Firehouse.com

Villages, cities and counties across Ohio are laying off employees and reducing services to make ends meet.

The Athens County village of Jacksonville, population 560, took the unusual step of rolling a firetruck out of the station and returning it to the dealer.

No longer able to afford the $17,000 annual lease-purchase price, village officials recently returned the keys to a 2001 firetruck.

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Mar. 11--LEAVENWORTH -- At first, Bill Horner didn't think the device was a bomb.

It had a metal smoking pipe attached to it "so I thought it looked like somebody had dropped their stash," said Horner, deputy chief of Fire District 3 in Leavenworth.

But upon closer inspection, "I saw the wires, the detonation cord, the cylinder ... and it was like, 'Oh.' "

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Mar. 12--The roof on the recently condemned Norton fire station on Greenwich Road came crashing down Thursday.

Authorities say they think it happened around 2 p.m., although no one was there when it happened.

"It fell in this time," fire Chief Mike Schultz said. "The [roof on the] west side of the building completely collapsed. The entire roof is now in the EMS bays."

The building was vacated Feb.

A Harper Woods fire captain remains suspended while the city manager investigates two incidents, including one where the captain lost control of a fire hose that was being checked for trouble.

That incident caused a surge of water to break at least one window at the police station and glass to hit a police sergeant in the eye.

Capt. Michael Head was suspended this week. It was still being determined Friday how long he would be suspended and whether the suspension would be with or without pay, City Manager Jim Leidlein said.

MANCHESTER, N.H.

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The Mall of New Hampshire was evacuated Friday because of an explosion and small fire in the electrical room.

Officials said one person was transported to a hospital.

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Mar. 11--BURLEY -- Steven Hamilton is no longer the chief of the Burley Fire Department. City of Burley Administrator Mark Mitton said Hamilton's last day was March 3.

Mitton said he could not confirm the reason for Hamilton's departure.

"It's a personnel issue and we can't discuss it," Mitton said.

Hamilton said Wednesday that Mitton presented him with a letter stating that his employment was being terminated without cause.

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa.

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After months of debate, Hollsopple Fire Department is merging with Scalp Level and Paint Fire Department.

The two agencies made the announcement at Wednesday's Conemaugh Township Supervisors meeting.

According to firefighters with Hollsopple Fire Department, this decision was best for the community, as it will enable Hollsopple Fire Department to remain open, which will then keep residential home insurance from sky rocketing.

Many of the 300 Toledo employees who will get layoff notices on Monday probably will lose their jobs, some on City Council predicted Friday.

"I don't see how we can have a balanced budget without layoffs," Councilman Joe McNamara said.

The city is grappling with a $48 million general fund shortfall for the year and some councilmen already have pledged to vote against parts of Mayor Mike Bell's budget-balancing plan.

In the years after the 9/11 terror attacks, 10,000 people who helped clear mountains of debris from Lower Manhattan filed lawsuits blaming New York City for failing to protect them from the toxic dust. 

Now, plaintiffs like firefighter Martin Fullam face a tight deadline to answer a big question: Do they sign a settlement and take a small share of a pot that could reach $657 million, or reject the offer and hope for something better?