WAXAHACHIE, Texas — A fire at a chemical plant south of Dallas shot massive plumes of black smoke and bright orange flames into the sky Monday, forcing schoolchildren and residents to evacuate or take cover indoors to avoid possible exposure to dangerous gases.
Flames engulfed what appeared to be several areas of a large complex at a
Magnablend, Inc., facility in Waxahachie, about 30 miles south of
Dallas. Images from local television stations showed the fast-moving
blaze consuming a fire truck at the scene and flames nearing railroad
tracks alongside the property.

CLEVELAND – A family with seven children escaped an early-morning fire thanks to the quick thinking of one of the children

The fire began early Friday morning in a bedroom of a home along Fidelity Avenue in Cleveland’s West Side.

Jamahr Larkin was sleeping when the fire alarm woke him up. “I was sleeping then I hear a little beep noise, and then I woke up. Then, I looked around the room and there was smoke everywhere,” he said.

Wildfires have consumed more than 4.2 million acres of land across the U.S. so far this year, a number more than double the most recent 10-year average, but there’s still hope that 2011 won’t be a record year — all that winter snow in the Rockies, Sierras and Cascades should keep Western areas green long enough to get through the summer heat.

A fourth child died today as a result of a fire in a Houston home day care center, a local television station reported, and investigators are trying to determine whether the center’s owner was out shopping when the deadly blaze ignited.

Eighteen-month-old Elias Castillo died this morning, Houston television station KTRK reported. Two other children who had been transferred to Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston — which specializes in burn care — remain in critical but stable condition. A third child was released from Houston’s Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital on Friday.

If someone had told Victor Perez at the beginning of the year that he’d soon find fame because of a heroic act, he would have laughed. He couldn’t even find a job.

But the events of Oct. 5 were so unbelievable that the 30-year-old unemployed construction worker was left shaking and speechless.

“Never, ever in my wildest dreams would I think something like this would happen,” said Perez, who is credited with saving the life of an abducted 8-year-old girl. “I’m trying to make sense of all this hero stuff.”

BERLIN — More than 200 passengers and crew were evacuated after a ferry caught fire near the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea, German authorities said Saturday.

The Lithuanian passenger and car ferry Lisco Gloria was en route from the northern city of Kiel to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda when an explosion occurred around midnight local time, the German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies said.

“There are currently no indications at all that this could have been a terror attack,” a spokesman said. “Of course the police will investigate this further, but it seems to have been an accident.”

NEW ORLEANS – Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Mostly notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don’t end there.

Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platform that erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of the spill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety devices were different.

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Hundreds of firefighters battled a third wildfire in the Los Angeles area early Friday as two more raged within 60 miles of one another.

The latest — known as the Crown Fire — has ignited more than 5,000 acres, fire officials said.

About 500 firefighters were at the scene, with mandatory evacuations in effect for nearly 2,000 residences.

Areas affected included some parts of Leona Valley, Ritter Ranch, Anaverde and Palmdale in northern Los Angeles County.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Firefighters in aircraft and on the ground battled the second serious wildfire to threaten the Flagstaff area in two days Sunday, prompting officials to urge hundreds of residents to flee as flames crept within 500 yards of some homes.

Officials said the fast-spreading fire erupted in this forested city’s northern outskirts Sunday morning and burned across 7 square miles of forest land by evening, sending a huge plume of smoke over parts of the region.

(CNN) — A T-shirt vendor who noticed smoke coming out of a tinted, dark green sport utility vehicle alerted police to what turned out to be a potential bomb placed in Times Square.

“We avoided what could have been a very deadly event,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg early Sunday morning. “It certainly could have exploded and had a pretty big fire and a decent amount of explosive impact.”