FIRE RESCUE 1: Mo. firefighter sues agencies, colleagues

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Cindy Schuenke, the firefighter-paramedic who was severely burned in a fire three years ago in north St. Louis County, has filed suit against three fire agencies and numerous firefighters who responded to the blaze with her.

Schuenke, 44, suffered severe burns March 29, 2006, while searching for the mother of a fellow firefighter in a burning house in Vinita Terrace. Her suit, filed last week in St. Louis County Circuit Court, alleges that firefighters at the scene, and their commander there, made mistake after mistake. The suit also alleged that two fire chiefs had failed to train their fire personnel to properly handle such situations.

The suit also names Grace Industries Inc., the maker of a personal alert safety system (PASS) device that Schuenke wore into the fire. The suit says the device failed to sound, therefore failing to alert rescuers to her predicament and location.

FIREHOUSE: Biden Says Administration Backs Firefighters

Vice President Joe Biden says the Obama administration is committed to getting firefighters the equipment, training and additional staffing they need to do their jobs.

NY TIMES: Fire Ravages Renowned Building in Beijing

BEIJING — A fierce blaze started by an illegal fireworks show engulfed one of the Chinese capital’s most architecturally celebrated modern buildings on Monday, the last day of festivities for the Lunar New Year, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

AP: Eisenhower building near White House evacuated

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington fire officials say the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House was evacuated briefly after smoke from a fireplace clouded one of the floors.

Firefighters were called to the building on 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue about 12:15 p.m. Sunday.

Fire spokesman Alan Etter says firefighters extinguished a fire in a fireplace on the second floor. They believe an obstruction in a chimney caused light smoke to build up on the fourth floor. No damage was reported.

The Secret Service evacuated the building for about 30 minutes as a precaution. There were a few people inside the building, which houses White House staff.

(This version CORRECTS the time firefighters received the call to 12:15 p.m., based on corrected information from department)

FIREHOUSE: Arizona Firefighters Charged with Using Arson to Get Work

Four firefighters have been arrested on suspicion of igniting between 15 and 20 fires in western Arizona so they could get paid for fighting them, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities also charged two men suspected of setting fires to get money from the firefighters, and were seeking arrest warrants for two former firefighters who have moved out of state.

The firefighters worked at the fire district in Ehrenberg, a town of about 1,200 people and about 140 miles west of Phoenix on the Arizona-California line. They got $10 an hour per fire.

The six men arrested are suspected of igniting at least 15 fires in abandoned trailer homes, on open land and in expensive haystacks owned by farmers between January 2006 and last week, La Paz County sheriff's Lt. Glenn Gilbert said.