and caused significant damage to a sixth, officials said.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

A program that allows Los Angeles cops and firefighters to collect their pensions and salaries simultaneously at the end of their careers was originally hailed as a no-cost way to keep the most experienced officers on the job. But six years into the program it was clear there were serious problems, including reports that aging officers with bad backs and aching knees were joining and then immediately going out on long injury leaves — sometimes for years — at essentially twice the pay.
- PUB DATE: 2/20/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Hobart (WI) Fire Department pumper. Spartan cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Waterous CSUC20 1,500-gpm pump; UPF Poly 1,000-gallon tank.