12 firefighters in 3 fire engines sent to rescue teenage girl stuck in a swing

London - Three fire engines and at least twelve firefighters were mobilized to rescue a teenage girl who was stuck in a child`s swing. The girl slid herself into the swing in Finsbury Park, north London, yesterday afternoon, but was unable to get out without assistance. The large contingent of firefighters, who arrived in three separate fire engines, were eventually able to free her after removing the swing from its frame. A bystander told MailOnline: `She had her hands in her head, embarrassed, and was being filmed by her family and was clearly stuck in the child`s swing.  More

Buckingham Palace seeks timekeeper for queen`s clocks

LONDON - Buckingham Palace announced it is seeking someone to be responsible for winding the queen`s 1,000 clocks for $50,035 per year. The advertisement on Queen Elizabeth`s official website says the Royal Horological Conservator will be based in Buckingham Palace, but will also have to travel to Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Balmoral and Sandringham to make sure all of the monarch`s clocks are wound and set to the accurate time, The Mirror reported Monday. The post-holder will be primarily responsible for resetting the clocks for the time changes in March and October. More

The world’s most extreme camping trip

Germany – Campers craving the ultimate in peace and quiet can now find it 500ft up a sheer mountain face.
Accommodation comes in the form of a ‘portaledge’ – an incredibly strong frame covered in canvas, secured to a cliff face in the German Alps.
Campers have to scale the mountain to get to their bed for the night – and can only bring with them the bare essentials of a sleeping bag, a rope and a basic dinner.
Fearless adventurers sleep alongside an instructor, who takes up the outside position just inches from the 500ft sheer drop.
The two campers wear a safety harness to stop them falling should they roll over in their sleep. More

Deluxe hotel for chickens

UK - A Kent woman has taken advantage of the boom in hen keeping by opening a deluxe hotel for chickens. Fowlty Towers, the plush resort is a home away from home for hens while their owners are on vacation. It is run by Julie Smith, who says she has been inundated with requests for rooms. Dedicated customers even book months in advance to secure a spot for their prized birds. The five star accommodation features 3ft long runs attached to luxury enclosures.

Distressed owl turns out to be garden ornament

Scotland - When animal welfare officers were alerted to a `distressed` owl in a Scottish front garden they were quickly on the case. The Scottish SPCA received a call from an anonymous Aberdeenshire resident with concerns for a bird that had apparently been left tied to a tree all night. When an officer arrived at the scene, however, he discovered the motionless owl was in fact a plastic garden water feature. `I had a feeling as soon as I approached the property that something wasnt quite right,` explained Chief Inspector John Carle. More

Firefighters save bearded dragon lizard`s life with oxygen mask

UK - A group of hero firefighters did what firefighters do andimprovised to save the life of abearded dragon lizard, who was rescued from his burning container. Thorn was given oxygen using a mask designed to treat humans, following the incident in its basement home in Pedmore Road, Lye, West Midlands. Fire crews responded after a bulb in the two-year-old lizard`s vivarium enclosure overheated and caused a fire that spread throughout. Lucy Evans, a firefighter who attended the scene, said: "Thorn was desperate for air and at first we thought it was dead." More

Firefighters rescue man stuck in chimney

Washington - Firefighters chiseled a hole through bricks early Tuesday to rescue a man who had gotten himself stuck inside a 20-inch wide chimney space at a Washington home that had been converted to apartments.
The young man was not hurt and was not suspected of a crime, but it’s unclear why he apparently climbed into the unused chimney, Tacoma Battalion Chief Dyre Fudge said.
“Stories range from `hide and seek” to `repairing the ceiling. Nobody was able to get the straight story,” Fudge said.
“I’m in my 35th year, and it’s something different every day. You can’t make it up,” he said. More

Grass clippings blamed for police cruiser fire

Florida - A Clay County deputy got quite a surprise when returning to his car during a traffic stop. The deputy`s patrol car had burst into flames. A Sheriff`s office spokesman told Channel 4 that the deputy parked the cruiser on a pile of freshly mowed grass, which reached a very high temperature when it touched the undercarriage of the cruiser. More