Word: blaze
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This week alone, firefighting fatigue claimed the lives of four people - two firefighters and two civilians - upping the death toll to nine since the start of the season. Blazes continued to rage in all corners of the country, razing thousands of crops, scores of livestock and a number of homes. Hordes of tourists were forced to evacuate hotels and holiday resorts, fleeing Greece as local governors declared states of emergency in a raft of districts and islands. Bewildered by the crisis, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis purportedly scrapped plans for an early election, turning instead to Russian President Vladimir Putin...
...attention from the hundreds of firefighters on hand, a neighboring building soon caught fire. We smelled gasoline. The fire coursed rapidly through the building, until it entirely engulfed the soon-charred structure. The press and onlookers stole closer for a better look; I got within 50 yards. The second blaze culminated in a series of explosions that scattered our retinue and signaled the building’s collapse, which we watched in horror. The smoke and smell of burning rubber became unbearable. We watched as the firefighters struggled to move trucks and water-guns into position to fight a clearly...
Among the firefighters who charged into a burning furniture store in Charleston, S.C., on June 18 were veterans with decades of knowledge. They sized up the visible evidence and concluded they could rescue trapped employees and beat down the blaze...
...commonplace a century ago, when storms of flame sometimes consumed whole neighborhoods in a single night. Building codes, safe electricity and modern firefighting have saved countless lives. Today fire engines roll alongside ambulances to everyday medical emergencies, just to keep the crews sharp for the rare major blaze...
...there will come a day, as yet far off, when our skills and science overmaster chaos and the last surprise flashover consumes its last unlucky victim. Until then, we will have need for those willing to place themselves in the gap between knowledge and peril: the firefighter at the blaze, the police officer in pursuit, the soldier approaching an ambush, the fisherman nearing a gale. Though their perception may prove imperfect, their courage is never obsolete...