Firefighter killed in California blaze
LOS ANGELES — A second-generation California firefighter who was using a bulldozer to prevent a wildfire from spreading was killed Saturday near Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County, state fire officials said.
Braden Varney, 36, died in the morning hours, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Varney worked through the night and was driving the bulldozer to cut a firebreak to keep the fire from extending into a nearby community, according to fire chief Nancy Koerperich.
Investigators believe Varney was working his way out of the fire area when he was killed, Koerperich said.
House fire in N.J. claims a third life
UNION CITY, N.J. — A third child has died after a house fire that earlier claimed the lives of two youngsters and injured several other occupants and firefighters.
Officials had said earlier that Friday morning’s fire at a three-story home in Union City killed a 2-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl. The Hudson County prosecutor’s office said Friday night that a critically injured 7-year-old boy had died.
Prosecutor Esther Suarez said two other children and a woman were in critical condition. A man was listed in stable condition. Eight firefighters were treated at hospitals, mostly for smoke inhalation or heat-related issues.
The Red Cross reported helping 30 people from eight families.
A neighboring building was damaged by the fire, the origin and cause of which remain under investigation.
Georgians protest shooting by officer
KINGSLAND, Ga. — Two homemade crosses stand beside the street where 33-year-old Tony Green died. A week after the June 20 shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Kingsland police officer Zechariah Presley on charges of voluntary manslaughter and violating his oath of office. The bureau said Presley fired multiple shots at Green as he was fleeing.
Presley, 27, is to appear in court for a hearing Tuesday. His attorney, Adrienne Browning, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The arrest and city officials’ decision to fire Presley have done little to relieve the anger of Green’s family and friends in Kingsland, where the killing of a black man by a white officer has roiled the city of about 16,000 near the Georgia-Florida line.
Carrying a sign bearing Green’s photo and the words “Murdered by Police,” Green’s cousin, Tony White, joined about 25 people Monday protesting outside Kingsland City Hall.