A couple in Snohomish County watched Wednesday as a massive tree that fell during a weekend storm and split their home in half was finally removed. "There's no explanation for what the sound was," said homeowner Marlon Waske. It's amazing Waske and his family are still alive after looking at the damage the tree left behind.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOMO news

It's been almost five years since a brush fire pickup lunged forward and crushed volunteer firefighter Leonard Murray, killing him. But the Indiana man's family continues to wait for an answer from the federal government about whether they will or won't get a one-time death benefit meant to help the survivors of fallen public safety officers.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: usa today

They rumble past schools, homes and businesses in dozens of cities around the country — 100-car trains loaded with crude oil from the Upper Midwest. While railroads have long carried hazardous materials through congested urban areas, cities are now scrambling to formulate emergency plans and to train firefighters amid the latest safety threat: a fiftyfold increase in crude shipments that critics say has put millions of people living or working near the tracks at heightened risk of derailment, fire and explosion.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Local Firefighters found themselves working in familiar territory this morning, their own Fire Station. The Randolph Village Volunteer Fire Station is now severely under-equipped. Firefighters are left wondering what to do next. The 43-year old station is now trying to re-group. The focus has become how to keep the response going, with so little of their own equipment.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: myChamplainValley.com

Authorities in Oakland, California, were in for quite the surprise when they responded to a report of what appeared to be a baby trapped in a car, police said. Emergency personnel smashed the car window and forced their way into the vehicle on Monday, only to find a lifelike doll sitting in the car seat, Officer Johnna Watson of the Oakland Police Department told ABC News.
- PUB DATE: 9/3/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: abc news