Local fire officials are sounding an alarm and warning residents about firms looking to dupe them into purchasing costly fire suppression systems they do not need. Palm Harbor Fire Rescue has recently been contacted by several people who have been talked into purchasing expensive hard-wired fire alarm systems, said Liz Monforti, spokeswoman for the community fire department. That is much more protection than a residence would require, she said. ...more

March 14, 2009

Ken McGurn is coming to town Tuesday, and he's hoping to avoid his worst-case scenario: becoming the human version of the China Syndrome. It could happen. ...more

March 12, 2009

A fire this afternoon caused by a 4-year-old boy playing with a lighter has left a family of five without a home, Tampa Fire Rescue officials say. ...more

January 29, 2009

American Red Cross volunteers helped a family of five who lost their home to fire on Christmas Eve, according to Phil Attinger with the American Red Cross Polk County chapter. ...more

December 26, 2008

A child playing with a lighter started a fire Sunday night that caused smoke damage to a St. Petersburg home, authorities say. ...more

December 8, 2008

A 10-year-old playing with a lighter caused a fire that destroyed a mobile home tonight in the Bloomingdale area, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue officials said. ...more

November 24, 2008

Volunteers and students will canvas parts of St. Petersburg and Temple Terrace on Saturday as part of an American Red Cross fire safety campaign. The agency's Tampa Bay chapter is sending volunteers to certain neighborhoods in St. Petersburg to hand out fire-prevention information. At the same time, a student group from Florida College will go to apartment complexes north of the University of South Florida's Temple Terrace campus to alert renters of the potential fire dangers in their homes. ...more

October 23, 2008

City police are investigating a weekend arson fire that damaged a nearly century-old building on the National Register of Historic Places. ...more

September 9, 2008

Terry Feickert's plush leather seat squeaks as he rocks back and forth behind his desk Tuesday morning. Everything from his books to his old firefighter helmet was still in place inside the office, which was built while he was the chief. But the cigar-smoking Avon Park Fire Chief was more than ready to get away from it. ...more

August 13, 2008

The city's controversial new sprinkler law is headed back to the drawing board. ...more

June 25, 2008